The time has come, the Walrus Said...

... to superfluously drop quotations into blog posts. 

The time has also come (with or without the Walrus' explicit prediction) to face the fact that I have officially Graduated From College and, as such, am expected to Face The Real World.  This prospect is a frightening one, one which reeks of "abandoning the bubble," "facing up," and "needing to become a neat and clean person."  A few months ago, I could assure myself that things were going to be alright because I, in my infinite wisdom (dumb luck) had secured Real Life Employment in this time of economic depression.  However, by this point, so have many (thankfully, most) of my peers.  My false sense of potential security has left me, and doubts about my position are creeping in.

Daily, I get e-mails about people's blogs from the wilds of Africa, the heat of Latin America, the hilariously-accented British Isles, and sassy New York.  People are flocking to big cities, far away states, and exotic foreign countries.  I, on the other hand, am working in Roanoke, Virginia.  Excited as I am about my job, I am beginning to worry I signed on for a bum deal here.  

Out of these creeping fears was born the idea for this blog.  Sure,  it's easy to blog about your WACKY ADVENTURES when those adventures are taking place in, say, Malawi, but what about when they're happening in Little 'Ole Roanoke? I'm positive that, around every turn, hilarity is just waiting to ensue - so why not document it?  Take that, people who live in intrinsically exciting places - I'm challenging you to an Interesting Things blog war.

Thus, the purpose of this blog is as follows:

- Chronicle the Trials and Tribulations of setting up a new position within the Roanoke City School System (more details to follow).

- Make sure I seize the note-worthy moments in my life by upping the ante from just "note-worthy" to "blog worthy."

- Feed my inflated sense of self worth.

- Keep writing, even though college is over.

To this end I  hope to post witty anecdotes, hilarious photographs, and un-whiny rants about the world around me.  That third thing probably won't happen - they'll almost certainly be whiny, but you can skip over those.  

For those of you who don't know how we got to Roanoke in the first place, let me briefly outline what the next 1-3 years of my life are slated to hold.  My college roommate/best friend, Mary, and I signed contracts with the Roanoke City School System to be, officially, "College Counselor Liaisons."   In short this means we'll be doing several things:

- Advising kids who know they want to go to college on how to write essays, getting good letters of recommendation, choosing good schools, etc. 

- Helping kids who didn't really think college was an option for them, but who want to go to college, figure out what their options are.

- Helping kids of all descriptions find money for college.

- Finding kids who haven't been traditionally "tracked" for college (placed in the advanced classes, etc) but look like they could go and encouraging them to make college-minded choices/consider college as an option, etc. 

- Various and sundry tasks I'm sure we'll discover along the way. 

I'm excited about the program for a number of reasons.  First of all, we essentially get to create this position within the Roanoke City School System which, while also terrifying, is incredibly exciting.  Trail blazing, 2themax!  Secondly, I feel that this is the sort of position in which we're REALLY going to be helping people, not just ourselves.  As much as this will be a learning experience, I think we're going to actually get to make demonstrable changes in people's lives.  Thirdly, this is one of the few jobs I looked at in which it truly behooves us to be right out of college.  We're full of ideals and vigor...and we can also speak from experience.  Lastly, it was about time I faced my Roanoke demons.  I've spent far too much time and energy over the past few years hating on a place which actually has a lot going for it - and it's time to give credit where credit is due.  I was offered the opportunity to do the exact kind of position I was looking seriously into, in a town I haven't given a fair chance, while allowing my relationship with my parents to grow and mature (via living in my home town but not at home).  Sure, it's not Portland, but it's not a bad gig either. 

So that's that - what I'm doing in life, what I'm doing online, and what I hope to get out of both.  Hopefully this will be the kind of journey we're both glad we signed on for.  

Let the shenanigans begin.