Entry posted by GSR
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Last Saturday, I graduated from college with a Bachelor of Science (and honors) in Computer Science, a certificate in Japanese, and - thanks to a combination of my parents being able to save up for the past twenty years, a scholarship, in-state tuition rates, and a couple of internships - no debt. (The fact that last bit makes me the exception rather than the rule is a bit depressing.) I had a few research-related things to take care of Monday and Tuesday, but now - it's over. Like legit done. I am no longer a college student. (I may be a graduate student at some point in the future, but not now, at least.)
To say this is profoundly weird is underselling it, and that's even before we get to the fact I actually have the summer open. College was a guiding force in my life for the past four years, a blend of work, education, and social life that - if not always perfect, and if occasionally a bit too harsh - was more fun than not. Now? I've been cut loose. "Good job," it boils down to, "now get out there and fend for yourself."
That's over-dramatizing, I know. I have a job lined up starting in August (and will be moving out to the West Coast permanently as a result), and I'm surrounded by family and friends who have been supportive, eager to offer advice, and just generally fantastic. Still, it's just - whoa. I'm like, an adult now. That's about as weird as it gets. And y'know, that was a really fast four years.
It's also pretty weird to realize that my return to BZP lined up pretty closely with college. I'd gotten reminded of this old series I used to like, Bionicle, sometime in summer 2010. Then around the turn of the new year, I actually managed to dig up my BZP login - turns out the server was looking for something other than 'GSR' due to having a different name during a long-ago server change - stopped by, made a post or two about how it was cool to be back, but I didn't anticipate being very active and all that. (Well, not exactly, lest I get smacked by the mods for making "I'm back!" posts.)
Then BZP went down. And stayed that way for a while. And then it came back, and so did I. And then I wrote a story. And then I started talking to people. And then I became staff. And very suddenly I was having the slightly surreal experience of discovering new hobbies, making new friends, and having a more honest, fun time online than I'd had in several years thanks to a forum I'd joined in I think fifth grade. All while I was going through college, having internships, and (apparently?) doing Grown Up Stuff.
So - here I am now! A college graduate, a BZP FL. What a weird four years, and I mean that in the best possible way. I might be done with uni for the time being (grad school's quite possible in a few years), but I'm quite used to BZP these days; I've met tons of fantastic people here, written some stuff that - if not great - was at least half-decent, and (hopefully) helped bring about at least a bit of positive change as staff.
So here's to four weird, great years, and many more to come.
(Also as long as I'm making a blog post - I will be out of town for about a week starting, oh, two hours from now. So sorry if I'm difficult to get in contact with!)
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