Autumn in La La Land

As long as I've lived in the Lafayette area, the arrival of fall -- and more specifically, October -- has excited me.

First of all, it's football season -- REAL football season, when the other Big Ten teams come to town. And even if we're losing (as we are this year), there's nothing like spending a Saturday at Ross Ade cheering on the Boilers. If you win, you want to hug everyone around you. And if you lose, well...there's plenty of beer back at the tailgate.

Secondly, this is the point of the year in Indiana when the weather actually starts to change. No more of this dilly-dallying between summer and autumn. No more wondering whether to wear shorts or jeans. Get out the scarves and hats and sweaters! The leaves are changing, falling, and crunching. The windows are open during the day. It's perfect sleeping weather. It's freaking fall.

And thirdly (and probably most importantly), it's Christmas show season.

Now, I've been out of college for like...over two years. So this doesn't even apply directly to my life anymore. But for four years, October meant the beginning of rehearsals for the spectacular Purdue Christmas Show. First was the unveiling meeting where we got to see for the first time what the set would look like and what songs were in the show. Right after that, rehearsals would start. And even though it meant no more free time between regular PMO rehearsals and classes and homework, it was the thing I loved best, and I soaked it up. I walked to class with the rehearsal music in my mp3 player, memorizing the arrangements to "O Holy Night" and "Sleigh Ride" as I passed the spookily decorated Greek houses and Halloween event sheet signs.

And even now, when October rolls around, I get that same urge to crunch across the leaf-strewn sidewalks, smelling Starbucks pumpkin lattes, and letting my headphones pump the sounds of Christmas into my brain.

Is that crazy? Yes. Is it cheesy? Yes. But also magical. And while I'm not the kind of person who starts putting up the tree before Thanksgiving or anything like that, I do enjoy my slightly brainwashed reaction to the change of seasons and the subsequent need for me to listen to a yuletide tune or two.

Home for Christmas (Show)

Pictures from my weekend during the 75th Anniversary Purdue Christmas Show, as promised!

Backstage during the show...




This is Clarice, who leaves her beautiful home in Hawaii every summer to spend the school year in West Lafayette studying engineering! She is the sound technician for the Purduettes and a total sweetheart!


In the green room with the Kids Choir!


The kids were fascinated with my camera and decided to take some pictures...serious close-up pictures! They were funny.


The view of an empty Elliott Hall from the stage.


Getting our line-up set before the show. It was so fun to meet all of these amazing alumni!


Back with old friends...


Israel, who like me works in TV and is also a Second City comedian in Chicago! So proud!


Greg, who is now married and expecting (well, his wife is expecting. He's not like that creepy dude on the news who got pregnant). He is going to be a great dad!


Kelly stopped by the alumni room to say hi on her way onstage. She was one of my little sisses when I was in Purduettes!


Chris, who now works for the Purdue Alumni Center. He and I will be doing a civic theatre show together this spring!


Jeff, who is engaged and getting married this spring. He is such a sweet guy and loves trying to imitate Will Farrell's Robert Goulet impression. GOULET!


Monica, my roommate for three years. She now works at PMO and is graduating at the end of this week!


Sunday afternoon I got to sit out in the house with my family and watch the show. Then I surprised my mom by being a part of the alumni set! She couldn't believe I kept it a secret from her...hehe!


The Purduettes and PMO Kids Choir onstage. The girls were, in my probably biased opinion, the best part of the show! I was so proud!


The Glee Club onstage.


After the last show, it's tradition to sing a song written for PMO, "There Will Always Be a Song." That definitely made me cry! What a memorable weekend!


Coming soon, more stories from the newsroom...it's been a busy week!

Until later!

vacation day five and the weekend that followed

I promise this won't be long because a) it's almost 3:00 AM, b) I am about to completely crash, and c) there is no possible way I can put into words how fantastic my Friday and Saturday have been!

