"The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible." -Vladimir Nobokov

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Letter #10




Dear October,
       This morning I rolled out of bed at 8:30am to meet with Dr. Bob, the writing center director. It was a mandatory meeting for all first-years, as a way to talk about the writing center and to check up on how we are doing in our first couple months as new consultants. I was beckoned into his cocoon like office, which sort of glows from the inside because of the yellow lamps positioned in different corners of the room. All the walls are covered desk to ceiling in books, which sag on-top of precarious looking shelves. Honestly, I still don’t feel super confident in my skills as a consultant, but this meeting made me feel a lot better than before.  (When I told him this, he looked at me and said, “Well, you have experience talking to people, don’t you?” Me: “Yes.” Dr. Bob: “And you can read, can’t you?” Me: “Yes.” Dr. Bob: “Then you already have the two biggest skills that you need in regards to writing conferences.”) The other thing that this meeting reminded me of was that in a week I will be heading to Chicago with the Writing Center for a conference!  I cannot wait to go on a trip with these amazing people.
After lunch I checked my mail box to discover, not one, but two pieces of mail, one being a lovely postcard from my mother (which I always enjoy getting) and the second being my very first paycheck! *happy dance* As if my day wasn’t already going well, I then received two fantabulous grades in my sociology class, which was just awesome.
But you just wouldn’t let up today, would you? During my shift in the writing center, while I was casually minding my own business (which is difficult since the writing center is practically built for eavesdropping), a senior came up to me and the friend I was sitting with a casually asked, “Hey, did you know there’s a book festival in Iowa City this Saturday?” We both shook our heads. “Do you want to come?” Our answer was an emphatic YES.
Today was full of little surprises, things turning out even better than expected, and new things to look forward to. I’m so grateful that I can be in this place and have the opportunity to explore the things that I love. Oh yeah. And the absolutely perfect sunset was a nice touch, too.

Laura

Song of the day: "How The Day Sounds"by Greg Laswell

After you've enjoyed the song for what it is, also check out the quirky but lovable music video.

4 comments:

  1. This makes me wonderfully happy.

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    1. Yay! I'm glad :D Hope junior year is treating you right!

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  2. BEAUTIFUL PHOTO. I'm so glad you had a great day like that! That really is a whole lot of wonderful stuff. Ahh your first paycheck!! I kind of get that feeling a bit more because I was so happy just getting a job at all. That is so exciting!! Also Dr. Bob seems cool, hehe. Love that parenthetical part. And a book festival!! It's so great that a senior coincidentally saw you guys and asked if you wanted to go! Tell how it went!

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    1. Thanks! I'm pretty happy with it myself :) I promise to give you a full update on the book festival tomorrow! Also the senior had invited me to things before, so it wasn't totally out of the blue, just slightly unexpected. Hope you're enjoying your new job!

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