Last week the anticipation of spring break was easily felt by students and professors alike- especially because this year's spring break was scheduled MUCH later than normal. Although homework became increasingly harder to commit to finishing and one had desires to linger in the sun a little longer instead of arriving to clases promptly, last week was AMAZING! I really saw some blessings that assured me that my being patient and following a prompting I had last year to "stay and finish what I started" has been the correct thing to do. Why am I being blessed so much?? I don't deserve it.
On Tuesday morning registration for Fall semester opened up online, and I went to work trying to plan out my (supposed) last semester at UNLV. I was disappointed to see that TWO of my required classes weren't even scheduled to take place during the Fall semester. Not getting exactly the classes I had on my advisor-provided list meant a delayed graduation. That's NOT okay with me! I internally fumed about it for about a day, and then set off to see what could be done.
Having dealt with various departments of UNLV administration in the past, I was prepared for a fight. I stopped in the Hotel College's advising office and explained my predicament to the receptionist. She double checked the class listing for the semester, confirmed that there were no sections being offered, then handed me two substitution forms and sent me to the person in charge of my specific classes - the new department chair of travel and tourism. "Great - a new guy... how much can he help?" I had thought while knocking on his office door, but OH - how I was wrong about him! He quickly reviewed the classes, told me another section of the capstone class would be opened up online within a few days (he had just authorized it earlier in the day), and provided a substitution for the second class, signed the paperwork and told me to turn it back in to the advising office. Done! I was officially set to finish my classes in December, and it only took me about 20 minutes!
The next step?? APPLY FOR GRADUATION!!!! And believe me - it feels GREAT! The only thing that was nagging at my brain was the fact that I had been unsuccessful in finding an internship - the last hurdle that could delay graduation.
During the last full week of March I had once again attended a job/internship fair held on campus looking for a potential position, but hadn't been hopeful because of what I'd seen at previous job fairs - there's rarely an entertainment company in attendance, and if there is, they typically aren't offering positions I need. There were TWO companies there this time, and the fair was at best one fifth of the size of the last one I had attended. I put my best foot forward even though I was dressed in jeans and tennis shoes - I had forgotten to dress up that morning - and left my information with David Saxe Productions. I didn't hear from them for a whole week, and was getting ready to contact them and ask if they'd made their decision when I got an email from the company. I GOT THE INTERNSHIP!!! December graduation, here I come!!
To understate it all - it was a good week! I would have been more than happy if that had been the whole of it. But.... it wasn't.
I met someone. Someone quite intriguing. A handsome, funny, older than me someone. Someone who only after briefly meeting earlier in the week at the institute building walked clear across campus to run an errand with me in order to continue our conversation that had already been in progress for more than an hour. Someone who was incredibly open with me about what makes him who he is. A fascinating someone. It felt like I'd known him a lot longer than four days. No name dropping quite yet - I've got to see where this may or may not go... and I'll keep you updated!