I'll just say that this weekend I've been participating in the 75th Purdue Christmas Show as a member of the Alumni Chorus. Not only has it been a joy and a thrill to have the opportunity to be back on the Elliott stage for a Christmas Show, and to be surrounded by the beautiful voices of the Purduettes and Glee Club, but it's also been just overwhelming to get to relive these moments with some very dear friends I don't get to see very often.

Tonight in particular was fabulous...which is probably evident by the fact that I'm still up at this wee hour! But I don't think I can describe it verbally...when I get all my pictures loaded onto my computer, I'll just show you what a great weekend I've been having!

Until then...nighty night!

What Makes Me Happy

I am wrapping up what has turned out to be a GREAT weekend.

Let me tell you why.

First, I had an wonderful meeting Friday with my boss. I still don't want to spill the beans on this work stuff, but I can basically tell you that things are going really well at work! Which is really good, because there's still a year on my contract there and with my upcoming anniversary, I've been thinking about where I want to go next and what I want to do. I've always liked producing the morning show, but after a year I was starting to think of all the bigger, brighter, shinier things that must be out there. Because the honest truth is, if I stay where I am now, I've got nowhere to go. I can't go to the evenings unless I wait out the contract of the evening producer, and then what if she doesn't want to leave? And even if she did want to leave, I don't really want to move to the evenings anyway, because I love the people who work in the mornings, and as crazy as it may sound, I actually like working while everyone else is sleeping! In fact, I'm seriously considering looking for a morning producing position for my next job. And sleeping in a coffin and sucking the blood of humans and living forever. Just kidding...I just get the ol' vampire joke quite a bit these days. And wouldn't that be a fun way to freak out people when out for dinner as a new girl in a new town?

"Hey, what do you do?"
"Well...I work at night."
"Oh, the graveyard shift, huh?"
"Yessss, you could say that."
"When do you sleep?"
"During the day."
"Yeah, it must be killing you to be up right now when the sun's out, huh?"
"You have no idea."
"So when do you eat?"
"Whenever the opportunity presents itself."
"Right, I guess this would be more like breakfast time for you. Is Italian OK or would you rather go somewhere they serve breakfast?"
"It's fine. Just...nothing with garlic."
"Hmmm, allergic? Well let's just start with a glass of wine. White or red?"
(Spooky smile)...
"Red."

OK, the fact that I took that long to type that out is proof that I should probably stay on the morning side for the sheer fact that I'm a humongous dork. Annnnyway, back to work...where the great thing is that now I still have something to look forward to and get excited about at my current job, rather than just look ahead to when my time's up and I can leave.

On with the weekend!

After work and a solid 5 hours of sleep, I went to a friend's house for dinner with a bunch of friends I haven't seen in awhile, especially Issa, who's home for the first time since going to IU! I love that girl so much and getting to hug her and talk to her NOT on the phone was so refreshing! After dinner, we met up with some more HSM buddies and their friends for "My Best Friend's Girl," at the movie theater. There I got to see Landon, who was also home for the first time since going to IU. And even though we were at the movie theater, we were able to do a little catching up and mostly hugging, which is the best!



This is why we love each other.


So good to see this guy!


My weekend continued Saturday with the Twin Lakes Marching Band Invitational. We had practice in the morning with the color guard girls, so I spent the 45 minute drove over there thinking about how I was going to spend the time between noon and 6:00 without driving back here. Luckily Ethan, the color guard head coach, already had that figured out. He surprised me with tickets to good ol' Indiana Beach and a visit from a couple of friends we used to go to Purdue with! We rode all the rides and spent time sitting and catching up with each other's lives and people watching (IB is a GREAT place for people watching!) and it was a great day! Then we went back and watched some of the bands perform before eating dinner in the staff lounge and then getting our girls warmed up to perform.

