Graduation!

Holy smokes! Y'all, I am a COLLEGE GRADUATE! That's right, I am educated and I guess that means I'm officially an adult. Or something. I earned my B.A. from NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study, which as most of you know, means that I made up my own major, which sounds like an easy program, but it's very rigorous and painfully academic and blah blah blah. My concentration was (is?) Authorship & Identity, with a minor in Creative Writing. So there you go.

The best part about graduation was that my family got to come to the city! My mom, Buddy, my dad, my grandmother (aka Mimi), and my brother Matt all descended upon the city for the event. It was great to have everyone there! Matt compared them to the Clampetts, which wasn't entirely inaccurate ;)

Enough blabbering, have some pictures!

Buddy, my mom, Matt, and me in Times Square! It was Buddy's first time in the big city.

Eliana and I before going to our separate graduations! (Mine being Gallatin, hers being College of Arts and Science)

Me & Kiara pre-Gallatin graduation

Boris & me

My mom and I trying not to cry as I put on my graduation regalia before Gallatin graduation at Lincoln Center

I thought my family was sitting on the other side of the auditorium, meaning they wouldn't get to see me march in, but then I spotted them as I marched in! I was so happy! This is one of my favorites.

Love this picture of Mimi & me.

My two dads

Where my ladies at?

Keepin' it classy at Lincoln Center. Typical.

All-NYU graduation at Yankee Stadium. This is the view from where my family was sitting.

My view. Much closer to the field than my family's!

Headless officers

Roomies! 

Loved Hanna's cap decorations. Watch out for bats and/or balls.

Me & Matt & my Gallatin noodle. Every school gets a little thing to wave around. Gallatin's is obviously the best.

So what's next for this Little Bitty, you ask? Well, I won't really be little bitty in the city anymore. I'll be little bitty in ATX! That's right, I'm moving to Austin, Texas, the greatest city in the world (yup, I said it). I'll be working as a reading tutor through AmeriCorps! I'm so excited to move to Austin and eat breakfast tacos every day (among other things, like helping kids and stuff).

I'm quite sad to leave New York, though. When I was living in the city, I said that my heart was always in Texas. But now, a part of my heart will always be in New York. I changed so much during my time there and learned so much about myself. New York made me strong, made me passionate, made me independent. New York kicked my ass for a while, but I persevered and proceeded to kick New York's ass. As I rode in the cab to the airport, I saw that beautiful Manhattan skyline and began to cry. New York is a city that means so much to me--it means growing up, it means terrible times and glorious times, it means fulfilling my dreams. And now that I've made it there, I can make it anywhere! I love you, New York. Always.