Dear Carmen:

Congratulations! We have posted your degree to your AU transcript. Your official graduation date is December 17, 2007. That date will be recorded on both your official AU transcript and your AU diploma.

(Blah blah blah commencement stuff blah blah)

Congratulations once again on your academic achievement! We hope you enjoyed your time at American University and wish you the very best.

Sincerely,

The Office of the Registrar

**edit** Totally unrelated but must be posted. Chocolate Chip Bacon Cookies. Wow.

I AM DONE WITH FIVE OF MY SIX CLASSES.

MY SCREENPLAY IS FINISHED AND HANDED IN.

MY SCREENWRITING PROFESSOR ASKED ME IF I WANTED TO HELP HER IN PRE-PRODUCTION FOR A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT BISEXUALITY NEXT YEAR.

AHHHHHHH.

... went okay. I think. I had my first yoga class with Amanda this morning. The teacher is a cute grad student who walked us through a detailed syllabus and some basic poses. I think this class will be really good for me. Since biking and salsa dancing is helping me become more fit, I think it's good to have a physical activity that will make me more aware of my own body, and strengthen my ever-troublesome back, shoulders, and neck. Hopefully, it will also help me relax and generally Calm The Fuck Down, which is something that I really need to do.

After yoga, I went to the bookstore to pick up the text for that class (which looks really interesting... The Deeper Dimension of Yoga) and then putzed around for a while. I got some lunch, said hi to Iwan and some other people on campus, went to the Honors Office to set up an appointment, sorted my papers into my new spiffy purple notebook, and even studied a few words on the bench outside.

My Ceramics class only lasted about a half an hour. The professor (who is from the Baltimore area and seems quite nice) went over the syllabus, and then let us go.

Just as I was leaving Katzen, I got a phone call from the SOC Advising Office that a class that I'd tried to blue-card into last semester had an opening, and I had to come pick up the paperwork. For about six seconds I was completely excited. The class is Advanced Screenwriting, and the class was closed even before I could register because it's primarily occupied by graduate students (who register before undergrad) and I had to get onto a waiting list. The reason I want to take it is twofold - I'm extremely interested in screenwriting and did very, very well in my last screenwriting class, and also I need one more 500-level class to qualify for Honors credit so I can graduate with general University Honors. And it was great 'cause this class fits perfectly into my schedule.

As I took my blue card triumphantly toward the Registrar's Office, I had this horrible, sinking thought. I sat down, pulled out my planner and schedule, and began to look at what I had this semester.

This is my messily formatted schedule as it stands (HNRS = needed for Honors credit):

Class----------------------Credit/Reason for Taking Class

Yoga------------------------------1.00-Health and general relaxation
Ceramics--------------------------3.00-Requirement for major/graduation
Drawing---------------------------3.00-Requirement for major/graduation
Advanced Visual Media Portfolio---3.00-Requirement for major/graduation, HNRS
Photojournalism-------------------3.00-Requirement for major/graduation, HNRS
Advanced Screenwriting------------3.00-Requirement for major/graduation, HNRS


Right now, I'm at 16 credits. AU's tuition covers up to 18 credits. So I'm good, right?

Except that I'm not. See, in addition to these classes, I have to take an independent study for my Honors Capstone. Not only am I having a bitch of a time finding an advisor (everyone is too busy), but the independent study is worth... you guessed it... three credits. Which puts me at 19 credits. Which means that if my schedule doesn't change, I owe AU an extra THOUSAND FREAKING DOLLARS for ONE CREDIT.

Now, if I had even a smidgen of common sense, I'd just drop the Yoga class. But I really, really, really, really don't want to. I NEED that one class of exercise and meditation and low stress or else I will go insane. I'd like to push the stereotypical artistic/writerly insanity off for a few years. Let me get some travel and relationships and whatnot under my belt before I become a brilliant recluse who eats beans out of tin cans and talks to my cat and trembles over my typewriter with a cigarette dangling from my lower lip.

I can't drop or audit anything else. They're either required for honors credit, my major/graduation, or both. Plus, they're all things I want to take.

Goddamn school and forcing me to graduate early. Stupid, idiotic financial aid people. ARGH.

Students Lie in Front of Car, Delay Rove After Speech

By Martin Weil and Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, April 4, 2007; Page B04

Heckling protesters briefly delayed the car carrying top White House aide Karl Rove last night as he left the American University campus, where he had just given a speech. No arrests or injuries were reported after Rove's invitation-only talk.

