The Graduate

June 3, Day 13 of being a graduate from Dickinson College and so far the real world is pretty nice. I must admit, I haven't experienced any real world kinds of things yet though, so my opinion is probably a little skewed. Let me just take you through the past couple of weeks briefly. Graduation day: Unfortunately our original Commencement speaker backed out at the last second because he thought leading the Army in Afghanistan was too important (guess you can't blame him, that's a pretty good excuse, maybe next time Petraeus). So we had another guy, but at least his was short. Ceremony went of without a hitch, beautiful weather, graduation party following that. Post-Graduation Days: Two days after that I got to sit around the house and do just about nothing. Now I can't confirm this, but I'm pretty sure that is not what this so called real world consists of, so these days aren't providing a great basis either. Post-Post-Graduation Days: Now here's where it gets interesting. Going to a school like Dickinson you're bound to have friends in high places, and for a week I was lucky enough to experience the perks of such a friendship. I got a week's vacation in sunny South Beach, where the water is clear, the lights are bright, and the breeze is cool. Sitting on the beach all day, wandering Miami at night, eating out every day, and staying in a condo on the 33rd floor of the Continuum South Tower. Oddly none of these characteristics have been listed in the "real world" definitions I've received. Luckily I've got another two and a half weeks to live up this hiatus from the real world before my rude awakening officially begins on June 21 where I start my tenure as a TFA corps member. Until then though, I plan to take full advantage of these weeks. Not a bad way to start out in the real world--with a nice long vacation. (Readers: don't be too quick to jealousy just yet, in a few months I'll be teaching a classroom in inner-city Baltimore and complaining about how harsh the real world is. So don't fret, rude awakening countdown now begins: 17 days till real world lift off.)