Small Things

Philipp "Hard Working" Jago in Alden

In the spring, Athens and especially OU go wild —Athens with its parties and OU with its workload. I skipped fest-season and instead set up camp in Alden Library in order to work on one of my gazillion assignments: “Write a close reading of three pages on this short story”; “Hand in five pages in which you reflect creatively in how far critical theory has affected your personal life.”; “Create a mock self-test in which you show that you understand post-modernism and apply this to Palahniuk’s Fight Club.”; “Hold two presentations on the same day.”; “Apply for as many internships as possible.” and don’t forget to “Write your blog!” Sorry I let the latter slide for a while. I promise I’ll stay on top of it from now on.

The Bob Stewart Band

It was small things that kept me going in the past couple of weeks. Philipp already wrote about OU politics in regards to its questionable leadership (I want to believe that they were only caricatured in the play Philipp talks about) and its bizarre funding decisions. We went to a GLC fundraiser where our very own GLC director Dr. Robert Stewart jammed with his jazz/blues band for a good cause and Dr. Beshah tapped his foot to the music. And I got to see the poet laureate Robert Pinsky read from his beautiful work at OU’s annual Spring Literary Festival. 

Stranded

Last week, a friend organized a trip to a cabin for the GLC students. It had been raining buckets and it seemed like one thunderstorm after another for days before the trip, and when we left Athens, there was even a tornado warning. Because the sun broke through the thick clouds eventually, however, we decided that it was safe to hit the road. The “Caution. Road Flooded” sign also seemed to indicate the street turning left. Going straight, we turned up the music and enjoyed the smell of rain and spring (I am excited to tell you my new favorite word by the way: Petrichor. I had always wondered if there was a word for this. Now I know.) until a lake of muddy water blocked the road. Our driver thought his car would make it through the water and … of course it did not. We ended up pushing the car out to the other side of the road and hanging out there for three more hours waiting for the engine to dry. I should have been suspicious of this suggestion when our driver told us all he knew about cars was from the TV show Top Gear. It was a lot of fun though and we eventually got a ride to the cabin, where tons of food, drinks and friendly faces awaited us.

So, it is small things that I try to schedule around the crazy amount of school work these days and it seems to be working. Next time: Internships and the State Department.