2k9

BAD NEWS: The economy remained critically weak, with rising unemployment, a severely depressed real-estate market, the near-collapse of the domestic automobile industry and the steep decline of the dollar.

GOOD NEWS: Windows 7 sucked less than Vista.
-Dave Barry
[via]

So let’s do this, ATW!

So in 2008, I was bitching about how one of my supervisors got mad at me for going one hour under the weekly minimum of 16 hours a week because I apparently wasn’t allowed to see a doctor because they were afraid I would have thyroid cancer.

In 2009, they cut my hours back so that I could not work more than 16 hours. And I eventually lost my job (unfortunately, not because I told that callous supervisor to fuck off, like I should have. No. I kept cool the whole way). My last day is tomorrow.

In 2008, I went to the ER because I was disgusting and was throwing up everywhere and they thought I had appendicitis. Instead of appendicitis, they found a cyst in my ovary and I had to get that checked out in January. I am fine :] Whatever they found was benign. Where am I now? I was dropped from my parent’s insurance and have to pay for it on my own, but Kaiser is a bitch to deal with.

Late 2008, I moved to Tumblr because I thought I needed the privacy. I did. I wanted a place where nobody would find me, and where I would never have to explain myself. It worked for a few months. My Tumblr has reduced itself to being part of that cute-puppy reblogging stream of consciousness that Tumblr has become. I have since come back to ATW, because nobody reads it. Go figure. And what happened to the boy who I needed to keep things secret from? The reason why my Tumblr exists? I realize now that I don’t need to keep anything from him.

Oh hey, I also graduated from college. I really began to enjoy college at the beginning of this year because there I was, single and focused for once. And I did really, really well. A’s and B’s the whole way. In fact I think I only got two B’s the whole year and the rest were A’s. I still graduated with a pathetic 2.9 gpa because of how badly I did in the previous years. Live and learn? I just hope that when I apply for my masters, that the people will see the growth in my dedication instead of the mess it left along the way.

I’ve also decided that I no longer wanted to teach after taking my capstone course. I did consistently well in the course, A’s right up to the end, but I no longer wanted to teach. I know how to write lesson plans. I know I can be a really good teacher. I know I have what it takes. But somehow over that quarter, I no longer had the desire I once had. At least, not in an American school system. The only form that the Want reappears in is when I am browsing on topics about overseas teaching. What I want to do is teach English in South Korea, and I am currently in the process of finding out how I can do that.

2009 was also characterized by wonderful experiences with people I’ve come to consider as my friends. This is new because I’m actually a pretty big loner and I’ve never actually hung around my classmates outside of the classroom before. This year, I actually walked in my graduation with them — and they saved me a spot (we were the loud obnoxious history majors booing at the business majors. Well, everybody booed at them. Business majors suck). We would study over pizza and coffee, gossip about my bff (a running joke, since the bff is actually the annoying guy who was caught watching porn in class who tried to bribe me with Japanese candies early in the year), and just have a great time in each other’s presence. In my free time, I would spend it on the roof of King Hall, amazed at how perfect everything was and wondering how such a combination came to be.

I went to the mountains for the first time. I even managed to sneak in a meteor shower before the mountains set on fire. I found a new respect for nature and all things inhabiting it. I stopped swearing so much (but you probably can’t tell). I fell in love. Out of love. Back in love.

I grew up, and I am liking how I am turning out.

2010 will be hard. It starts off with my not having a job and a parent who is pressuring me to find something. I want to be happy with what I do, and right now this happiness comes in the form of making enough money to fund my ridiculous impulses, and then going for it. It doesn’t involve finding any job just to waste my time away. I’m a smart person and I’ve saved up for cases like this. I’m going to be okay. And I’m going to be happy. It starts off with not really knowing what to do after January ends. But I am a resilient individual and I know that I can take whatever 2k10 throws at me on.