We performed in exhibition since we were hosting, but the girls did the best I've seen them do yet. They finally seem to get the concept of smiling even when someone messes up or drops a toss, and I was so proud of them! We also found out that if we HAD been competing, we would have won our division! Our scores were some of the best we've had so far, which was encouraging for the kids. And boy, did they need it. Friday had been a traumatic day at Twin Lakes because four students had been killed in a bus accident and everyone was naturally pretty somber. We dedicated our show to the memory of those students, and our band director had tears in his eyes as he was talking about it before we went on the field. I think the kids, in a small way, needed something like a great score recap to encourage them Saturday night.

I was so pooped by the end of the day that I took no time at all going to sleep when I got home at 12:30 AM. When I woke up, it was Sunday morning and time to go to church to see the Purduettes! The girls sounded great and it was so good to see some of those girls and hear about what's going on in their lives. It just made me proud to be a part of that organization.

So yeah, overall an awesome weekend! Hopefully that will carry into my week with this new project at work still on the line...

Until later! :)

lyrics i love

Ok, so you know how everyone puts lyrics in their AIM buddy profiles to express how they're feeling and stuff? Well, a lot of times I listen to a song and just love the lyrics, but I don't want to put them in my buddy profile or anything because I don't want people thinking, "Geez, what's wrong with her? Is she mad at someone? Is she depressed?" or something like that. Because it may not be how I'm feeling right NOW, it's just something that strikes a chord with me for one reason or another.

So here are some lyrics I love...no strings attached:

jane be jane
you're better that way
not when you're trying
imitating something you think you saw

jane be jane
and if sometimes that might
drive them away
let them stay there
you don't need them anyway

you're worried there might not be
anything at all inside
but that you're worried
should tell you that's not right

don't try to see yourself
the way that others do
it's no use

you're worried there might not be
anything at all inside
but that you're worried
should tell you that's not right

you've had it harder than anyone could know
so hard to let it go

but it's your life
and you can decorate it
as you like
beneath the paint and armour
in your eyes the truth still shines
jane be jane
~"Jane" by Ben Folds (I just love the message to a girl to be herself...I think a lot of us girls get this self-conscious urge to reinvent ourselves or wish we could be like someone else, so this is a good reminder not to do that! Thanks, Ben!)

i never loved nobody fully
always one foot on the ground
and by protecting my heart truly i got lost in the sounds
i hear in my mind all these voices
i hear in my mind all these words
i hear in my mind all this music
and it breaks my heart
and it breaks my heart
~"Fidelity" by Regina Spektor (something about this hits me, and I sometimes feel like Liz Lemon from 30 Rock...I am so in love with my ideas and dreams that I think I have more of a relationship with them than I do with people sometimes. I don't really know that this is what Regina was writing about, but that's how it works for me.)

Second chances they don't ever matter, people never change.
Once a whore you're nothing more, I'm sorry, that'll never change.
And about forgiveness, we're both supposed to have exchanged.
I'm sorry honey, but I'm passing up, now look this way.
Well there's a million other girls who do it just like you.
Looking as innocent as possible to get to who,
They want and what they like it's easy if you do it right.
Well I refuse, I refuse, I refuse!
~"Misery Business" by Paramore (haha...let's just say I can definitely relate to these lyrics! I don't like to hang on to anger, but listening to Paramore is like a fun anger outlet.)

So long honey, babe
Where I'm bound, I can't tell
Goodbye's too good a word, babe
So I'll just say fare thee well
I ain't saying you treated me unkind
You could have done better but I don't mind
You just kinda wasted my precious time
But don't think twice, it's all right.
~"Don't Think Twice" by Bob Dylan (aaaghhh, Bob!!! I love this song and have since a tender high school age. It holds different significance for me in different situations, but I just love this last verse, and how it expresses that feeling we sometimes have about people when we go our separate ways. What a great song writer.)

Didn't make forever.
We each got to go our seperate way,
And now we're standing here, helpless,
Looking for something to say.
We've been together a long time.
We never thought it would end.
We were always so close to each other;
You were always my friend.

