Orientation

Yesterday, my mother and I abandoned Gavin with his father and went to orientation. The LIS program is located in the basement of the enormous research library at UH, and we felt excited as we trundled down the stairs into the chilly lower decks. Waiting for the students to all arrive, we checked out the refreshments. I decided to make a cup of Earl Grey, and picked up a peppermint tea bag instead, not realizing my error until it was to my lips. My mother laughed at me and decided to show me how to make a proper cup of tea, picking out the bag of Earl Grey I had been aiming for, and then poured hot coffee into it instead of water. Both of us proving too incompetent to make a cup of tea, we headed in to the classroom for orientation.

It was really interesting. I went into this field because my mother and grandmother liked it, knowing nothing of it at all, myself. It seems to suit me pretty well. Who knew? I was particularly intrigued by archiving, and the preservation of books.

I was foiled by my advisor, who did not recommend I take 4 classes, as I had planned. It seems that 4 classes, each requiring a 30-page paper, can be overwhelming. Gah. So 3 it is, and I will start on Monday, providing the Financial Aid office get my loan papers to me in time.

There are only 4 men in our class. One is a military fellow from Laos who is preparing to go AWOL, as his orders came in 2 days ago and he refuses to attend lock-down on Thursday. It will be interesting to see if his lawyer gets him off. One man is a large Hawaiian guy with tattoos and a big laugh, a professional photographer with 4 children. The other fellows are about my age, one is a skinny quiet kid, and the other is haole boy from the mainland who plays bass guitar. I plan to corner that one and twist his arm into playing with Mike. Overall, the rest of the women in the class are fun to talk to, and many also have toddlers at home. Libraries tend to attract a similar sort of nerdy people, I think, and I can't wait to get to know them better. Already, I was huddled up with a woman named Eileen, comparing schedules to make sure we had some classes together. I always get along better with people about 20 years older than me, for some reason, but there was a young woman from Oregon that I liked. Skinny, with jerky hand gestures, hunched posture, and bucket hat pulled down to her eyebrows, she was sharp and clever. I think this year is going to be great.

In the end, we were very late coming home, and had to pick up Gavin from the theater. I was so excited to see him after such a long day apart, but he seemed perfectly fine without me. My baby is growing up. All the same, he hugged me and cuddled up to nurse immediately. 

Part of me is sad about my wasted drawing potential, and I couldn't stop myself from staring at the art building as I walked by yesterday, but I feel this is the right path. Sometimes I have to tell myself that more than once, but I'm beginning to believe it more and more.