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Nevermind about Bradley not contacting me.

He called me this afternoon and I may have, more than likely, gotten the internship, so...

yay!?

A moment of elation.

I am in the journalism lab right now, having my down time during the day (taking an aide period was an extremely good idea) and I am quite elated.

For one thing, this long week is almost over, I have nothing major to do for tomorrow, the worst part of my stats final is over with, tomorrow is Mayhem, and in 2 weeks I will basically be done with high school (yay AP classes)!

Anyways, Jostens, the evil company who tries to sell us class rings for 200 bucks, is here today delivering caps and gowns. I specifically remember being IN THE HOSPITAL meaning NOWHERE EVEN REMOTELY CLOSE TO THE SCHOOL during the week that students were ordering these graduation materials, so I've been feeling slightly high-strung and sad today about not receiving my cap and gown along with the other seniors and hoping that there was still time for me to place an order.

I head down to the room allocated to Jostens for the day and explain my situation and ask what the best way to go about ordering these mandatory things would be. She asks for my name, just to make sure I'm not listed and low and behold: "Kelly Rose?"

"Oh, uh, yes...Johnson...Kelly Rose Stroot Johnson?"

"Yup, a cap and gown. You owe $37.95"

"OH! well, my money's back there, er, in the room ICANGOGETITANDCOMERIGHTBACK!"

"okay"

As I'm walking away: "yeah, my name's Kelly Rose Stroot Johnson so..."

"okay, yeah"

I now own my very own graduation gown, cap, and tassel. This is finally happening, and though I can't think about about my college as I throw my cap in the air as celebration, I've still made it through with an overabundance of credit and, more importantly, a plethora of experiences.

Besides my speaking like an idiot to the Jostens lady and the killer, Question 6 in stats, todays been pretty awesome.

That's all, though. That's my moment of elation.

Negative side of this post: Bradley has still not gotten back to me. It's been around 2 weeks and I've already sent him a reminder e-mail essentially saying "hey! don't forget about me! I still wanna do the internship!"

So, I'm hoping he's just on a nice vacation somewhere where he can't check his e-mail. Like a cruise. With WARM MELTING CHOCOLATE CAKE!

That will be my next post: how to make warm melting chocolate cake. Pics included.

I'm seriously done writing for now. CIAO

Waiting...

So, I've sent off my cover letter and resume' to Holton Farms, hoping for an internship with them for a semester so I can learn and live organic farming while also becoming a part of the "food justice" movement.

Why is this out-of-nowhere-idea a good idea?

-I actually really enjoy being outside, if the evils of the electronic 21st century didn't exist I may've been a happier teenager, gettin' all that serotonin! If only I didn't get sunburnt...

-HEALTHY LIVING! Seriously, I'll be doing manual labor (most likely) pretty much every day which ill work me into shape because, really guys, I am OUT OF SHAPE (I wish there was another phrase for that, because you can't tell by my shape that i'm "out of shape," it all has to do with my stamina and ability to move around for long periods of time).

I would be living in a place where, instead of giving you much pay for your work, they give you free veggies. Now that's a good deal and will certainly make my doctor happy.

Because of the work schedule I anticipate, I assume that I'd be waking with the sun. And since I probably won't be working with many-if any-people my age, I won't have a whole lot to do in the evening, meaning I'll be able to sleep with the sun too! This, I hear, is extremely refreshing!

-I will be away, secluded, no escape. This can, indeed, be translated into a positive. Although I am a little nervous about feeling alone and bored (though I may be completely wrong...maybe there will be other young people or, ya know, I can make friends with adults), I figure it what I've been wishing for through most of high school-having down time. I can read lots and lots, I can study anything I want to and learn at my own pace, I can finally know what it is to enjoy the natural day. I'll also feel as though I've earned my sleep at the end of the day. It will be a really nice refresher after the fast-paced cramming, late nights, yadda yadda of high school. Though I'm not saying this will be a BREEZE, since as I mentioned before-farming isn't easy work.

-I'll be exploring an interest of mine. Let's say anything can happen. I may fall completely in love with it and finally know what I want to do, what my life's calling is. And if it's not? I've got a new 100% useful skill so I can hopefully become at least a subsistence farmer in the future. I would reduce my carbon footprint that way, and it'd be cheaper and yummier!

-I'd be off, out of KY, on my own, learning independence! I'd get to learn about my new, adult self, see what I'm like.

-They focus on food justice. 'nuff said.

-I'm sure there are many more, but hopefully I've convinced you by now that this isn't a completely radically wrong decision.

I've also spoken to one of the guys from the farm (idk his position, actually, but he's the one I sent my stuff to), Bradley. He seems quite nice, and also seems to think I fit most of the description of what they're looking for, which is good. But he's not the one who makes the decision.

Anyways, here's the main correspondence I've had with Bradley:

B:Remind me, do you have any farming experience? Why do you want to work on a farm? What particular aspect are you interested in? Would you be cool living in a shared house with our male workers (you'd have your own room), and working for a very small stipend and free vegetables?

K:My farming experience consists mainly of my work in the Galapagos Islands, planting trees, pulling weeds, excavating vines from the islands natural vegetation, etc.... I also help my parents on occasion with landscaping our front yard. This consists of many things including planting, weeding, spreading mulch, etc.... Unfortunately these are my only experiences that are close to working on a farm, however I do believe that I'm quick to learn, and the Galapagos trip expanded my love of farming, and the love usually comes before the skill, especially at my young age.

I'm going to graduate high school in two months and be forced to find something I'm good at that I also enjoy. I figured I'd take a gap year to explore my interests and decided that farming, an interest that was planted in me last summer in the Galapagos, especially organic farming, was definitely an interest i wanted to explore. Not only do I want to learn about the base that our food comes from, I also believe that with the way our world's future seems to be looking, farming, either subsistence or for bigger business, will become a necessary and nature-friendly way to survive.

I'm more interested in the actual hands-on farming aspect since I very much enjoy being outdoors and doing manual labor is immediately rewarding for me. However, as i said in my cover letter, I'm completely flexible and since my interests are not 100% set I will be happy to work wherever I am needed. I'm at the stage in my life where trying new things is nothing but an excitement--I'm hoping that never goes away--so if I'm set in Vermont or NY, both would be new experiences and I would be happy.

Certainly. I have a good deal of work experience in which I deal with many different personality types, and I feel comfortable with almost any living condition. I have a male exchange student from Germany that stays in the room next to me, and although some were weary of the fact that he was male, I felt comfortable in my own room and everything was fine. Free Veggies? That makes up for a small stipend any day! So yes, I'm perfectly okay with that as well.

Hope this helps and isn't too terribly verbose,

Kelly

So that's about it. He asked if I could come up for a visit, however idk if I can swing that so I'll probably end up doing a phone interview at some point. There also may be a glitch with my age since I don't turn 18 until July that may be a problem, but he said he's looking into it. I'll keep you guys updated. I'm hoping I get this, but I still have a lot of factors against me so I'm not betting my life on it. There are always other options.

That's where I am on Gap Year stuff...waiting.

p.s. for 2nd semester I'm looking at either (my original plan) going abroad somehow cheaplyish, preferably with other kids my age that I could get along with OR finding a film school/long term workshop... something in that realm. My thoughts has always been projected through my brain as though they were part of a movie, so maybe it's time I delve into that possible passion.