Life's Hectic, and I Miss my Friends... Oh, and I got a Job (or two)!

Here we are.... the last semester. I've been in school for about two weeks, and from the time delay, you can see how busy it has been. It's okay, I've dedicated every Wednesday night/Thursday morning at 12:30 AM to write on this blog; because that is actually when I find time.

You would think that I would take it easy my final semester at Coe, my senior year... technically, I did. I took three courses and took classes that would pertain to my career (all science), but that I felt were a much more manageable load than previous semesters. Essentially, I'm done with classes and Writing Center commitments by noon everyday. 

Then I got it in my head to get an off-campus job to make some extra cash before I graduated before the semester is over. Well, I took a job at Lone Star Steakhouse, just down the road. Mind you, I've never been a waitress before. I had QUITE the eye-opener to the food industry. I swear I walk about 6 miles a day (AT LEAST!) with that job. So now I work dinner hours and come home exhausted. Anyone who visits, please make sure to leave nice tips... :-)

But that is not the job we should be excited about; last week I received a call from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). A very wonderful woman asked for an interview regarding a program I was interested in, the Trailways Program. Long story short, I got the job! This is just a summer job, but it's a DREAM job... for me, at least. 

This job entails going to Iowa State parks throughout the summer and maintaining/creating trails in the state park. It's a lot of physical work, but what attracted me to the job was (1) the prospect of creating a network in the DNR since I want to go into an environmental science career, (2) the environmental ethics discussions at night, and (3) I CAMP ALL SUMMER LONG!!! How cool is that? To live in a tent for ten weeks amongst nature?! I'm pretty excited; like I said, it's not everyone's cup of tea. But it is an opportunity of a lifetime for me. 

Which brings me to the memories of past camping trips, with my closest friends. Many of my friends that I 

hold dear to my heart have either graduated or are currently abroad. By the time I see most of those in my class again, we'll be walking across a stage and saying our goodbyes. So this semester is slightly harder not having a lot of the people I love around me, and having the knowledge that I might not have them this close tome ever again. However, I need to remember that we're all growing up, and, hopefully, going to on to live our lives as we hoped we would. Until then, I'll miss them.