On September 14th after a 4 day wedding affair and a stop over to see some Little Harbour friends in Portland, ME I flew to St. Louis for 7 days of catching up with friends, music, dancing, thinking, reading, and biking. I got every thing I needed out of this trip. Seeing my friends made me realize that 9 months post-grad, school is a lot of work and I’m not ready to jump into it any time soon. There is too much living to do to spend so much time in a library. Watching them learn through the liberal arts also made me see how much I’ve learned simply by talking, walking, traveling, and eating the last 9 months. With an open mind I’ve taken opportunity and life as it came. It turns out my path is pretty beautifully blessed for now. The week in St. Louis slowed me down a little and gave me some time to think about where I’ve been, and what the people I’ve meet, grown with, and loved have taught me during this first stint in adult freedom.
Other highlights of my St. Louis trip were an impromptu bike ride and concert in Forest Park with community member Jim. He literally knocked on Becca’s door and I answered. He didn’t know I was in town so it was a surprise for both of us. We rode over to Forest Park for the St. Louis Symphony orchestras kick off to their fall season. They set up the entire orchestra on art hill and played snippets of all the performances they have planned for the season. Jim and I shared a long and needed update about our lives while eating pastrami sandwiches and cheesecake from the hill. An hour of free outdoor symphony was topped off with a surprise fireworks show in the cool September night. From there Jim helped me through the city streets on a road bike back to campus to meet up with more friends.
On Friday I went to Sulard market and the international food store to gather ingredients for a curry dinner party. The curry was a success and the dancing at Novak’s was fun, but couldn’t compare to colossal nights spent there during my last semester. I miss a certain blonde community member who always keeps me dancing.
The week was full of lunches and coffees with professors, friends, writing sessions, and the career counselor (dun dun dun). These exercises in sharing my story and the millions of ideas and possibilities whirling through my head were needed. Everyone I encountered told me to keep riding the wave (in so many words). Each person reminded me as I often need to remind myself – you are young, free, and don’t need all the answers right now.
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