Tonight was the 2010 Scholarship Dinner for Douglass College. I was there to thank my donors for the two scholarships which helped put me though school for 2010: The Margaret Hastings Memorial Scholarship (which I also received last year) and the Lois Zapolsky Memorial Prize.

It always amazes me that there are so many generous donors who support students that they don't even know. If it wasn't for these thoughtful people, I would been forced to put school off. If I am able to graduate this year (which I hope I will happen), it would be because of the financial help I received from such donors since I am no longer eligible for financial aid and I already have a load of debt which I have put off. C has also been important and supportive to me, by allowing me to attend school full-time without putting pressure on me to return to work. All these people made it possible for me to become the student I am today and have helped me to be the best that I can be. It was awkward at first to meet my donors for the first time. I really don't like to rely on people for help, especially financial help, but it made me realize that in order for me to realize my goal, I will need to rely on the support of many people to help me through. It is a humbling experience. Once I achieve my goal, I plan to do the same for others.

I turned in what I hope is my last project as an undergraduate today at about 12:20 PM to the Art History Department. It was a 10 page essay which I wrote over the course of many months, but didn't really define until last week when it was urgent to work on it. Hopefully Dr. H will like the paper as much as she seemed to like my presentation (which I burned onto CD, as per her request).

I was only sorry that I didn't have time to do more research. There is a whole stack of interesting library books waiting to be read, but I didn't have the time to go through them since Dr. H kept us pretty much busy the entire months with different parts of the assignment to turn in. I am planning to take note of their titles, as well as photocopy the table of contents and indexes since they seem like good books that I might be able to use for future research. I'm also hoping to borrow these books again with my Rutgers alumni library card (I was thrilled to find out that I would still have access to the library!).

For the summer, I'm planning to study for the GRE as well as make an Access database for research. I thought it would be easier to scan and type notes as opposed to writing them down. I will also create a template so that I can print out the notes in a 3x5 format that I can stick onto index cards to file away. It much easier to look through physical note cards than looking at them on the computer. Technology is great in some ways, but it still can't replace the way I do things.

I volunteered to be the first to give my presentation today. Unlike other times, I wasn't nervous since I wasn't worried about how I was going to say everything or fumbling my speech. I had my slides keyed to text that I read. Knowing what I was going to say took a lot of pressure off me. I had found a text on the Internet about giving academic presentations and one of the suggestions was to read from a script, since academic information tends to be more condensed and the ideas can be presented in a more eloquent way. That was a great suggestion! I guess it is true too. I have been to at least one academic event where the speaker (an older and distinguished doctor of art history) read his presentation from a script and no one seemed to think any less of him. I was thrilled that the teacher seemed to like my presentation and even asked to have a copy on CD when I turn my paper in. I gushed about how I really liked the subject (magic and miracles) and was thinking that it would make for a great dissertation topic if I get into graduate school. I was a little embarrassed about saying that afterward because I might have sounded as if I was trying too hard to appear like an eager student (which I am, but maybe my enthusiasm should have been reined in a bit. I couldn't help it, I really like my topic!). I said something to the effect of, "The more I read, the more I found out that there is to know and the more I wanted to read." I'm sure I must have sounded like a complete nerd to everyone in class. Awkward! At the end of class, one girl actually said that she liked my presentation. Yay! Oh, and Dr. H said that it would have made a good honors paper too! =D

I turned in my catalog entries for 30 objects as well as 3 wall texts and submitted the 10 items accompanied by labels for my portion of the virtual exhibition today. What a relief! This was the part of the assignment I dreaded even more than the presentation because it seemed so daunting to write catalog entries for 30 objects! Although I began work on the catalog on Friday, I still needed a lot of time on Tuesday to complete it since I was only halfway done. C was gracious and took off from work to watch B and take care of things around the house while I slaved away at the computer all day yesterday. I probably should have just done one object a day for a month. It would have been much easier, but I was probably trying to keep up with the reading assignments and had little to no time to do so. Although I borrowed books from the library for all of the reading assignments (I detest looking at fuzzy photocopied images), I didn't have time to read them all, although I would have liked to. =( And to imagine that I thought that I could also do the suggested readings!

I really enjoy reading about magic and miracles during the early Christian period. It seems that the more I read, the more I find that there is still more to read! If I haven't mentioned this before, I think I have found an area I would like to specialize in and write a dissertation about. The only question I have now, is whether I should concentrate in history or art history.

Two more weeks to go. Next week I have to give a presentation and the following week the entire project is due. After that, I can just sit and relax and wait for graduation day to arrive. I can't wait! =)

I'm waiting for C to return from work. We are planning to go out for burgers at a nearby hotel. Later I plan to work on the descriptions for the 30 items for my miracle and magic in early Christian art catalog. So far, I have almost all of the details, such as the title, material, date, place and size, so I'm moving along. I hope I can do all 30 items tonight and maybe I will have time to do 3 wall texts tomorrow. The class is moving along quickly. I wish that I had more time to read the assignments because they are really interesting, but I am foregoing them to work on my project which also requires research, and since we are getting graded on our project I thought it would be best to concentrate on that instead. The catalog, 1-3 wall texts, images and their labels are due next week. The following week is the week to present my exhibition and the next week, the entire project is due. It really does seem like a lot to do, but I am working on a bit day by day. Hopefully it will all come together well.

I'm really looking forward to the end of this month when the entire assignment will be done and I can look forward to the graduation ceremony. I picked up a handicap pass and also my graduation regalia yesterday after going to the Dean's Tea. Unfortunately no deans were present by the time I got there. I was looking forward to seeing Dean M and hearing her stories. She is a great story teller and I wish I could tell stories as well as she does. I also have to remember to pick up the invitations. I think we only get 3, but I will have to check.