Summer Reading

I think I've mentioned before how much I love to read.

And now that I have a commute that's an hour each way, I have a lot more free time in which to do that. Summer is typically when I get the bulk of my leisurely reading done (since I don't have to read for classes- woohoo!), and I've made quite a list for myself this year. I've taken suggestions from friends, best-new-fiction lists, and other assorted sources. Hopefully I'll be able to get them all at Bobst, so I don't have to buy them!

So here's my list (the starred books are ones that I've finished):

• Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides*
• Atonement by Ian McEwan*
• A Member of the Family by Susan Merrell*
• The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen*
• Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel by Susanna Clarke
• Unaccustomed Earth by Juhmpa Lahiri
• Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• Oblivion by David Foster Wallace
• Runaway by Alice Munro
• Austerlitz by W. G. Sebald
• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro*
• Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
• Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson*
• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
• Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
• The Known World by Edward P. Jones
• 2666 by Roberto Bolano
• White Teeth by Zadie Smith
• Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel

I'm also trying to read some of the classics that I've never gotten through for one reason or another, including:

• Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
• Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez*
• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
• One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• Lolita by Vladamir Nabokov*
• Ulysses by James Joyce
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley*
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood*

Any more suggestions?

The Future!

Now that I'm done with over half of my undergrad work (!!!!), I've started thinking about what I'm going to do with myself once I graduate from NYU. Come 2012, I'm going to have a bachelor's in Applied Psychology, and the world will be my oyster.

Now, a bachelor's Psych degree is, in general, pretty useless. I could probably work for a human resources department, but that's not what I want to do. I want to have my own practice, as a clinical psychologist. And that means grad school- lots of grad school.

So, for the past few days, I've been looking at a few different places, requesting information about programs and learning more about what I'll be doing. Most schools offer only PhD programs, which isn't what I want to do. The difference between a PhD and a PsyD is about the same as the difference between CAS Psych and Applied Psych here- the PsyD is more directed towards being a practitioner than a researcher. Since there are only a few schools that offer the PsyD, my choices are pretty narrow.

So far, I've seen quite a few places that look promising. The weather here has been pretty chilly lately, which is probably why I'm feeling this way, but right now my top choice is a school in Honolulu. It's a really good school, fully accredited, and it's in Hawaii. There are some other schools as well; in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, L.A., Melbourne...of course, the program is the most important part, but I could totally see myself attending classes in between drinking cocktails on the beach for five years.

That's another thing. To get my PsyD, I'm going to be in school full-time for an additional five years. It's a long time (it means that I won't graduate until 2017 at the earliest), and being in school until I'm at least 26 sounds like kind of a drag, but I figure it's best to get everything out of the way now, while I'm young, than worry about trying to get my degree once I'm working full-time, possibly with kids. It's a long way for me to think into the future, and it's the first time I've ever seriously considered life after NYU, which is scary. But I know that this is what I want to do, and just think- I'll be a doctor!

Looking at all of these grad schools is so reminiscent of doing my search for colleges back at this time four years ago. Back then, I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life, or how I should even go about looking for a program. But I lucked out, and ended up at the perfect school for me. Hopefully I'll be just as lucky this time around.

A Little Political

I follow the news pretty religiously (I enjoy being informed, and honestly, what else is there to do at work?) and I've been very interested to watch the development of opinions about Elena Kagan, who Obama has nominated to fill Justice John Paul Stevens' Supreme Court seat.

I tend to agree on most of the points made by Eric Alterman in this article on The Daily Beast- one of my favorite news sources, and one of the few I read every day. Obama has picked someone who he knows will most likely be confirmed, who he knows he can trust (since they've known each other for quite a long time), and who he knows will bring very little scandal to the process. The fact that the biggest story concerning her is speculation on her sexual orientation is something that Obama was banking on. Personally, I feel that her behavior regarding military recruiters on Harvard's campus, as well as her previous criticism of the Supreme Court confirmation process, is something that should be given far more media attention than her sexuality. Another recent issue to come to light was that she urged President Clinton in 1997 to support a ban on late-term abortions. But while many extreme leftist liberals are seeing this as a telling sign of her stance on abortion, the memo she sent to Clinton was more about the politics of the decision than the ethics.

Glenn Greenwald wrote a piece on Salon.com a few days ago, completely bashing Kagan in every way he could imagine (I don't often read Salon; I find it to be, comparatively, poorly written and badly sourced). Greenwald states that he "will keep an open mind", but he very obviously has made a definite decision about Kagan already.

