...That about sums up my state of mind at the moment.
Spring break is long over. I'm back at Interlochen and, like the rest of my senior buddies, currently KICKING ASS. If our final quarter of high school had a theme song, it would be this - we are so very close to it, and there is still so much energy in us. We can do this. We can graduate, move on, leave high school behind. We will leave our mark on Interlochen, before we go on to make our mark on the world.
As of yesterday, I'm officially enrolled at McDaniel College in Maryland, literally on the edge of so many amazing cities from Baltimore to D.C., close to the action but not in the middle of it, with a professional TV studio and plenty of light kits at my disposal. I applied to the one place where literally no other senior MPA applied, so I will know absolutely no one when I go off to college. I have no safety net. I won't be able to choose my freshman roommate or drive five miles down the road to a neighboring friend's college. I will be over 500 miles from my parents. The nearest familiar adult is my aunt, and even she is an hour away. For the first time in my life, I will really, truly be on my own.
And I am so looking forward to that, I can't even begin to explain it. It's like part of me is clinging to Interlochen because that is what I know, that is where I have spent over half of my high-school career. But the other part--a much bigger part--is telling me, "Let go." So that's what I will do, when my time comes. Will I cry? Yes. Will I always miss this place? Of course I will. Are there people who I will miss so badly that it'll feel like I'm going through best-friend withdrawal? HELL FREAKING YEAH.
But, like generations of high-schoolers before me, I will get through it.
We all will.
We have so much to look forward to. The end of the year--MORP, Senior Coffeehouse, honors convocation, Festival, StreetBeat--all of our final flings with our high-school besties. Graduation--the day we're all waiting for, our official entrance into the adult world. College--and who the hell knows what will be waiting for us there? New friends, new interests, a new life. Separated forever from the protective confines of our parents (usually). Most importantly this is our first real chance to DO something, our first chance to show the world who we really are.
There's so much energy in us, Seniors. Let's not go out with a whimper. Let's kick some ass for our last seven weeks of high school, go out with a bang, and give the underclassmen something to remember the way we lovingly remember the graduating classes of our past.
So in accordance with my senior plan (aka my plan to do as much insane stuff as possible before school ends), yesterday I went around with a ginormous stuffed bunny named Betsey. But wait, there's more: First, I dressed Betsey in an Interlochen uniform. Then, I took her to Physics class, where my teacher cracked up and insisted I introduce my bunny to the class. Then, I met up with my "wife" Julia and we took Betsey, our "daughter" to the weekly community meeting. And THEN I took Betsey to MPA block with me, where my underclassman friends took great delight in making bunny jokes and laughing at my silliness. After that, I went to dinner and witnessed an impromptu dance party and much celebration of the fact that we FINALLY have some warm weather...as well as a very amusing incident involving my friend putting a toy monkey down her shirt.
This is just one of those things I love about this place. It's so full of these "only-at-Interlochen" moments that you just couldn't have anywhere else. If I took around a giant stuffed bunny at my old school I might've gotten assaulted. But here? Well, if I DIDN'T do random, weird things I'd be considered a stick in the mud. Still, there's a line between the usual Interlochen weirdness and the out-of-this-world strangeness witnessed on less-frequent occasions. (This is one of the reasons I got such a reaction to the bunny.) And you can bet that on Saturday night's dance (we actually have dances again!) there will be a multitude of crazy characters and interesting situations.
Tonight there was a Comparative Arts salon. For anyone who doesn't know what in the blue hell that is (I didn't, before this year), basically it's a multi-media recital of sorts, a place where people can sing, recite, dance, act, display visual art and photography, screen films, and read their fiction or poems. In this case, there were multiple displays instead of a show, and I got to witness a Japanese tea ceremony, Interlochen as a retirement home, video game, and military cult, salt art made only using high-pitched sounds and vibrations, various photography displays, and chocolate that smelled better than Elizabeth Taylor perfume.
