"Graduation is only a concept. In real life, every day you graduate. Graduation is a process that goes on until the last day of your life. If you can grasp that, you'll make a difference." Arie Pencovici
Each day I wake up and enjoy some fresh air before getting ready to go to class or my ELL practicum at the elementary school. For most of the year, I ran in the mornings. Lately I've been taking walks. Regardless, the feel of soft earth and grass beneath my feet, the songs of the birds, the colorful flowers and chance to glimpse a cardinal, baltimore oriel or a fox, and the fragrence of the long row of lilac bushes along the backside of campus...All these things are a beautiful welcome to the day.
I am looking forward to my college graduation and the opportunities the await me afterwards, but sometimes have to remind myself to slow down and enjoy this time too. There is a saying: "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow a mystery. Today is a gift; that's why it's called the present."
This semester's history has been filled with both good times and tough ones this semester. I have been busy with classes (some that I love and some that I must endure), work and running as well as maintaining relationships with friends. This track season has not been what I hoped it would be, but I've been blessed in many other ways. I received a Fulbright grant to teach English at teacher training institutes in provincial Peru in 2013. I also ran my quickest half-marathon and enjoyed a more liesurely one with a friend in Lincoln. I also got to spend some time with a wonderful cousin in Omaha over Easter weekend.
The mystery of my future awaits, although I have a few hopes for it. Just this morning, I was struck with the realization that in less than 5 weeks I'll graduate and in 6 weeks and 1 day I'll be on my way to Kenya! I know very little of what awaits me there and the joys and challenges I will encounter, but I look forward to the experiences and learning through them. I'm also hoping to do the Lincoln marathon in 2.5 weeks with one of my cousins.
Presently, I'm taking each day as it comes, working little by little on the term papers I need to complete, loving the weather and remembering that no matter how excited I am to finish up with these classes and formally graduate, each day we begin again and end by graduating to a new day with the knowledge and experiences we've acquired throughout that one.
