Thanksgiving

Usually this is where I’m supposed to share all people/experiences/things I’m thankful for, but I’m going to save that for my more private moments — really, it just kind of goes without saying, right? Does it make it any more meaningful or special to announce it or give one day of thought to it when really we should be thankful each and every day for what we have?

Anyway, this will be my first Thanksgiving away from home. I know I’m not alone in this since many of my friends who have graduated with me are also thousands of miles away from home and have opted not to make the trip back until December for Christmas/Hannukkah/<insert politically-correct holiday term>. I will still be celebrating with loved ones (like my significant other for once!) and other families as they carry their traditions. I think it will be interesting to experience. I recall that usually I’m a tad miserable around this time (based off of my post about a year ago, and oh yeah, this one where I’m “Absolutely Enraged“). Not only was it a combination of parental overload and the anxiety of Black Friday/Christmas shopping, but it was also a stressful time of interview traveling in search of a co-op/full-time job.

I am thankful that this year, I do have a little more money in my pocket, I can splurge more, and I can actually enjoy this year’s wintertime (minus the snow!!) without figuring out so much where my future was heading. Indeed, we’re in a recession, but I have not quite let that affect what I’ve been wanting to do. I’m certainly excited to go out and get MY VERY OWN Christmas tree and decorate it to my heart’s content. I’m looking forward to traveling to a warm state and reuniting with my family. If I wanted to do, I could take a random trip to Vegas, Mexico, or Big Bear to go skiing. Gosh, sometimes it feels great to be an adult!! Is this feeling ever going to fade?!

So if one thing I’m really thankful for, it would be this freedom to choose what I want to do with my life, which I think I celebrate possibly every occasion I can.

In closing (to my whopping 4 readers out there!), please drive safely to your destinations if you’re traveling and have a wonderful, peaceful, and merry Thanksgiving holiday!! Cheers!

Express Jeans: $20 on sale. Progress on PLC Coding Project: -4 man hours. Ripping My Jeans to Win Dance For Rent and NOT Doing My Project: PRICELESS.

…and to think I wasn’t even going to go. I guess I can thank GCCIS Senator Paul Solt for that! (V-19! PAULSOLT! haha)

For those of you who aren’t in the know, RIT’s Student Government holds a “Dance for Rent” competition every fall quarter encouraging students to bring their best dance moves to the floor in hopes of winning a quarter’s worth of rent for free or winning $1000 if you live off-campus. The competition involves dancing for an extended amount of time (last year was 6 hours, this year was only 4.5) with 10-minute breaks every hour. Judges rank you on creativity, energy, originality, and your attire. I thought I was pretty lucky to win 2nd place last year, which won me a $100 mall gift card. I personally thought that was some serious weak sauce considering how much energy you expend and also being sore for a week. Nonetheless it was a blast and I got free money. W00t.

I wouldn’t really have guessed that I had much of a chance this year though with all the B-boys that are usually out there, but I was looking forward to it for the longest time just to see if I had the physical endurance still. It was seriously the most labor-intensive thing I had ever done in my life. But this year with a project deadline creeping up, I figured I’d make the wise decision of choosing work over play. HA! So much for that!! After some “serious” debate of “$1000/free rent vs. putting in 4 man-hours on my project” — hmm, tough choice there — I decided to screw the work and live life on the edge. (Now some people define that as skydiving or climbing Mt. Fuji. Me? No, living life on the edge is ditching work. ) Boy was it worth it though, because winning this competition is more than just the money or living for free. It means freedom from my parents earlier than I expected, which — if you know me personally — is a HUGE FUCKIN’ DEAL.

One quarter left at RIT and I’ll be out of the house regardless, but this is a chance to live the college experience that I never got. I had the chance once already in the past, but gave it up to please my parents and help them out at home. It hasn’t been too bad nowadays, but there are times I think back and I wish I had it different. Don’t we all from time to time? Living with my parents throughout college has affected me in good ways and bad. I definitely can save money by leeching off free laundry and food, but I honestly don’t think that’s worth the countless times I’ve wanted to do something, either academic or social, and they’ve prevented me from doing it just because they’re protective. They’ve lightened up a bit but it’s surely affected my relationships and sometimes school work when I have to help out around the house when I could be working on a project. (oh wait, I probably wouldn’t be doing that anyway =P). Bottom line is that winning Dance for Rent and moving on to campus for my last quarter could become a huge milestone in my life. It could also mean severing my relationship with my parents. Or maybe I’ll just play it safe and save the $1000 for relocating to wherever I go after graduation.

How happy could I be? Is it worth the headache of trying to sell this idea to my parents? Should I value this short time I have left with my parents before I pack my bags and tell them Sayonara? Where do we draw the line for being selfish vs. giving back to your parents? Decisions, decisions. That is my crossroads of life.

(At least if I moved out, I’d get wicked fast Internet FTW!)