notes on a grad school orientation.

-i had thought that sitting in a classroom again would give me visceral flashbacks to college and even high school. it's only been a handful of days, but so far this hasnt happened in any significant way. the seven years away from the ol' chalkboard seem to have affected a real turnover within the fiber of my being. this is a good thing. im not looking to relive high school and college. not in an academic sense, at least.

-the other students seem around my age, with me being on the slightly older side. id say there are 50 of us(?). it's actually a near 50/50 male/female split. there are not a small number of foreign students, from europe and asia.

-i met a guy yesterday who came here from korea only four weeks ago, and it's his first time in the states! he was placed in a dorm in brooklyn, which i found amusing, partly b.c it's like, coming here from korea wasnt enough? they have to give him the long commute on top of that? i mean, it seems like nyu has a dorm every three feet in this city. he seemed to speak english very well initially, but after talking to him for a while, i wondered if he wasnt making shrewd use of a cache of only 50 or so english words. whatevs: his english is better than my korean. plus, he thought i was hilarious, so hes my new best friend. i cant remember his name for the life of me.

-the people seem classy. there is an inherent comfort in being around people who share such a specific career interest. one guy got up during the predictable introductions they made us do and said, 'i want to make tennis in this country as popular as nascar.' that was sweet.

-while the seven years out of school seem to have changed my constitution, they have not changed my doodling. still doing the crazy name tag. still with the boxes. still chaining the boxes together, snaking the chains around the paper. still filling up every available grain of white space. still rocking the pen twirl. and i still got love for the streets.

-the profs who have spoken so far seem like they know their stuff. they have inspired confidence.

-im pretty psyched.