The First of Many Sappy Georgetown Posts

As of today, there are- count 'em- 27 days until I walk across the stage (hopefully without tripping and falling flat on my face) and become a graduate of this fine institution. "Freaking out" does not even begin to describe how I'm feeling about graduation in this moment, because, honestly, I'm a mess of emotions. I thought I had crossed that threshold, leaving behind teary thoughts of leaving this place that has become my home and embracing all of the change that will come my way before I know it. But I still have many a teary moment (and will, undoubtedly, even after graduation) and moments to doubt, where I question whether I'm really ready to go out into the real world, to make adult decisions, and to leave the padded, secure little world that is the Hilltop. Am I ready to work a 9-to-5 (assuming I get one of those-still very much a work in progress)?

Can I bear to leave the Tombs? Because God knows it won't be acceptable, after I graduate, for me, the Super Senior, to creepily hang out there for hours on end like I do now while all of the younger kids think, 'Why doesn't the old lady find her own bar?'. I had a really emotional moment the other day, as I sat at the bar sipping my habitual lemonade, chatting with one of my favorite bartenders. I thought to myself, 'I'm so glad I did 99 Days.' There's something about walking into a place and being "conocida", as they call it in Spain, having everyone know your name. The bartenders and many of the waiters don't ask for my ID anymore, and I often don't have to ask to be put down for 99 Days, because they know that I'm one of the regulars. Tombs is like my Cheers, it's where everybody knows my name. And it has been the setting for the forming of new friendships and the deepening of old ones- hey, who cares if they may or may not be based entirely on a shared commitment to over-consumption of alcohol. My friends may laugh at my craziness (because, let's face it, you have to be a little crazy to commit to buying at least one food or drink item at the SAME BAR for 99 straight days!), but 99 Days has really brought my senior spring full-circle. I couldn't think of another place where I would rather celebrate turning in my baby, my monster of a thesis (76 pages in French, including bibliography and appendices!), especially with our usual Trivia crowd.

I guess this sort of turned into an "I Love Tombs" post, but whatever, it just happens to be on my mind a lot. There are certainly a plethora of other things I'll miss about Georgetown, but I'll talk about those in later posts!!!! My philosophy, though, is to live the next 27 days to the fullest and not take a single moment of this place I love and the people I love for granted. I don't want to be that woman who says, 'I wish I could be back in college again'- I want to have lived my experience to the fullest, so that I couldn't possibly top it!!!

In interesting news, I crossed two items off of my Georgetown bucket list: I sat in John Carroll's lap, and I frolicked in the Dahlgren fountain (granted, I felt like I was covered in parasites after the latter, but it was still more than worth it!).