April Showers

It has been rain, rain, raining all day today. Steady downpours and wind howling around corners. The grass is greening up and flowers are poking through the soil. Unfortunately I won't be around to appreciate the lovely outcome of all this moisture. May will barely have its foot in the door before I leave campus for the summer. Three weeks. It's a mantra running through my head these days. Three weeks.

We're getting to the crunch time of the semester as I'm sure you seniors out there are too. Big decisions coming up--summer jobs, where to spend the next four years of your life, etc. Don't sweat it. People will try to tell you that there is one perfect college for everyone but that's a lie. Some colleges will be better fits than others but rarely does one encounter someone who steps onto a campus and instantly souls meld and birds sing. Most people can carve out a place for themselves anywhere they go. Be optimistic and go with your gut or, failing that, pocketbook. My sister is a director of financial aid at a small liberal arts college in Minnesota and if there is one thing any vacillating high school senior should know it's this: never leave college with more than $20,000 of debt. Any more and paying those loans back will become a major burden. Also, private lenders are a bad idea. No bank loans under any circumstances. Take a Stafford, even unsubsidized, or other federal loan over a private loan that is subject to jumping interest rates and can rarely be consolidated.

Okay, enough money talk. It was student Symposium Day so classes were canceled. I went to see three symposiums, a modest amount. All of them were informative and interesting but some more polished or attention-grabbing than others. The one about librarian stereotypes was hilarious, particularly because my brother in law is a research librarian. Therefore I am very familiar with modern librarian culture and the whole "hipster librarian" movement. Fun, fun. It feels like a long weekend for me, especially because I only have one class tomorrow. Lazy girl. This rain makes me want to curl up in bed with a good book but unfortunately I have plumb run out of new literature! I really, really, really want to read Jhumpa Lahiri's newest short story collection--Unaccustomed Earth--but can't get a copy of it. In lieu of reading perhaps I'll spend my weekend in the weaving studio. I finished my muppet blanket and am on to alpaca. Baa. Or whatever an alpaca says. Do they make sounds? Perhaps they are the strong, silent types of the camelid family.