Home Sweet Home

That was very exhausting. Twenty-two must be the age where traveling with your parents starts to feel weird and wrong.

Western New England was eliminated because it was too far from Boston (90 miles) to be considered worth the 15 hour drive to get there. New England was eliminated because there was a comedy club right next to it. St. Thomas and Nova Southeastern were eliminated because the idea of making another long trip to Florida made my brain hurt. Hey, I have some standards.

So now I'm down to Widener as the default school, with Penn St, Elon and Mercer (which I am visiting May 31st) as potential replacements if I am accepted. And even if I go 0-3 in those schools, I think I'd be happy with Widener. It has the best academic ratings of all the schools I've gotten into and I really did like the location. It has its own campus with several buildings (including dorms), and is within walking distance of a shopping mall, a Borders, several restaurants, etc. Also, its just 1/2 an hour from Philly.

Now to random thoughts as they come to me...

• I originally set up a gmail account for locke518, but from what I've seen, every Wake grad went to an account that used their real name. So, ever the conformist, I've switched to plain old thomas.gooden at gmail.com.
  
• After seeing my second game at Fenway, I am reminded again that people in 1912 were very, very short.
• The bleeping VCR crapped out on me and didn't record the 24 finale. I posted a plea on the Wake message boards and a kind soul is sending me a DVD via his TiVo. God bless the internet.
• I still haven't seen Trot Nixon get a hit. He was 0-11 (oh for freaking eleven!) in the three games I saw this week, went 0-2 in the game in Fenway I saw in 2003 and was injured when I saw Boston play in Tampa Bay in 2004.
• What's worse, Trot was seriously only a few feet away from a homer in both the game in Baltimore and Philadelphia. Gahhh!!!
• While staying in King of Prussia, PA, we happened upon the second biggest mall in America. I'm not kidding.
  
• Therein, I found a satchel!
  
• The Cookout in Mount Airy, NC (aka Mayberry) has several benches where one can eat.
  
• I leave for one week and Jay Leno wins American Idol?
  

Me? Alumnus? Naw...

Yeah, I guess it actually happened. "Surreal" was the word of the day yesterday. I kept telling myself: "This is it. You are graduating right now. Not somebody else. Not later. You. Now." And I could still barely accept what was happening. I actually felt like a fraud, leading someone else's life. Maybe its because I barely squeaked by to graduate on time, or maybe its because I've actually dreaded graduating college since, well, when I first got there. I don't dread it as much now, since I actually have a plan for my post-undergrad career, which I didn't as a freshman. As soon as I am able to settle down on a law school, I'm positive that any dread or uncertainty will wash away with the tide of new opportunities.

That ending was way too poetic. Bleh.

Anyway, hopefully my search will narrow during this little trip my dad has planned. My parents and I are driving north to visit Widener, Penn State, New England and, pointlessly, Western New England. Also, somehow the schedule gods out there have blessed us with the chance to see the Red Sox play in three different cities on our 8-day trip: Baltimore on the 17th, Philadelphia on the 19th, and Boston (vs. the Yankees) on the 22nd. We also may even be able to squeeze in Mets/Yankees in Shea Stadium on the 20th. I have to remind myself this trip isn't supposed to be about baseball.

Hopefully, between all the campuses and ballparks, I will able to remember my own birthday on the 18th.

Finally, one last thank you to each and every one of my friends who managed to put up with me for four years. I will remember the Caribbean cruise, Daytona, Carowinds, spades, weekend movies, Halo, Cookout, Benson at 6/Benson at 6:30/The Pit at 7, Wake games and everything else way better than any divisional course, and I'm not so sure that's a bad thing. The next time we all see each other again won't be soon enough.

PS- My graduation and commencement pictures are now up. Please post yours or send them to me at locke518 at gmail.com.

Well, I guess that's it.

I'm... graduating. I think. I could have bombed that Quant test, but I'm 95% sure I got what I needed to pass the course.

Seriously, how many kids get to say their diploma came down to one test? In their worst subject? And it was my last act as an undergrad, no less. And how I didn't get an upset stomach from sheer anxiety, I'll never know.

Also, some great news on the law school front. New England Law decided to upgrade me from the wait list to the accepted list. I still would prefer Elon, but now if I don't get in there, I won't be like, uber-depressed. Aside from Elon, I'm still waiting on Penn State and Mercer to see if I get in off of their respective wait lists.

This is good, right?

Last night, I graced the Calloway graduation dinner with my presence. My entrance was especially welcomed by the guy who thought he would be the dumbest one in the room. Not on my watch.

Anyway, after the awards were handed out (my favorite being the award for a student overcoming major challenges, with Dean Wilkerson announcing there would be no winner, apparently all us Calloway kids bring silver platters to The Pit), professors began making the rounds, congratulating students. One such prof, stats guru Umit Akinc, came over and shook the hands of my friends Mike and John, two men of much higher academic credentials, and I seriously almost expected him to ignore me. But nay, the man whose Quantitative Analysis II class I am barely passing, the man who represents the final barrier between me and an actual bona fide degree from Wake Freaking Forest, shook my hand and told me "Thomas, congratulations."

To summarize: this whole "graduation" thing is starting to sink in.


---some random links I've come across---

Two women fall for a free door-to-door breast exam. And the scammer ain't exactly Jude Law.
National debt clock running out of room.
A young, normal-looking Adam Morrison, whose hobbies apparently included communism and avian studies.
Court tosses "Friends" lawsuit. I first learned about this suit as part of a test in my Legal Environment of Business class last summer. I gave the opposite ruling of this court.

Javy Lopez's easy three step guide to hitting a home run that counts as a single and being called out all at the same time.

Scoff if you may, men of little faith. But no scam here inlies.

1. Hit a ball over the fence, but close enough to the field to where one can wonder if Darin Erstad actually caught it.
2. Play with a crappy umpire crew that fails to make a quick decision, confusing both you and Tejada, your man on first.
   
3. Pass Tejada on the base paths, ruling yourself out.

Watch a well-executed demonstration of JLETSGTHAHRTCAASABCOAATST by the man himself.


PS- Why, you're asking yourself, are those fine crimson hosed boys playing so early this April morn? Well, I'm glad you asked.