Yeah, I just graduated. No big deal.

Alright ladies and gentlemen, this is to announce that I am back from my not-so-brief hiatus there, most of which was spent preventing nervous breakdowns and trying to not look like something the cat dragged in. Attempts at the first were successful; the second -- not so much. (Thank God for kaajal though - camouflages those humongous dark cirles.)

Here's a snapshot of my life, as it is now:

1. I am no longer a Boston University graduate student. I am, in fact, a Boston University - wait for it - alumna. A-l-u-m-n-a. Alumna, you hear me? Sounds all fancy schmancy, eh? I don't know how to feel about that. No clue. I don't think it has hit me yet.
   
2. Technically speaking, I am still ten days away from graduation. That's when all the grades come in. But, I think somewhere along my academic career, I learned how not to flunk courses.
   
3. If you think I cannot be officially called a graduate till the actual ceremony, then I still have 5 months to go because BU ceremonies are held in May. That's when I'll get to wear the scarlet robe, get to see the family (yay!) and walk on stage when they call out the College of Communication Graduate Public Relations Class of 2010. That is also when I will pester my brother to click photos of me while I do stereotypical-graduate-y things like throw my hat in the air. I will then secretly hope that my mother will frame that photograph proudly on the dining room wall back home, but of course, I will pretend I don't care.
4. In six minutes from now, I will no longer be a Writing Fellow. That makes me sad. I worked at COM's Writing Center throughout my course, and to say that I loved it, would be an understatement. This was my first real "job" (part-time, but what the heck -- everything else has been an internship), and I could not have asked for a better first job.
5. Which means, I now need another job. And I've begun looking. I'd really like to stick around for a year or two before I make my way back to The Desh. So please step up all those prayers for speedy economic recovery on this side of the world. Bad economy --> no jobs --> no work visas --> one-way ticket to India.
6. I think about what my life was when I first came here, and I think about it now. And I can see how it's changed, and how I've changed. And I'm so thankful that my life was -- is -- good. I'm glad I came here, I'm glad I made all these friends, I'm glad BU is the way it is, and I'm glad Daddy Dearest was willing to file for bankruptcy, if need be, to pay for this degree. Now all I have to do is pay him back.

Only about $75,000 dollars.

No big deal.