This is another thing I love about Interlochen: The performances. Last year I lived for orchestra recitals. This year I live for choir concerts. (No joke...I actually cried when I found out I couldn't go to the January choir concert because of the MPA screening. I considered skipping my screening for the choir show!) There is something magical about a place where in one week, you can see a ballet, a concert, and a play. You know you're lucky to be here when you realize that the amazing pianist you saw at Collage is one of your best friends. You know you've hit the jackpot when you actually enjoy hearing your vocally-talented roommate sing in the shower.
An update on the Random 2 AM Blog Post That I Will Later Regret:
I have stopped staying up all night worrying that I have wasted my life. I am eighteen years old. I do not need to be worrying about things like that. This is it. This is not a dress rehearsal. I only have so much time left to be a kid--do I really want to clutter that up with wondering if I'll make a decent adult?
I am not ashamed of that post. (Obviously, or I would've deleted it.) I know that this is just one of the things I do--that is, spilling my guts to the internet--and if I have something to say, I should not be afraid or ashamed to say it.
While I am most definitely still in love with The Boy, I am no longer obsessing over him. He didn't want me the way I wanted him--case closed. Move on. Accept that we are meant to be just friends and let it go. Like I said in the post, there will be other boys, other loves. This is not the last time that I will ever fall hard and be hurt...but, like every other time, all I can do is get back up.
It is spring. Winter is over. (No, I am not turning into Rebecca Black, and no, I will not say that summer comes afterward.) I made it through the frozen tundra of Interlochen, and now I can make it through my last days of high school. And I will do it with a smile. While I know that these are in no way the best years of my life--even Brad Paisley says so--it's still been pretty darn fun.
So this is it. Now, I have to make the most of the time I have left with my Interlochen friends, spend as much time as I can in my favorite places (until some of them become infested with those stupid hanging worms), and, to quote Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, skip classes, take chances, have fun...
'Cause when it's over, it is done.
STOLEN DIALOGUE
(Apologies in advance, there is a bit of harsh language in this batch of Stolen Dialogue...be forewarned.)
"I feel like the apocalypse could hit and you'd just be like, 'Whatever, dude.'"
Physics teacher: You canNOT leave out the units!...So, what should happen here?
Student: Whoever wrote that answer should retake this class!
"You should see my answer to #4...'How much energy would it take to clear a one-meter hurdle?' I answered that it would take less energy than you'd need to jump over a two-meter hurdle, and more energy than you'd need to clear a one-half meter hurdle."
"Is there a reason why you just put a monkey down your bra?"
"I need to lay off the drugs...look at this! I'm hugging a bunny in a rainbow dress...holy crap."
"Okay, so there are these frogs that you can lick to get high, and I had to take care of one once, so I know...and you know what? They're so much safer than PCP because if you do PCP once you can die, but to die from this you'd have to do, like, a shit-ton of frog."
"I don't feel like being an idiot today, so I'll go to English class."
Person one: What's your chemistry assignment?
Person two: It's just a bunch of little problems, but it's...ugh!
Person one: Ah, the universal language of homework.
Person three: Actually, I say something a little different...I say 'Fuuuuuuck...'
(seeing a bag of Chai tea)
Person one: Ooh, it looks like wood chips!
Person two: Wood chips that you DRINK!
Person one: This is why I drink coffee...
"I love him in a way that no man should...actually, I probably shouldn't say that at Interlochen, you could really take that the wrong way."
Person one: That's it, I'm officially in love with Misery Bear.
Person two: Who AREN'T you in love with these days?!
"I can't imagine living with Ms. O. I'd be in a constant state of intimidatedness...and that isn't even a word."
"You defy my imagination. In a good way."
Person one: So how are you?
Person two: I'm fine. Apathetic, but fine.
Person one: I see...one of those "I don't give a damn" nights?
Person two: More like one of those "I don't give a damn" weeks.
Person one: I've decided that people are full of crap when they say high school is the best time of your life.
Person two: Well why the hell did you approach it with that idea in your head in the first place?
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