Getting Into the Holiday Spirit
Wow, it's already December... When did that happen? I feel like I've been so busy lately that this came out of nowhere -- it's been quite a long semester. I wish I could enjoy the holiday spirit a little more but I have to survive finals first. To start, last week I turned in my Rationale, which is a pretty big deal. The school that I'm in at NYU (Gallatin) is a create-your-own major program and the main way to justify your contrived concentration is two part, beginning with writing the Rationale, wherein you outline your concentration and the questions that you wish to discuss in the second part of the process, called the Colloquium, which is where you stand in front of a panel of professors and they essentially grill you about what you've learned in your time at college and how it has contributed to your concentration. It includes a book list with parameters like "7 primary sources before the 1600s" and you're expected to know all of the sources for your discussion (mine included writers like Hippocrates, Plato, Castiglione, Shakespeare, and more). It's all very serious. I'm so glad to be done with the first step, though now I've got the stress of waiting for approval from the college so that I can schedule the Colloquium discussion. Fingers crossed it all goes smoothly. On top of that, I've got two final papers and two final presentations to finish this week, job applications to write, emails to respond to, classes to plan for next semester, and travel plans to finalize, not to mention trying to keep up some semblance of sanity. To even out all the work I've been donning cozy sweaters and plaid galore, burning holiday candles ad nauseam, breaking out the holiday playlist on Spotify, and drinking lots of hot beverages in an attempt to maintain that holiday vibe. I can't wait until next weekend when I can finally head uptown to 5th Avenue and shove my way through some annoying crowds of tourists to see the Saks windows, the Rockefeller tree, and all the insane bustle that descends upon Manhattan around the holidays. There's just no place like New York City to get you in the Christmas spirit.
