Very Little Pomp and No Circumstance II

I handed in my last final and quietly made my way down one of the empty corridors of Mendocino Hall.  I let out a breath that I had probably been holding for two hours as I went down in the elevator and stepped out into the cold night air.

Despite the temperature, I walked slower than usual.  This was the last time I would make this walk and I wanted to take it all in.  I made it all the way to the bus stop and had yet to have any sort of revalation or intense feeling.

I took out my cell phone and called Marci, as I had every week at that time over the last four months.

“It’s over,” I told her.

She let the words hang in the air for a long time until I started speaking again.  I didn’t say anything in particular…it was just our normal debriefing session.  I told her how I was still wound up and it would probably take a while for me to come down.  We talked for a while longer before I told her I needed to call for a ride home.

I was about to call my mom but I thought twice.  I felt like I needed to ride the two buses home and then make the long walk–just as I had every week over the last four months–as a form of penance. So that’s what I did.

I expected the memories and thoughts and epiphanies to come flooding in…but as I boarded the bus, I did what I always do.  I pulled out my magazine and read until it was time for me to get off the bus.

When I got home, my stepdad clapped for me.  He and my mom gave me hugs.  We drank a bottle of champagne and I retired to my room to watch the rest of WWE Smackdown!

On Saturday, I went to graduation.  Because I was doing my damndest to avoid making this into a big deal, (since I am uncomfortable in spotlight situations), I didn’t participate in the ceremony.  My friend did, so I went as part of her cheering section.  There was nothing particularly moving about the proceedings–they were over in about an hour and a half.  We went to dinner that night and then had dinner again the next night to celebrate her accomplishment.

As of today, I’m not sure it’s completely hit me that I am a college graduate.  I don’t know when it will happen…or IF it will happen.  Right now, I’m trying my best to relax and do nothing for a while.