Second semester midterms are done and gone, so you know what that means--here comes the Hell that is finals season.
It's been a while since I've taken the time to sit down and reflect on the past month or two since last posting, and I'd be lying if I said nothing new has happened.
Back in February, I had a rough couple of weeks, got kinda homesick, and last minute went back home for a few days. Thank God I did, because seeing family and being in Kentucky is like therapy to me now that I'm so far away from it all. While I was home, I basically changed my entire appearance in the span of three days, ranging from getting glasses, to new ear piercings, and eventually ending the trip by chopping my hair off and going blonde. Surprise!
Upon returning to DC, my sucky month or so saw a complete transformation, and I'm in a really good place right now. I've been spending time with great friends, I'm less than a month out from finishing my Congressional internship with the House Budget Committee Democrats, I'm in the process of solidifying classes in my major and minor at NYU for next Semester, and I got accepted to the exploration floor and dorm building that I wanted up in New York City.
Exploration floors, for those that don't know, are entire floors within NYU dorms that hold a specific theme, and offer an engaged community culture in which the floor goes out into the city and learns about whatever the theme is. I applied to the NYC in the 1960's floor, got accepted, and now get to spend the next year obsessing over my favorite era in my favorite city with a bunch of other people that love 60's culture as much as I do. I mean, the description for the floor mentions John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Vietnam War protests, Stonewall Inn riots, and NYC social activism. If there is a heaven on Earth, this is it.
I also had been trying to figure out what my Summer plans would be. I want to run political campaigns (as a career) one day, and especially with this current election cycle and what's at stake, I knew that I couldn't just sit this cycle out. I set off on the great journey of researching candidates and tried to find Summer campaign jobs with them (and attempted to simultaneously find funding and housing if they weren't in Bowling Green). I had a few interviews, ran into some issues with scheduling, funding, primaries vs generals timing, and finally hit the jackpot, quite frankly.
So, I accepted a position to work for U.S. Senator Angus King's re-election campaign in Brunswick, Maine this Summer. According to the punny position title that I was offered, I'm officially gonna be a field and strategy King-tern, y'all! Senator King is the only other Independent in the Senate besides Bernie Sanders, and was previously a two-term Governor of Maine. I can actually, genuinely, believe in Senator King and what he stands for, and I can't wait to help fight for him this Summer. On top of that, the city I'll be in looks precious, and the Field Organizer and staff that I've spoken with have been amazing. I've never been to Maine, so it'll be a learning experience, but I'm also SO ready for the seafood, to be honest.
Another random update, but I've been getting into some really incredible music lately. I know that's random, but with all of the music I listen to, finding new stuff to fall in love with is one of the greatest feelings in the World. I tend to listen to bands and artists from previous eras, unless it's modern day folk-rock-indie-vocal kind of stuff (The Lumineers, Mumford & Sons, Cage the Elephant, Bahamas, Ray LaMontagne, Jack White, Frank Ocean, Vance Joy, Jack Johnson, etc). My favorite band of basically all of music, ever, is The Beatles, but I listen to Queen, Bob Seger, Tom Petty, The Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Gov't Mule, Bob Dylan, and all of those guys religiously. I've (for some reason) just now started to get into Fleetwood Mac much more in depth than ever before, and I'm hooked. Mainly, though, I've fallen head over heels for Janis Joplin. She was such an interesting and powerful woman to begin with, her story is crazy, her music is addicting, and I just can't quit listening. She's a legend.
Aside from this stuff, I'm mainly just trying to finish up the year strong, do all of the DC things that I can before I leave, figure out the transfer stuff before moving to Maine and then New York, and spend as much time with my friends, specifically the ones I made in DC, before we head separate ways for school and for Summer.
I'm the happiest I've been in a long time and i'm so, so thankful for that. Life is good, I'm experiencing so much, and I'm blessed with so many opportunities to see and do the things I love. I miss home and my friends and family, but I'm figuring out who I am, and trying to make y'all proud. Kentucky is what made me, me, and my heart forever lies with the bluegrass.
Until next time,
Mere
