Looking at the "Lasts"

Before I talk about the stuff that happened recently, I figure I should mention some of those "lasts" that haven't been mentioned yet. Of course, I have to rely on my planner to remember what all happened when, but it could be worse.

The first time I started to realize how little time I had left was the last week of April when I sat in bed and thought "After this week, I'll be done with Chamber Singers". We had our finale concert (Beethoven's 9th) at Northrop on May 1st as a send-off for the choir department but also for Northrop, because the auditorium will be reduced to make room for some 2nd floor classrooms or a coffee shop or something. The concert was pretty awesome and it was fun to get to perform on Northrop as the last concert.

The same day as the Beethoven concert was the NRHH inductions. It's a shame our chapter was so inactive this semester. I've talked about this with many different people and it's a situation where our leaders on campus are already involved in five different organizations/jobs/etc and a lot of NRHH's pillars overlap with pre-existing groups with a stronger student body. The inductions were Dr Suess-themed that definitely had that "put together at the last second feeling" but at least everything went off without a hitch. Definitely a learning experience overall.

The week after that was a floor trip to Boca di Buppo, the IT Commencement ceremony, the 7th floor BBQ, and then the CA Banquet. I always enjoy going with residents out of the building and I had never gone to Boca's before. It's a family-style Italian restaurant where one of my residents had ordered a number of dishes for the 20 of us that went. Delicious food and wonderful atmosphere! Mary (my floor partner) and I both got gifts from our residents, which was really sweet (I got a signed picture frame, an inflatable space shuttle, and brain teaser book).

IT Commencement definitely came out of nowhere. Suddenly, I found myself wandering around the mall in my cap and gown looking for the student with the mathematics sign on a stick. Many of the friends I've had through IT Honors have found pockets of friends/study buddies in their major, be it aerospace engineering, chemical engineering, chemistry, etc. As we stood in the rain for everyone to gather, I didn't recognize any of the fellow math majors... well, until Currier (a guy I've known and had classes with off and on) showed up and we ended up sitting together. My entire mom's side of the family came along with my dad, sister, and brother-in-law. The main speaker was pretty good (I forget his exact name, but he's been doing a lot of meterology work in Minnesota both on the air and online). It was a rainy day and since it was a night ceremony, taking pictures afterwards was reduced to the awning outside under a light.

The next day, there was an end-of-the-year BBQ for my floor. Community Council also planned a BBQ, but they moved their event inside because they were worried about bad weather. This was a few hours before their event would start as my BBQ was starting, so that meant we didn't have a time crunch (and it ended up being amazing weather). Things naturally ran behind schedule and we had rather mediocre charcoal to work with, but one resident really answered the call to duty in terms of the grilling (it was my first time) and residents stuck around to play games and talk. Overall, I felt bad about being late, but it was an awesome afternoon when it was said and done.

The CA Banquet was pretty good. There weren't enough people serving so there were some tables that were getting their food when the keynote speaker was a few minutes from starting. (There were also some things that were cut back from last year, which I'm kind of okay with given the overall speed.) Each hall had their CA of the Year announced (I'm happy Laura was the CA that won in our hall.) and there was a ceremony for the graduating seniors. Then the slide show, which I'm certainly glad I contributed to. Every picture that was Middlebrook (except for two) was mine, but they did pick some good ones from Camp Pepin and the Awkward Dance.

Those were the lasts that I had written down and that came to mind. Some things were mentioned rather briefly and I wrote assuming basic knowledge (rather than explaining everything), so feel free to ask questions. I would love to go on about this past week or even random observations, but my parents are asleep (and my computer, which is now hooked up, is upstairs close to the bedrooms). I'll be back later.