And it's hard to say good-bye, my love.
Hard to see you cry, my love.
Hard to open up that door.
You're not sure what you're going for.
~"So Hard to Say Goodbye" from Dreamgirls (I wish I would've listened to this whole soundtrack before graduating from Purduettes, because I would've asked to sing this with my senior class. This pretty much wraps up the feeling of leaving that group--you know you're supposed to move on to bigger and better things, but it's tough to leave something so familiar. Tear!)

Head under water
And they tell me to breathe easy for a while
Breathing gets harder, even I know that
Made room for me, it's too soon to see
If I'm happy in your hands
I'm unusually hard to hold on to

Blank stares at blank pages
No easy way to say this
You mean well, but you make this hard on me

I'm not gonna write you a love song
'Cause you asked for it
'Cause you need one, you see
I'm not gonna write you a love song
'Cause you tell me it's
Make or break in this
If you're on your way
I'm not gonna write you to stay
If all you have is leaving I'm gonna need a better
Reason to write you a love song today

I learned the hard way
That they all say things you want to hear
My heavy heart sinks deep down under
And you and your twisted words,
Your help just hurts
You are not what I thought you were
Hello to high and dry

Convinced me to please you
Made me think that I need this too
I'm trying to let you hear me as I am

I'm not gonna write you a love song
'Cause you asked for it
'Cause you need one, you see
I'm not gonna write you a love song
'Cause you tell me it's
Make or break in this
If you're on your way
I'm not gonna write you to stay
If all you have is leaving I'm gonna need a better
Reason to write you a love song today

Promise me that you'll leave the light on
To help me see with daylight, my guide, gone
'Cause I believe there's a way you can love me
Because I say
I won't write you a love song
'Cause you asked for it
'Cause you need one, you see

I'm not gonna write you a love song
'Cause you tell me it's make or break in this

Is that why you wanted a love song
'Cause you asked for it
'Cause you need one, you see
I'm not gonna write you a love song
'Cause you tell me it's make or break in this
If you're on your way
I'm not gonna write you to stay
If your heart is nowhere in it
I don't want it for a minute
Babe, I'll walk the seven seas
When I believe that there's a reason to
Write you a love song today
~"Love Song" by Sara Bareilles (Gosh! What girl DOESN'T love this song? It says so many things, and I love it because I hate feeling obligated to do something, especially if it's something that should be spontaneous and heartfelt.)

Ok, so there you have it. The lyrics I love but won't put on my AIM profile so as not to risk having anyone read into them and ask me questions. :)

a lot of crazy

Oh my gosh...I just read this blog post by a friend of mine and it was saying a lot of stuff that I totally relate to right now. He was saying that he felt like everyone he knew was getting engaged or married, and did he miss the boat, and how hard it is to have faith that God will take care of it.

Well, I started to reply on his blog with a comment, and it turned into a really LONG comment, and then I realized I was letting out a lot of crazy, so I decided that all this crazy belonged on my blog, not his! So here it is...

There are all these girls I know from the Purduettes who have gotten engaged this year; and some of them are seniors this year...and I remember being a freshman and thinking "I'll probably be engaged by the time I'm getting ready to graduate" and although I don't really have any regrets about how I spent my time in college, I kind of have that feeling of "point of no return" where it's like, well I can't meet someone at school anymore because I'm not AT school; I'm not IN this incubator full of people my age. It might be weird to date someone I work with, and anyway it's not like there are a bunch of single people my age walking around the station. (Actually, pretty much everyone else my age is married or engaged anyway...which just reinforces that feeling of "did I miss something here?")

And it's not like I'm the type of person to go to a bar to meet people...I kind of feel like I want to be friends with someone first so I know what I'm getting into. But then, is that because I am hoping whatever relationship I start to turn into a marriage eventually? Should I think about it that way, or just cool it and try not to look that far forward? And it IS hard to have faith that things will work out...I'm sure God is like, "Lisa, you are screwing this up on your own...just let me handle it." But I think the great part is that He still lets us make these decisions, KNOWING that we're going to make the wrong ones sometimes. It just makes me wonder where everything is headed...I guess I'm excited for whatever lies in store for me. One of my best girls and I used to say all the time that if the relationships we were in weren't meant to be, whatever God has planned for us will be even better...so things can only get better however you look at it! So that makes me optimistic.

