This past weekend my parents and I threw a graduation party in celebration of my receiving a BA from Clark University. It was mostly a family party but a few of my friends from Clark came along with friends from my hometown.
I think that most people can empathize with the experience of having ALL of your adult relatives ask you about what you are doing with your life and having to fake an answer because you don't really know and don't really care. Well, that was sort of the case with me but I actually had something to tell them this time. Even though it was annoying to be asked by absolutely every family member at the party what my future plans are, at least I had an answer. I am getting a master's and will graduate a year after I received my BA. It seems that my plan for this next year was sufficient enough to satisfy their curiosity without asking about further plans (which I am definitely still working on). Good thing I'm getting a master's.
A bunch of my cousins have started having babies and even though less than a quarter of my cousins came, there were still 3 or 4 babies at the party. I have always had a soft spot for children and started babysitting infants and children when I was eleven years old. With that said, I will NOT be having children of my own anytime soon. I think I have come to this conclusion partly because I have seen how it has changed my cousins' lives and partly because I am obviously more focused on my studies and my career (prime example: the subject of this blog). This is not to say that my cousins' lives were completely ruined by their children, but the changes and sacrifices I have seen them go through as I result of having children are not something I am ready for at this point in my life. Selfish? Maybe, but I am still very young and even writing about having babies seems silly to me. I think that the topic of having babies comes up more in my life now because I am very close with my extended family and many of them are preparing to have or already have children. I am also moving forward out of my undergraduate career and defining myself as an individual and what I want my life to be. I will be a mom in the future but right now I am focused on myself and my studies.
Speaking of babies, I have found myself in a relationship. Literally, I have found myself with a boyfriend and I don't really know how it happened. I am one of those people who is usually perfectly content doing my own thing on my own schedule. In fact, I have always felt like I needed complete control over my life without any interruption in order to function and be successful. Over my four years of undergrad, I became more flexible as my relationships with my friends and my strain on time to complete activities and homework were more intense. I think I have realized that a part of becoming an adult is learning how to be independent and with that comes more responsibilities and less selfishness. I suppose having more of an adult relationship with my boyfriend is an important part of this next phase of my life as I am learning how to be even more flexible and make more of a compromises with my time and attention. As my aunt said after she met him (yes, he met my extended family AHH), "he is a gem!" and I agree with her. Maybe I am not ready for having babies, but I am ready to be more flexible and take life as it comes.
Babies and my boyfriend. Hmmm, interesting post for me to write...
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