May

I’ll begin with where I left off in my last post. I went to St. John’s College in Santa Fe and discovered that they’re most likely closing down their darkroom for next year. So I’m going to go to UNL and enjoy interning with NET and doing whatever else comes my way. That’s really it for college.

The last week of school is known as Festival. All the art areas at Interlochen have special presentations/performances for family, friends, and anyone else to attend. The Motion Picture Arts Thesis Screening was especially gruesome for me as I’d already seen all the thesis projects and the total runtime is about two hours. It wouldn’t have been so bad had there only been one screening, but instead there was one every day and my attendance was required for all of them. (At least I didn’t have to organize the event.)

On our last night at Interlochen there was an end of the year dance that involved chips, salsa, punch, and glow sticks. The dance was outside in the Bowl, and if I remember correctly, the last song played was “Don’t Worry, Be Happy!” Of course, everybody was late for the 1am sign-in that night as we were all leaving the next day and so there would be no punishment. I share a last late-night orange with friends before heading off to bed as I had to graduate in the morning.

Graduation is great. The music is great. Every time a four-year student (a student who went to Interlochen all four years of high school) is called to receive his/her diploma, the other four-years stand up and spin. It’s over, and we’re dismissed from the stage. The beginning Commencement is over. (I imagine it was like most other graduation ceremonies, except for that this one had lake and forest in the background.)

The mass of seniors and post-grads are all taking pictures and saying final good-byes in the mall area. Parents are trying to find their recently graduated seniors, but having no luck. I have a final meal in the cafeteria with my family and then head off to begin packing. That’s right, I had to begin packing.

The process of packing is rather simple and involves shoving everything possible into suitcases, large trash bags, boxes, and the trunk of the car. I’ll move on.

After going to a graduation party in town and then showing my family some of downtown Traverse City, I get dropped off at my friend Jane’s house. Her mother drives me to Sam’s house where we eat dinner and I meet an interesting fellow names Steve, who happens to be a photographer. I have a long discussion with him before heading back over to Jane’s house where some Interlochen friends will be spending the night before we all leave. Jane lives in the country and so we stayed in a little cabin with no electricity some distance from her house. We light candles and burned wood in the little stove to keep us warm during the night. It was a clear night and perfect for star gazing. I did see one shooting star.

The next morning my family came to pick me up and we left to go canoeing in the Platte River, which feeds into Lake Michigan. After that, we went straight back home to find a tree on our house from the recent storms that have been going through the midwest.

And in case you were wondering, I certainly do miss Interlochen.