An elderly guy who works at the station asks me every couple of weeks if I've gotten a new boyfriend yet. And I always say no. And then he always says, "Well, that's not something you can just go to Walmart and pick off of a shelf, is it?" No, it's not. And then he always says, "But it is one of those things you find when you're not looking for it." Which is so true. I hate pursuing relationships. I love kind of...just discovering them. Or being a little surprised by a turn of events that leads to something I never would've guessed possible.

But it would be nice if I stumbled into something here in the next couple of years...I mean I WOULD like to have kids before I'm 40!

More crazy on the way. Until then!
Lis

Where Are You, Christmas (Show)?

It's mid-October. It's starting to get cold. And the normal American is getting ready for Halloween.

I'm ready for Christmas.

For the past 4 years I have spent this time of year putting in serious time learning various arrangements of Christmas songs and carols for the Purdue Christmas Show. And before those 4 years, I was at least starting to learn a Christmas song or two for one choir concert or other. This year, I'm not doing that, and it's weird. There is definitely a void.

So today I had to give in to the urge and pop in an old Christmas Show rehearsal CD on my way home from work. I almost cried; I am really going to miss being in that show.

Don't get me wrong; it's fantastic not to have the stress and anxiety connected with preparing for a show of that magnitude. But Christmas Show was my favorite part of Purduettes, PMO, and Purdue. I spent all year getting excited about it, and I never got tired of rehearsing for it. When the curtain finally rose in front of a live audience, I was in my element. Nothing else will ever be like performing on that stage, and it's a little sad not to look forward to having that thrill this year.

On the other hand, I am building up anticipation to being in the audience for the first time since I was in high school. I will definitely have a different kind of appreciation for it now that I've been a part of it. And maybe I'll get to sing with the alumni onstage during the carol sing.

P.S. -- I finished training for the producer job today. I did the whole show by myself, pretty much, and it went well! I am excited about flying solo come Sunday night. I really need to watch "Anchorman" again...so many references come to mind now that I'm writing what goes in the teleprompter and dealing more directly with the anchors, but they don't come to mind as readily as they should. I've forgotten a lot from that movie. Time to brush up!

Well, it's past my bedtime. Merry Christmas and a Happy Halloween!

Moving In and Moving On

I am "officially" moved in to my apartment now! (I still have a mess of boxes and other stuff in my closet to deal with, but the point is...it's in the closet.) I even have my phone line working! Ryan called me yesterday, dialing my new number for the first time ever! I still have to get my internet set up in the new place, but I did move my computer and it is up and running, and now it really feels like home. I know, I'm such a nerd that I didn't feel at home until I could use my computer! Pictures to come, I promise!

No-Name Betta Fish is doing well; is it wrong of me to enjoy putting his bowl on top of a mirror sometimes to watch him fight with himself? I just love how big his fins get; they're like big streamers! Yesterday I stuck the end of a pen in the water just to mess with him, and his gills flared out. He didn't attack the pen, though. I haven't given him an official name. I call him Phin a lot, though, and I think he's getting used to it (she's craaaay-zeee....).

Ryan is going back to Glee Club and being a full-time student. I am so proud of him, especially because of the road he's taken to get to this point. I'm trying not to be too overbearing while still showing enthusiasm. I can hardly help it; I think it's a bad combination of me not going back to PMO this year and Ryan being on his way back in...if I'm not careful I'll be trying to live vicareously through him! And I don't want that to happen. I definitely want this to be his own experience. I'm so excited to go see his shows, though.

It's not really that weird that I'm not going back to school--I really like it! It is weird not going back to Purduettes. I still say "we" in reference to the Purduettes, which I'm sure won't wear off for a long time. Hey, I'm proud to be a part of that legacy. I'm not really sad about any of it, just happy to get to experience it a different way; visiting, going to shows, etc.

OK, time to make some TV. Pictures to come!

