"just don't freak out!"

I wish I could have recorded what my Senior Seminar professor (Jamie Franki) said today as he gave all of us who are graduating a final lecture. He is already pretty entertaining, but this was wonderful advice he was giving about not only post-college but also the graduation ceremony. He suggested that we take some magazines to read while sitting there because it's so dull; give our "posse" trumpets and other obnoxious noisemakers so they can be loud (since they're supposed to "hold their applause until the very end"); decorate the top of our hats (which i totally agree with.... especially students in the art dept!); and to just be as rowdy as possible without getting arrested. I would love to be one of those people to shake things up a little bit during the ceremony... but I'm not.

He did, however, challenge us to think about what we would want others to know about college. I've already been thinking about that, and I mentioned it in a previous post. As Jamie was giving us advice about post-college, he said a few things that just resonate....
1. be pragmatic: i am not below a job that pays-- maybe i am overqualified, but as a human being, i'm not below any job really. money is important to live.
2. if you hit a slump in which you're not making art, it's okay. it happens. just don't give up.
3. making art is going to look a lot different when we get out of school. on one hand there are no deadlines. but on the other hand, there are no deadlines. haha.
4. spend time with yourself, you art, developing your style, feeding your mind, enriching your soul.... every day. i added some of those things, but i'm sure that's what he meant. just because i'm going to be out of school doesn't give me liberty to not learn. that's ridiculous.
5. just don't freak out! he kept saying this, too... he claims that when the going gets rough, freaking out won't help. so just don't do it. although i was laughing at him i do agree with this, but i tend to freak out often. they're usually mini freak outs, but still present.

I know he said more than this, but I remember these after 5 hours.

Oh yeah, I just finished my final three exams todayyyyy!!!! I didn't get much sleep last night, but I had to go out with a bang (aka no sleep). I'm honestly a little upset with myself because I just haven't performed as well academically as I usually do. My work isn't nearly as strong as last semester, but I haven't cared as much about it. I've been looking into the future and not focusing on the present. That's my one regret for the semester.

I'm going to sleep now.

Thank You, Lord, for being so gracious to me this semester. Even when I didn't perform excellently, I pray that You will still be glorified through my work and in my interactions with my peers. May this time not be in vain.