On Friday, I skipped out of student teaching a bit early (shhh) and headed back to Cougar Town. My purpose: to apply for graduation. As I was standing in the long line in the ASB (okay, I admit it, Friday was the final deadline) I looked down at the "Application for Baccalaureate Degree" I held in my hands, and realized I was a year late! The signatures (mine, the Spanish Advisor's and the Education Advisor's) were all dated sometime back in 2006. Oops.
To be honest, I was only a little surprised. The past year has been full and productive, and I can't be made to regret my decision to postpone graduation (again...and again). Is getting an education about getting that degree as fast as possible or is it really about having experiences? In my heart, I believe it is the latter, though every once in awhile I am seduced to believe otherwise (like when I realize that people who were still in middle school when I graduated from high school already have those highly coveted degrees...and, "real jobs"). In any case, I don't feel the need to justify myself, but I would like to mention a few of the experiences that have contributed to the postponing of my original graduation date (April, 2004) to my current one (ahem, April,
2008)...
FRESHMAN BOYFRIEND: After a semester of staying out till (I won't say how late, in case mom's reading) and repeatedly sleeping through 9am (and sometimes 10am) classes, I decided that 15 credits were WAY too many for anyone to take in a single semester, and opted for 12. Foolish? Perhaps. But I learned more about myself from dating ( and breaking up with) Freshman Boyfriend than I could have in any class. So, no regrets.
LONDON: Most Theatre majors don't really plan to do it in four years. The program's not really designed that way- it's way too long, and there are too many extra-curricular projects expected of everyone. To remedy those issues, I really SHOULD have spent my Springs and Summers grinding away. But the summer after my Sophomore year I decided to escape Provo, and I headed to London for two months. I saw over thirty shows, West End and otherwise, made life-long friends (shout out to Josh, Rachel and Janine), and learned that I was more than who I thought I was.
MISSIÓN ESPAÑA BILBAO: A month after I returned home from London, I turned in papers to serve an LDS mission. I had realized that every blessing I enjoyed in my life (including my education at Brigham Young University) were bi-products of my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and my knowledge and acceptance of the Gospel. Somewhere along the line, I found that sharing that with others might, somehow, be important. I was called to serve in Spain, and loved every minute of it. Leaving in November meant missing two full school years, but it was worth it. I learned patience, charity, Spanish...and much more (see Mission Journal Volumes 1, 2, 3 & 4).
PUEBLA: After a year back at BYU I got the travel itch. I was registered for Fall classes and all, but somehow, felt a bit unsettled. So when I randomly checked my "Junk Mail" one day, and found an email from an acquaintance asking for "one more Spanish-speaking female to volunteer in Latin America" I felt butterflies in my tummy, flipped my life around, and headed to Puebla, Mexico as an intern with the Church's Employment Resource Services (see http://fourmonthsinmexico.blogspot.com). Adventures there included an emergency appendectomy, learning to cumbia and salsa, and climbing to the top of many a pyramid. Who needs school when you can be that hands-on?
NARCISO: I settled back in for a year and a half of school (only leaving the country
once during that whole time...if you count a visit to Tijuana as "leaving the country", that is), and was set for graduation. I even filled out my "Application for Baccalaureate Degree", and got it signed by the appropriate faculty and staff and everything (see above). However, one day while sitting in my Methods of Spanish Teaching class, a dashing, intelligent young graduate student walked in and changed my life. (Not like that!) He made an announcement about a block class that introduced Spanish Golden Age theatre and was a prep course to participate in a full production from the Spanish Golden Age (in Spanish!), an outreach program to local schools, and a tour to El Paso TX, Ciudad Juárez MX, and Boulder CO the following semester. I thought, "Student teaching? What's that?", and signed up. I then participated in said production, outreach program, and tour. And fell in love with the Spanish Golden Age to boot!
COSTA RICA: I couldn't really student teach until fall, and I had to find
something to do with myself over the summer. I talked to one of the directors of the Employment Resource Services Internship, and, realizing that he had a high enough opinion of me to deal with me for another semester (I'm not sure if it was the appendicitis or the pyramid hiking skills that did it...either way though) thought "I could use a summer in Costa Rica!" So I signed on once again, and, as previous entries on this very blog can attest, both had a blast, and learned more than any class could teach me.
And so here I am...student teaching during Fall 2007. And WHY, you ask, am I not graduating next month? WHY have I postponed yet again, and WHY did I find myself in line to apply for graduation on the final deadline for APRIL 2008 commencement? Well...true to form, I've found another great reason! I'm directing one of the Spanish Golden Age plays next semester, and taking a few graduate courses to get ahead in the graduate program I'm applying for (Spanish Pedagogy)...and paying undergraduate tuition all the while. In the end, maybe I've just been an undergraduate for so long that I don't know what else to be. But despite being a year (or three or four) late, I think it's been well worth the wait. And though I've tried my hardest to avoid it, it seems that come April, I'll finally be a real college graduate.
As the director of the play, I lead a Q&A session after each show, and that night, when I was about to finish the session, Jon's hand shot up and he announced that he had one last question. I told him to go ahead, naively thinking that he really had a question about the play, but when he got out of his seat, and started walking towards the stage, it clicked, and I did what any girl would do in my situation...I started shaking my head violently and saying "don't do it! Don't do it, Jon!". He completely ignored my pleas, and climbing onto the stage, took my hands, and started to tell me how he felt about me. What he said was pretty much lost on me though, because I don't remember a word of it. I was in a state of complete shock! But, at some point, he got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. Amazingly, I said "yes", and he put the most beautiful ring I've ever seen on my finger. 
Fortunately for him, I got over my anger and embarrassment over being proposed to in such a way pretty quickly, and things have been great ever since. We are getting married May 23rd in the Manti, Utah temple, and we will be having a reception in Provo that evening. I can't wait!
For those of you who don't know, Jon and I met a year and a half ago in Spanish 441, and both had crushes on each other, but he foolishly never asked me out. We got back in touch last semester, started dating, and voile! We are both graduating this April- he in electrical engineering and me in secondary education (theatre and Spanish). Our exact location after graduation is still to be determined, BUT it is looking like we will be in Baltimore (with Tucson coming in at a close second).
