Couldn't Have Done It Alone

A week has passed since my graduation from the U of A. I'm still stunned by it, or maybe its the enormous vacuum left by the absence of 18 credits for the past year. Either way I now have a BA (with Honors) in Anthropology and that'll keep me pretty smug for the next few months.
I can now look back on the past four years and see how all the pieces fit together. I can say that nearly every class, even the ones I hated, served some useful purpose beyond just giving me credits to graduate. The only exceptions to this might be the Stage Costume Crew I was assigned to the first semester of freshman year. I'm tempted to say my Acting class was also a waste, but in truth its suckiness proved instrumental in pushing me away from Theatre Arts just a "Human Variation in the Modern World" was drawing me to anthropology. I dodged the Math requirement with "Logic and Critical Thinking", but that's about the only thing I got out of that. The only class I really got absolutely nothing out of was this last semester's "Cultural Astronomy", sure it satisfied the credit requirements but there must have been a better class.

All that said, I also can look back and see that the most difficult courses were also the most rewarding. "Historical Linguistics", once the bane of my existence, ultimately provided me with a good friend, a kickass paper I used as a writing sample for grad school applications and a letter of recommendation from a very influential and well known professor. I'm fairly certain this class played a significant part in me getting accepted to UMass. The boring nightmare of my studies in Uppsala, "People, Power and Food" resulted in me being able to put down 2 international video conferences in my CV.

And of course there are all of the great people who contributed to my success. Be it being a study partner for a midterm or final, editing and proofreading my essays or even just being the topic of an essay you all helped. Keith, Jenn, Frank, Steph, Feifei, Victoria, Nora, Matt and James, I thank you.

And of course without the generous funding of my parents my college experience would have been impossible (or at least very very different). Naturally, my parents had a great influence on my upbringing and personality but the key points in my life are directly because of the support and encouragement of my mom and dad. Had my dad not suggested we take up martial arts, not only would I have never gotten years of fun and learning from aikido I also never would have met my good friend Frank or any of his awesome friends and acquaintances. Had my mom decided not to go on a trip to Greece back in 2003 I never would have met Steph. Had my parents not supported my year abroad in Uppsala I never would have had the best year of my life, met so many wonderful people and my life might not have come into focus. Without those three points my life would have been totally different and I am fairly certain pretty crappy.

So thank you to everyone that has helped and encouraged me for the past 22 years, especially these last 4, I love you guys.