About 20 students lay in front of the car as it prepared to leave, a witness said.

( Read more... )

Mondays:

Intro to Creative Writing 9:55-11:10 (Randon Noble)
Reporting 2:10-3:25 (Amy Eisman)

Tuesdays:

Dissident Media 11:20-12:35 (D. Walker)
Education for International Development 12:45-2:00 (Charles Tesconi)

Wednesdays:

Beginning Fencing 11:20-2:00 (A. Ryjik)
Women Presidents and Prime Ministers 2:10-4:50 (Patricia Sykes)

Thursdays:

Intro to Creative Writing 9:55-11:10 (Randon Noble)
Reporting 2:10-3:25 (Amy Eisman)

Fridays:

Dissident Media 11:20-12:35 (D. Walker)
Education for International Development 12:45-2:00 (Charles Tesconi)

Thoughts on the Schedule as a Whole:

Not bad. A nice, steady schedule: two classes every day. The earliest, my only 9:55, is Creative Writing, which is okay because unlike my 9:55 Microeconomics class last semester (*stabs out eyeballs with spork*) I actually enjoy the subject. Also, I have a huge gap between that and the next class, so I can always come back and take a nap. Other than that, it's 11:20s across the board. Wednesdays should be interesting, because I'll have my Women Presidents and Prime Ministers class after my two and a half hour fencing class. This means I'll always show up sweaty, smelly, and probably exhausted. Oh well. I'll adapt.

Thoughts on the Classes and Profs:

Creative Writing: I'm really looking forward to this class. I absolutely love creative writing, and what better than to have a class entirely devoted to this passion? Ratemyprofessors.com gave Professor Noble a lot of positive remarks, including this:

I have had her for the past 3 semesters and she is one of the greatest teachers i have ever had.

Many of the remarks comment on the amount of writing involved, but lots of writing has never daunted me.

Reporting: The next class in my communications major. I'm super excited but also nervous. I feel like this will determine if I'm cut out for journalism. Fortunately, I have Professor Eisman again, who I had for Writing for Mass Comm last semester. I loved her, and I have a very good grip on her teaching style, which always helps.

Dissident Media: This class looks so awesome, and I know that Sam really liked it a lot. Ratemyprofessors.com doesn't list D. Walker as a professor, which means that he/she is either new or a grad student. We'll see.

Women Presidents and Prime Ministers: This is an honors colloquia that I'm very excited to take. The professor is Patricia Sykes, who is hailed on Rateyourprofessor.com as a brilliant lecturer. Coolness.

Beginning Fencing: *bites lip* OK, so I decided that in order to make sure that I'm keeping healthy, I decided to take a class that would require physical discipline and activity. I chose fencing, because, honestly, who doesn't want to wield a foil and wear a cool mask? Matt is a huge fencer (he told me that he probably would have gone on to the Olympics if he wouldn't have stopped last year), so he offered to help me out. But he did warn me (among others, including Little Sam) that I would be exhausted. It's very physically taxing. Which means that I'll be working out and trying to stay on top. But I'm determined to do well. The professor isn't listed on Rateyourprofessor.com, but I checked the AU ratings, and no one seems to have any problems with the class (the lowest grade was a B or a B+). Honestly, I think that if I try my hardest, I can do well.

Education for International Development: This was the only 2nd level Gen Ed class that I wanted to take in this category, and it looks somewhat interesting. The professor, Charles Tesconi, is given a "so-so" face on Ratemyprofessors.com. I was a little nervous, but the more I read, the more I thought that he will reflect more of this:

One of the best professors I've had. Insightful, patient, dedicated. always passionate in class. You will learn so much from him about education and life.

Than this:

He's a teacher that can't teach teaching. Ha!

*shakes head* Some people. We will see.

Other things I plan on doing this semester:

- starting up the DC Dress Exchange (see last friends-locked post)
- perhaps doing a little editing business on the side
- working at the library
- having a radio show with Neal
- Rocky Horror

I want to go back! Why must I sit here for another month?

Oh, and just to make my absence from DC ever more unbearable, I just found out that Karmella's Game is playing IN THE BASEMENT OF KAY SPRITUAL CENTER (which is on campus, for those who aren't AU-savvy). TOMORROW NIGHT. And there's also a prayer service in DC with the folks from Sojourners, calling on the Bush administration to end the genocide in Darfur, this weekend.

Oh, and not to mention that I'm missing everyone like crazy.

*headdesk*

Soon. Soon, my precious.