Fin
We’ve reached the end of the Medium essays, so it only feels right to reflect and… ah, screw it, let’s talk about The Dear Hunter some more! Just yanking your chain. I also promised an essay on Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter, but I’ll go ahead and leave that one on a cliffhanger — if it works for them, it works for me! I’ve now spent two weeks and some change as a graduate student here at Radford, and I’m still pressing the snooze button on my alarm in the morning, same as always. This morning was especially tricky — you see, it’s colder outside of my blankets than it is inside, and that presents a certain set of obstacles. Being a Radford student presents its own set of obstacles, as well, and what’s tricky about those is you can’t press the snooze button.
When I was a Concord student, I was a commuter. Technically, I’m a commuter in the eyes of Radford University, as well — they can take that $150 for a parking pass and shove it up their… as a whole, I’m just pretty perturbed about that parking pass. Back when I did go to Concord, being a commuter meant I had a bit of distance from school — not just geographically, but in the way I thought about schoolwork. That is to say, it felt easier to leave my work at the door back then. Living so close to campus, it’s a bit different now. And it’s a whole lot different working on campus.
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As with anything, there’s a period of adjustment — getting into the groove of things, so to speak. I’ve talked about that plenty before, inside and outside these posts. But getting into the groove of things is better than establishing a routine — I think I’m starting to get that.
Marching across the bridge above the trainyard, idly pressing the crosswalk button, cutting through the freshly-mowed grass — there’s a certain air about my walks to and from Radford, and it isn’t just the sweltering heat. Because Radford signs my paychecks, there’s always been some sense of belonging, but it’s nice to have that feeling reassured in what I’m doing on campus. Working in the tutoring center today, somebody left a black dry-erase marker underneath the whiteboard in the room I chose. Inspiration struck. In big, bold letters, I wrote out “tutoring here” — underlining the “here,” of course — and an arrow pointing my way. I effectively made a lemonade stand. And you know what? That was fun.
I’m looking forward to the rest of my time as a Radford student. As much as I liked writing these Medium essays, I’m also looking forward to having a bit more agency over my time. Time, time, time — it feels like that word keeps popping up in these Medium posts. And, on that note, I wish you all more free time than you know what to do with.
Start a lemonade stand!
