school? what's that?

It's amazing how physically removing myself from NC and MC can set me so far apart from school and everything (aka all the baggage) that comes with it. I must say that being here in Colorado I've become completely relaxed, which is hard to believe (trust me, I know). I think that when I'm at home everything is academic or related to academics. I study at, work at, and live at my school almost year round. Now, I'm not complaining by any means, but the extent of my time spent at Meredith College does not leave much room for me to de-stress & decompress.

Now, the reason I even began thinking about this is that I had an academically based conversation today for about the first time since I arrived in Colorado 8 days ago. One of Jo's friends has stayed with us at the house the last two nights and she asked to use my computer to check her email. When she "X"ed out of the internet page she saw my computer background, which happens to be the picture of my Meredith Autism Program client from the Meredith Magazine article about our program. Of course she queried about the stunning child in the picture which led to an entire conversation about autism, Asperger’s syndrome, our program, and my motivation for pursuing my future career.

Of course I loved having the conversation with her and giving her information about the disorder about which I am so passionate, but it also made me think that I have really separated myself from the life that so strongly consumes me when I am at home. It’s kind of nice to lose track of that responsibility that I always have when I am at Meredith and in Raleigh/Cary to be Marie LaHaye, future Ph.D., Honors Student, Psychology Major, Autism Advocate, and President of the Class of 2010. Here I am able to become that Marie girl who lives with her cousins during the summer and works at “the Moose”. Most of the people here don’t know who I am or where I'm from. It gives me an opportunity to be somewhat invisible and to not worry about what anyone thinks of me. I'm without labels here, and it's a whole different experience from what I'm used to. It's a double life, and one that I thoroughly enjoy.

It's amazing how sometimes you'll stumble upon a quote that describes a situation in an almost perfect way. Try this one-----

"You might be a big fish
In a little pond
Doesn't mean you've won
'Cause along may come
A bigger one
And you'll be lost"
- Coldplay