Apartments, the F-Word, and the Black Cauldron

My mom came into town Friday to help me do my last bit of apartment hunting. I had narrowed it down to three places, and it was really helpful to have her second opinion as I made a final choice. I decided on an apartment complex just a few minutes from downtown and the campus area, which is great for both of my jobs. I'm so excited to move in, which is good because I start moving in less than two weeks! It's crazy how fast it's all happening; after almost 2 months of searching for a place to live, I called, toured, and signed an apartment in a matter of less than 24 hours. And here's the best part: signing for this apartment is the first thing I've really done on my own. No co-signers, like I've had for my car and my bank accounts and everything else in my life so far. It makes me a little nervous, but also excited and proud of myself. I just know that I'm going to have to watch my finances, which sounds really un-fun but that's just part of growing up. Mom and Dad said they're proud of me for being able to do this, which really makes me feel good too.

Listen to all the cool stuff about this apartment! It's got one bedroom, a living room, a kitchen and a decently sized bathroom (definitely bigger than the one I have now!). The complex has laundry (which costs about 2 bucks a load...I'm gonna miss the noisy washer and dryer at my place!), an outdoor pool, an indoor hot tub (eeee!!!), a little workout center (with ellipticals!), a one-mile wooded walking trail, and places to picnic and grill out. I'm so pumped about the outdoor space as well as the indoor workout room, a huge incentive for me to get in shape! I'm so excited to decorate; Ryan has a great eye for this sort of thing, so he's going to help me out, and I know that's gonna be a lot of fun. There's also a great security system in the building, so I'll definitely feel safe. Now I have to start getting organized and packed, while figuring out how to transition out of where I live now, and to be honest, I'm actually sad about moving out of the Loft. It's been my home for the last two years, and it's kinda weird to be moving out. It's funny; I didn't expect to feel any emotion but excitement about moving, but I guess when any place becomes home to you, you're bound to feel a little sad moving out. It's definitely metaphorical; I'll be turning my old home over to girls I know from college, which is nice. I'll still have that connection, but I'm moving on to a new home for a new chapter in my life (pardon the cliche).

On to a totally different and completely un-sentimental subject, I've noticed while working as a waitress that people in the restaurant business seem to use the F-word a lot. I don't really understand why, but I remember Ryan making this observation last summer when he was waiting tables as well. Other common trends among people who work in restaurants are making sex-related comments or jokes, and going out to get drunk about every night. And I'm not just talking about the servers; it's also the bartenders, kitchen crew, and managers, and even corporate-level people. It's like a bunch of people who never quit living the typical college life. And here's the thing--a lot of these people are, in fact, college students, but what sort of surprised me is the people in their late 20s and 30s who act this way. It's kind of bizarre. It's a stressful job, so maybe people who have this job like to relieve stress by going out and getting wasted so they have something to talk about the next day during lunch shift, and maybe another way to relieve stress when they are at work and can't drink is to use the F-word? I dunno. Maybe it just started out that way and an atmosphere of that developed and now we've just gotten into the habit of that being the norm. All I can say is, it's almost like people will and do find every way possible to use the f-word. I actually heard someone say last night that we had a "f***load of laundry" in the basement. What does that even mean?

Entertainment recommendations of the night:
Ryan and I went to see "Transformers." It is awesome, even if you're like me and didn't watch the cartoons growing up. I totally fell in love with Bumblebee, and I wish my car turned into a robot-alien who protected me and played a soundtrack to my life on his radio. Next, I am totally addicted to the CBS summer reality series "Pirate Master." I am soooo rooting against the Triad and hoping Louie and the girls will rally and knock those guys on their butts. Although, I have to say, they are definitly playing a smart game. I'm pulling for mutiny, but it would have to take a lot to break up the officers and the captain. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go to CBS.com and watch all the Pirate episodes online. You will get hooked. No pun intended. Well, maybe a little bit intended. Musically I haven't gotten into anything new lately, but I am wondering what happened to my John Mayer CD because apparantly I never ripped it onto my computer, and now I don't have his albums anywhere. I do need to go find myself a copy of the soundtrack to "Legally Blonde the Musical" because I think that comes out in the next few days, and I'll let you know what I think about it!

