the final push.

In ten days I will have completed my first year in graduate school; one presentation and four papers stand between me and summer, but I can practically taste it. Here in the northeast summer seems to have arrived early. The past few days have been sunny, humid, and upwards of 80 degrees– my summer skirts have finally been released from their dusty prison in the back of my closet! Last night I walked home after a milonga– an evening of tango dancing– without a jacket. Delicious!!

The past month has been a whirlwind of activity, mostly consisting of long days and late nights at the library, and resulting in the some wonderful feedback from my peers. I've been living off of this complement from a third-year graduate student (one of my role models!) for weeks now:

"Tremendous presentation today. You are such a polished and articulate - and SMART scholar. Wow. What fun."

Ahh!!! I don't think I have ever considered myself a scholar, per se, but I suppose I ought to try it on as it appears to fit! I can do this after all. It is going to be a tough push to the end– but I am going to make it! And then: a new European adventure begins. I booked my flight yesterday; my plans are no longer amorphous, but are rather becoming palpable. Soon I will be on the other side of the ocean once again, living in a new land, speaking a new language, becoming a new me... thank you, universe.