As someone who would define herself as a moderate liberal (not a liberal moderate, and there is definitely a difference) I think Kagan is a good choice. I wish she had served as a judge before, since I feel that prior judicial experience is important for someone being considered for the highest court in the land. But from what I've read of her opinions and the way in which she sticks to the letter of the law, I think Kagan is a solid appointee.

Moving

Wow. I feel like I haven't slowed down for almost a week.

Last weekend was crazy busy- my mom and Ms. Jenson came down to help me move most of my stuff to the new apartment. I'm really thankful that they did (because I never would have been able to do it myself, and also because we had a lot of fun)!

They arrived around 7:00 on Friday night, and we unloaded the bed that they had brought. Then we decided to go back to Manhattan (a trip that should have taken half an hour, but ended up taking two hours- the GPS really lied to us). We found a place to park, dropped their bags off at my dorm, and went to dinner at Spice. After that, we took the subway to the Empire State Building, where Ms. Jenson had never been, and I hadn't been since I was much younger. It was absolutely gorgeous to see all of the city spread out like that, at night, with the bright lights shining. We then went back to my dorm and went to sleep, preparing for the long day to come.

After a leisurely brunch on Saturday morning, we loaded up the car with a lot of my stuff and drove it over to Brooklyn. I had hoped that we would be able to fit everything in one trip, but unfortunately it just didn't work out (our new car is smaller than the Jeep was). After a lot of heaving, carrying, and sweating, we got everything unloaded and headed back to Manhattan for another trip. This was, thankfully, the last one. Once absolutely everything was unloaded and moved into the new place, we set to assembling the bed.

Now, I really, really, really hate assembling furniture when I don't have directions. I think my aversion to it began when I was in sixth or seventh grade and I got a new desk. I was bound and determined to put it together all by myself, with no help from anyone. Three hours, two pinched fingers, and a lot of scratches later, I had a desk. And I've never taken it apart and put it back together, mostly because while it's not exactly picture-perfect, I did it myself.

I can put together a chair, or a table, if I have clear directions (in English!) and all of the proper pieces and hardware lined up in a neat little row by when I will use them. But this bed...None of the hardware that came with it actually worked in assembly, and it was necessary to make two separate trips to two separate hardware stores to put it together.

But finally, it was done. And my room felt like a room, since I had a bed with sheets on it.

Mom then took me grocery shopping, and we came back and unpacked some more stuff. She and Ms. Jenson left, and I headed back to Manhattan, where I was still sleeping.

Sunday consisted of going back to Brooklyn and doing a lot more unpacking. I hung up my clothes, set up my desk, and Emma showed me how to use my keys (I'm absolutely horrible with keys). I was so busy that I forgot to eat until I got back to Manhattan at about 5:30, and then I was starving. So I went to Chipotle for dinner. But I was still hungry. So I, in my brilliance, decided to order S'mac (macaroni and cheese).

That was a bad idea.

I woke up on Monday morning feeling like I was going to die. I felt so horrible that I ended up calling in sick to work, something I had never done before- in all the time I've been working, at any job I've ever had, I've never called in sick. Ever. I didn't even get out of bed until about 1:30, when Richie came over. We went to the Student Health Center, and then back to his place for lunch. I had a salad, which was a good plan.

The rest of my day pretty much consisted of going over to Brooklyn to pick up some clothes, studying, and making dinner.

Yesterday, Tuesday, was a really busy day as well. I worked/studied until about 3:00, and then headed back to the dorm to...continue studying. I went to Richie's and hung out with him and Jordan for a while, and then went to 194 Mercer to take my Statistics final.

I had been convinced that it was going to be pretty difficult, but our professor told us that of the 23 questions on the exam, we could omit any six of our choosing.

So the exam that I had been studying and preparing for all day ended up taking me less than half an hour. Crazy!

I then met up with Richie, and we headed over to The Noho Star to have dinner with Ella and her mom, who was visiting from Israel. The food was delicious, and it was so nice to meet Mrs. Metuki! She was extremely sweet, and seemed really interested in getting to know us. I love parents. :-)

We left the restaurant at about 10:45, and headed back to Richie's to hang out with Dan, Constance, Jordan, and Sydney. It was nice to spend some time with people before summer officially started, and we were there until well past 1 AM.