One final note on movies: I borrowed Disney's animated film "The Black Cauldron" from the library this week because I don't recall ever watching it as a kid. It's one of those obscure ones from (I think) the 80s, when the Disney company was considering shutting down the animation department altogether, and they didn't have much of a budget. You can tell the animation is a lot less finished than the typical Disney animated movie, and it's uncharacteristically dark for a film of this brand. I have read that Tim Burton was at that time working as an animator at Disney and assisted on this film, but I didn't see his name in the credits, although I can see how they'd assign him to that project. It's not long, only 80 minutes, so if you're curious like me, you can watch it and not feel like you wasted your life or anything. I also borrowed Disney's animated version of "Peter Pan" and it's got some pretty neat choral sections in the score that I think would be really neat for Glee Club and Purduettes together; it has a very Fred Waring sound to it, true to the time period when that film was done. Also, that Tinkerbell is really funny, and like most Disney movies, there is humor there that I didn't pick up on as a kid. Tink has that luxury of being the only girl among the "guys" (Lost Boys) and holding special regard with Peter, so when Wendy shows up and unseats Tink, the portrayal of her jealousy is so classic and funny, because all of us girls know how much we hate to see our "guys" give their attention to another girl! If you haven't watched this in awhile, give it another look.

Ok, that's it for me. Much more to come!

Graduating

I have sat through two commencement ceremonies a year for the past four years here at Purdue, because the Purduettes sing at the winter commencements. Here at Purdue, the ceremonies are split up because there are so many thousands of people graduating that it would be impossible to fit everyone and their parents in one ceremony at Elliott Hall, which, by the way, seats over 6,000 people. So in the winter they split it into two ceremonies, and in the spring they split it into four. Just to give you a picture. Each one is about two hours long, and there are so many people that only the graduate and doctorate degrees get their names read; everyone getting a bachelor’s or associate’s degree gets to see his name up on a screen with about ten other people as he walks across the stage. Which, don’t get me wrong, is pretty cool.

I just figured, knowing how boring and long and impersonal these things could be, it wouldn’t mean a whole lot to me.

I knew it meant a lot to my family, and hey, they knew what to expect. My mom and dad both graduated from Purdue. And if it was important to them, I’d try to make it a special day. Ryan even pointed out to me what a great accomplishment it was.

“You’re the only person I’m this close to who has ever graduated from college,” he said. “It’s a big deal.” And he was absolutely right.

It’s not like I didn’t want to go through graduation…I just wasn’t really excited about it.

Plus, it was weird; none of my Purduette classmates were graduating with me. Beth has another semester, and Laura still has more school. Meghan was going to go through graduation, but I didn’t know what section she was in, so as far as I knew, I would show up at the armory, get in line, and go through the ceremony with a bunch of strangers that I had apparently been going to school with over the last four years. It wasn’t like high school graduation, where you’re with all your friends, and all the teachers are there, and everyone knows you. I’d be lucky if the Glee Club guys, who were going to be singing onstage, would catch me as I walked by.

When my family arrived, it felt like something out of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Marla popped her head in the door to give me about a ten-second warning that everyone was here. Then in came Mom, Dad, Mamaw, and Papaw, with hugs, questions, and comments. Mamaw immediately pounced on the graduation robe I had laid out on my bed and began wishing she’d brought her steamer.

“Well, I bet we could iron it right here on the bed,” she offered. I told her no, thanks, because no one else’s was going to look any better, and from where everyone was sitting they wouldn’t be able to tell if it had wrinkles anyway. I was almost ready when they all got there, but not quite, so then I had the fun of people watching me get ready. For some reason, this is a pet peeve of mine. I think it’s because I worry that the person watching me is thinking, “Is she really going to do her hair like that?”

