California Adventures & Closure

Per the suggestion of (translate: harassment by) my old roommate Megan, I finally picked up my diploma from UCLA yesterday. Yes, my undergrad diploma with a shiny seal and signature of our Governator Schwarzenegger. I was never one of those people who had closure issues with college, I moved on pretty quickly and happily, but my diploma makes me officially feel like an alumna.

I had a great day hanging out with other alums today, enjoying everything California. Eating In-n-Out with Megan, sitting out on the patio of Novel Cafe with the girls, strolling through campus to get harassed on Bruinwalk, watching a movie at the famous Bruin Theater, and going to the old bar in Santa Monica that we always went to with the boys. And in true California style, we even had a celebrity sighting: DB Sweeney from the Cutting Edge, a favorite movie of Megan and I.

Last year, even though I was excited to move to DC and start law school, I felt like I was leaving everyone behind. Many of them, including all of my roommates, stayed around Westwood to finish up classes or to work. But now that first year of law school is under my belt and everyone else is going to grad schools across the country or finding jobs that they like, I feel like we're all finding our place and happier.

As one of my co-workers this summer said, it is a lot harder at this age to meet up with old college friends. But I realized that when we can actually all coordinate our schedules, I appreciate being with them even more. And of course having 72 degree and sunny weather makes it even better.