I woke up this morning preparing to do most of my packing, and then check out of UHall after work. But as I was eating my cereal and watching Glee at about 10:45 (still in my pajamas, mind you), my doorbell rang. The conversation that followed went pretty much like this:

I open the door to see a short guy with a clipboard standing there.

Him: "Hi, I just wanted to let you know that you need to be out of here by noon."

Me: "I thought I had until noon tomorrow, since I'm graduating and participating in commencement."

Him: "Well, commencement is going on right now, so obviously you're not." (This is true, actually. I hadn't done my research, and commencement apparently started at 9:00 this morning. So that one's on me.)

Me: "I thought I at least had until 24 hours after my last final." (This is a rule! NYU's own policy!) "My last final was last night at 7:30 PM."

Him: "Yeah, that was the rule. But not anymore. If you don't check out by noon, we're going to charge you for staying here."

Me: "But that's not right!"

Him: "Hey, this is the way it is."

Me: "Fine."

And I shut the door in his face.

I swear, I am so glad I'm never going to have to deal with NYU Housing again. The people are just all kinds of rude, and they care more about getting me out of there six hours earlier than about my personal situation. They had no reason to force me to pack up all of my things in 45 minutes (which I did, since I didn't want to be late for work) and kick me out. I was very rude to the girl that checked me out, and I know it wasn't her fault, but honestly. How ridiculous.

I'm just glad that Richie's staying in summer housing, therefore they're not kicking him out yet. All of my stuff that needs to go to Brooklyn is currently at his place, waiting until I get out of work. If he wasn't staying, I would have had to bring my entire suitcase to work with me, or be forced to pay NYU more money to leave my things in my room for an extra few hours.

Did I leave the suite in mint condition? No. I didn't have time to clean as well as I would have liked (something I had planned on doing before I checked out tonight) and I was forced to throw some things away that otherwise would have gone to Goodwill. But I think the fact that I was forced out of my room with an hour and fifteen minutes' notice is absurd.

But now I'm at work, finally taking a breather for once. I'm going to bring everything to the new place once I'm done here, and then do nothing for the rest of the day. Seriously. I'm going to lie in my new bed and watch TV online and sleep. I deserve it.

The End Is Here!

I know it's been almost a week since my last post, but I've just been so busy! I'm completely done with classes as of yesterday, and with only one final left (which isn't until a week from now), my second year of college is pretty much over.

It's so strange to think that I'm more than halfway done with my undergrad work (technically, I've been a junior for the whole of spring semester, because I came to NYU with so many credits already completed). I've learned so much these past two years, and I've grown up so much, this year especially. All of the things I'm doing now- being so independent, managing my money well, working while going to school, getting my own apartment, for heavens sake- I never would have been able to do them at this time a year ago. I've learned so much about myself, about people, I've let down a lot of my guards, and I've put up some that were probably necessary all along.

I think the best feeling for me came last Saturday. Classes were basically over, and it was the boys' last concert of the year. The day itself was beautiful, and I spent all of it with people that I really love. As I walked home, the night coming to a close (well, okay, the morning- it was 4:30 AM), I realized how very lucky I am to be surrounded by so many incredible people, who I love so much, and who love me as well! At this time last year, or even six months ago, I was constantly in tears, depressed and confused about what was going on. But so much has happened- I've dealt with some major setbacks, but I've learned to handle them and overcome them. I've had some issues with friends, but I've realized I can only do so much, and when someone is hell-bent on self-destruction, there's nothing I'll be able to do to stop them. I've made some major mistakes, but I've picked myself up and managed to fix them. I've learned to recognize that I am the most important person in my life, to treat myself with respect, and to stand up for myself and my feelings instead of letting people walk all over me. I've learned that it really doesn't matter what most people think of me, because the people that really matter and love me will tell me the truth about myself, and will stick by me while I figure it all out, since I have done/will do the same for them.

It's so strange to think back to senior year of high school. I thought I was all grown up, ready to go out into the world and take it on full force. I thought I was ready for anything. I thought I could handle whatever came my way.

If there's anything college has taught me so far (besides lots of random facts about World War II, how to deal with a hangover, and that street fairs are not something to get excited about), it's that I'm not invincible. I've been so humbled by everything that I've experienced during my time here, and I can't wait to see what the next two years (and then grad school) bring me.

But for now, it's summertime. I'm working. And that's it. It's almost like being on vacation! I have a feeling that the summer of 2010 is going to be one for the record books, and I can't wait to see what happens next.