Finally it was time to go to the ceremony. I had to be at the armory, next door to the Hall of Music, an hour before the ceremony, and everyone else was going to go find seats. At the armory, Dad helped me put my little white collar on my robe while Mom and Mamaw corrected my placement of my cap on my head. Marla, who was taking pictures of all of this, told me I looked pissed off, and I knew my lack of excitement and slight irritation at all the nitpicky attention was coming through loud and clear. I had to at least try to act as excited as they all were.

That’s when Katy showed up.

Katy was my roommate and instant best friend our freshman year at Purdue. She was getting ready to graduate with a degree in English Education, and soon after would find out she’d been offered a teaching job in a high school near Indianapolis. She was a member of the Delta Gamma sorority and about a year ago talked Marla into rushing. Marla joined DG, and Katy took her under her wing from the very beginning, doing everything from pairing Marla with the perfect match of a Big Sis in the house to teaching Marla how to tease back her hair.

I can’t tell you how glad I was to see Katy. Just like when she showed up in our dorm room during orientation week with all of her cute dorm accessories and reminded me how fun and adventurous college life was going to be, she showed up in front of the armory asking my dad for help with her collar, since he’d figured out mine, and wanting pictures of the two of us together, and she reminded me how special it was going to be to finish this fun and adventurous time and start off on a new one of even greater significance.

Katy and I went inside and parted ways to sign in. Get this—we had to get a sticker with our names and numbers next to them so we’d know who to stand behind in alphabetical order! I felt like one of the calves at my grandma’s farm when my parents and aunt and uncle are working cattle; I might as well have had a tag in my ear. Wouldn’t that be funny? All the tags in colors to match our tassels representing our schools and degrees!

I was trying to find which line to get into when I saw standing together Ashley from the Purdue Bells in PMO, Lindsey, who used to go to my high school, and Amanda, a former Purduette classmate. The three of them were standing together and talking, and as they greeted me enthusiastically, I got the feeling that this kind of was like high school graduation…all of your classmates waiting in the gym, checking to see if someone’s cap is straight or if someone’s hair doesn’t look too goofy under the cap. I finally found my check-in line, and when I got to the front, who was there to sign me in but Colleen Williams, the academic advisor who had helped me schedule my classes every semester and who never let me completely commit academic suicide by taking on too much.

“Oh, you got your hair cut!” she said as she found my sticker and patted it onto the shoulder of my black robe. I smiled. She was like the teacher who always helped you out during high school, even if you didn’t have a class with her.

I lined up, it turned out, behind a guy I had met my first semester at Purdue. He remembered me, so it was really fun to be within speaking distance of a previous acquaintance. A few more people ahead of him stood Amanda, which was also a comfort. And after some final instructions about when and where to stand, sit, or walk, we began the ceremony.

We all paraded out of the armory and past the Hall of Music and the bell tower. Then we took a lap around the Engineering Mall as people stood outside waving and taking pictures. There was something really cool about taking this walk down sidewalks you’d hurried across so many times as a student, only this time at a leisurely pace and in a cap and gown. It made me feel the finality of walking in these places as a student for the last time. And I realized that this was the part I had never seen before when I sat through those winter commencements.

This was the special part. This was the part of the ceremony that was for me.

The rest was for Mom and Dad, Mamaw and Papaw. The speeches were great, the music was beautiful, and the university president, who knew me through Purduettes and a scholarship group I had been in as a freshman, made a point to get up out of his chair and meet me onstage as I walked across. He gave me a hug and shook my hand and asked what I would be doing after graduation, and he wished me good luck. I think it was a special ceremony weekend for him as well; he was retiring from Purdue at the end of the school year.

The two hours of commencement were gorgeous, and they meant a lot more to me than I could of imagined. But whenever I think back to the day I graduated from Purdue, it won’t be the stage full of glee clubbers, band members, faculty, and trustees that I will remember. For me, it will be that stretch of pavement between Elliott Hall and the engineering buildings, where I last walked as a student at Purdue.