graduation

I've been in school for a long time.

I've been a pirate for even longer.

Now I finally get to join the rest of my family as I become an ECU alumna.

The Help

A few months ago, I was reading Phi Mu’s magazine, the Aglaia, and I found out about a book called The Help by Kathryn Stockett, a Phi Mu alumna. I got the book for Christmas, and since then, I’ve seen it everywhere. The Help is about black women who work for white families in Mississippi in the 1960s. I don’t have anything substantive to say about the book other than READ IT. But at the end, the author included a very short version of her own story about her childhood and the black lady who took care of her, so I will give you my story…

For the first ten years of my life, I was blessed to know Pauline Jones. She wasn’t exactly our maid, wasn’t exactly our nanny. My mom always told me that Pauline was her grandmother, until one day when I asked, “Mom, isn’t Pauline black?” (She was very light-skinned.) My mom laughed and told me the truth: that she wasn’t her grandmother, but my mom loved her like a grandmother, and yes, Pauline was black. Pauline was not actually my great-grandmother, but she did work for my great-grandparents, as well as my grandparents and my parents. She cooked and cleaned for our families, and took care of my brother and me when my mom had to go off. Pauline drove a car called “Green Lucy,” disliked interracial coupling, dipped peach snuff, had a cat named Tina, and was terrified of a thunderstorm. When the weather got bad, she’d say, “It’s clouding up,” and she’d go on home. I blame her for my own terrible fear of thunderstorms. Pauline was extremely kind. In sum, Pauline was a special member of our family, and I am thankful that she was part of my childhood.

2/14/2009 (v-day)

I’m not in France anymore, and I haven’t written any interesting A+ papers lately, but I feel like updating in case anyone wants to know what’s up with me and is actually reading my blog.

School…
I’m in my very last semester at UNC; I will graduate in May with a B.A. in English and Psychology. They only let us get one of those on our diploma; I prefer to have English framed on my wall because it sounds harder (and in fact, it is). I’m taking southern literature, a geography class, adulthood and aging, intro. to audiology, and independent study. I’m finishing up my degrees with one English class, one Psychology class, and one perspective (requirements outside of major for B.A.s). I’m taking audiology as a prerequisite for graduate school and independent study to impress the graduate school admissions people. I transcribe language of typically developing children and children with developmental disabilities to help with research on speech and language of children with fragile X syndrome. For the most part, I like my classes.

Graduate school…
I’ve applied to graduate schools for speech-language pathology so I can be a speech therapist in two or three years. Listed in order of their rankings, the schools I applied to are:
UNC-Chapel Hill
UNC-Greensboro
UGA
Auburn
South Carolina
ECU
Alabama
Appalachian
Western Carolina
I found out yesterday that I got into the University of Alabama! It was the first school I found out from and I’m really glad that the first one was an acceptance. Friday the 13th is not unlucky.

Books…
I’ve been reading a lot of southern literature lately. I’ve wanted to take that class since sophomore year, but I saved it for last semester, and I love it. I started reading something borrowed by Emily Giffin, who is a Wake alumna, which is cool. Torri mentioned it to me when I said I needed a new series to get hooked on. I spotted the book in Lindsay’s dorm room and she let me borrow it. I picked up Pride & Prejudice last night, but when I read it, I can’t help but picture the movie and hear the actors’ voices. That annoys me, and I quit reading it.

Comment if you will. Maybe I will update again soon.

winter break

Some things I’ve done over break…
Stayed a weekend with Della in Charlotte
Seen family, including Stell family reunion
Spent time with Raleigh friends
Worked on graduate school applications
Made a dress
Read Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (finished Twilight saga)
Went to Bells & Carols service at church
Played games (way too much Mexican Train, Bananagrams, Apples to Apples, Scattergories)
Made corn pudding
And otherwise just been my mom’s shadow


My newest obsession is the Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer. I've read Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. I've seen the movie Twilight three times and even bought the soundtrack. I can't wait for the other movies to come out and for the book Midnight Sun! I think those of us obsessed feed on each other. Lizzie and Torri let me borrow books. Aubree stayed one book behind me so I was motivated to read and pass them on to her. After exec one Sunday night, Katherine wrote on her facebook status that she wanted to see the movie again and I commented that Aubree and I would go with her. In less than a minute, she was in our room to go. We're crazy about this Twilight stuff. I should have listened to Courtney two years ago when she was reading the books and telling me they were great. Vampires didn't seem interesting then, but now I'm hooked. Anyone else into Twilight? Team Edward or Jacob? That is the one thing about which I disagree with the other girls in the house. I'm solidly TEAM JACOB.

books

Some books I read while traveling...

What a Girl Wants and She's Out of Control by Kristin Billerbeck
These books are the first 2 in the Ashley Wilkes Stockingdale trilogy. My dear friend Sarah Elizabeth Wright (the First) let me borrow them because she thought I would like them, and she was right! Normally I'm not a huge fan of chick lit, but Kristin Billerbeck writes Christian chick-lit, an interesting combination. The narrator is less like a 14-year-old than I expected. I recommend these books to anyone in a church singles group and/or any female around my age. Males could benefit from reading it, but they probably wouldn't love it.

The Other Woman's Shoes by Adele Parks
This is another chick-lit book that Canaday found at a book cart in Rome. I was desperate for anything English while in Europe, so I read some books I wouldn't have normally picked up at home. I read The Other Woman's Shoes during and after my trip to London, so it was interesting to read about places I had been. This book was really sad for a really long time, but it does end happily. It's also kind of explicit, and super long. It has a lot to say about marriage, divorce, and family.

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
This novel is kind of between short story and novel length and is written by a Pulitzer prize winner. I found it in the back corner of a bookstore in Paris. It is based in New England in the 19th century, and begins when a man moves to the town of Starkfield and wonders about the life of mysterious Ethan Frome. The novel goes back to earlier in Ethan Frome's life and follows it up to the present. Not a lot happens, but I really enjoyed Edith Wharton's style. I would recommend this book to English majors, or people who like to analyze literature.

The Fall by Albert Camus
I also found this book in a Paris bookstore. I'm in the process of reading it - in English translation. It is written like one side of a conversation, exactly how a person would say it. It takes place in Paris, so I enjoy knowing the locations that the speaker mentions. I started reading it in Paris, but I haven't picked it up again since I got off the plane. I recommend it to anyone who has read The Stranger and wants to read more of Albert Camus.