My summer starts right. about. now. Last Friday I slid my final exam onto the teacher’s desk, handed over my keys to the Driftwood newsroom (read my last column for the paper here), and finished my last spring semester as an undergraduate. Taking 16 hours and running a college newspaper wasn’t easy, and I’m strangely looking forward to the fall semester (my last one!) when I can just focus on classes. So instead of having a mic drop moment when I turned that last test in, I just enjoyed the relief that the semester is over. I am milking my newfound free time before summer school starts. In between catching up on mundane tasks like housecleaning and laundry, I’m making a point to take daily bike rides with no particular destination in mind. I’m also trying to catch up with much neglected friends, attempting to learn Spanish, and this weekend I’m heading to Mississippi for a break from the city.
I’ve taken summer classes every semester since I went back to college two years ago. I usually opt to enroll in online classes, but this June I’m going to Ireland with UNO’s Writing Workshops Program. I’ve never been to Ireland nor have I ever studied abroad, so the opportunity to get out of the sticky Louisiana heat for a little while to solely focus on my creative writing excites me. I’m not going to lie, having my own bed for a month will be downright luxurious as well. No cats piled up on my pillow! No fighting for the sheets with my husband (I will miss that a little)! No waking up to dogs barking in the morning to go outside! I have a feeling the things that annoy me the most are going to be the things I miss the most when I’m gone. But who knows, maybe I’ll try to sneak a kitty into my suitcase.
all photos by me:
hotel pool in Asheville, North Carolina | sculptures in New Orleans’ City Park Sculpture Garden | magnolia blossom, French Quarter | You Go Girl and Swoon, New Orleans City Park