Columbia University campus, from library to library (Low on the left, Butler to the right/south). I still find it hard to believe there's this much open space on the Isle of Manhattan, outside of Central Park
It
took an Internet hoax to break me away from papers and finals to
give an
update. Thanks to my friend Pete and my failure to verify 20-odd
notable quotables, I posted what was apparently a phoney Lincoln
anti-war quote. Another reason
to
hate
forwards! Mostly, I'm surprised they found this little, practically
defunct journal to make an example of, but hey, the Internet works
in mysterious ways.
Not much time for updates these days, though I do want to get back into at least some photography in the new year. I've missed that aspect of the online journalling most of all. My digital camera drowned in my backpack one rainy day during orientation and I still haven't finished developing all the film I took in Europe in May. There has been so much going on, I really wished I'd kept up at least my paper journal, but I've just been living it.
Columbia is a lot more challenging than NYU and I ended up having to leave my job. I'm now a full time student, living just off campus. I love not starting my day on public transportation. With CU, I also hit the jackpot of all the things I wanted, but that didn't seem to fit together -- a Ivy League University, a 7 Sisters College, staying in New York, and a renowned writing program.
It's hard to believe that, just a few months ago, I was working as a secretary with seemingly no hope of getting enough money to finish at NYU. It's funny, but a bunch of people I'd thought were friends were shed along the way and now I realize that their lack of faith in me was counterproductive. Looking back, they were unfamiliar with having challenges in life and so, when I hit a wall of bad times -- broken heart, unemployment, financial woe -- they just wanted me to be all better in an instant. Life isn't that simple. I make mistakes and I get discouraged sometimes, it's called humanity. But the real friends stuck by me through everything and believed I'd find a way to get where I was supposed to be. I'd say a full scholarship to an Ivy League school is a pretty good indication that I'm on the right track. I mean, if Columbia believes in me enough to put its money where its mouth is, that's all the proof I need.
The workload is amazing and sometimes makes me crabby, but I try to keep in mind that it's all a series of challenges I must pass to get where I'm going. Thanks for those who believed, listened and laughed along the way. This is but the start of another great adventure.