Saturday, July 9, 2011

Contentment in transition

Right now it is 11:30 on a Friday night and I'm sitting here in the science building of a school I barely know. I've more or less finished the project that I have due at 8am tomorrow morning. I just need to add some photos and finishing touches to it. There are three other people in the room. People who I barely know, but consider friends. I'm listening to some Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and feel absolutely starved. I'm in a town in Oregon called Ashland where there is no all night diners or fast food places and I don't have a kitchen to cook anything in or anything back in my room to eat besides peanut butter sandwiches and Cheeze-Its. However I really can't think of too many times in my life when I've felt happier that I feel right now.

It's strange. I'm still 7 days away from finishing field camp. Alyssa emailed me today which made me feel a little sad and nostalgic, but I just feel like right now is kind of a point in my life where I'm finally grown up.

Earlier tonight I got on my email to check if my friend had sent me a google plus invitation and instead found a job offer from a company in my inbox. A job offer that will pay me nearly three times as much as I have ever made before at any job in my life. I emailed the man back to let him know that I am happy to accept it. I'm not exactly sure what the job will consist of. I do know that it has something to do with working on the Sevier Lake Potash deposits in Central Utah, but I'm not sure specifically what.

Another monumental thing happened tonight. As I was observing the three people who I'm in the classroom working along side I was noticing that none of them were actually working on their project. I thought I'd check my cell phone which was in my pocket and found quarters which I got back as change from purchasing a project folder today. Out of curiosity I checked to see what change I had an there in my hand lied the last quarter to my 50 state quarter collection. A tarnished and well used 2005 Denver mint California quarter. I know it sounds silly, but I have a thing for quarters. I think it stems from my Grandma who used to give me cool coins for my birthday. I still have them and they're one of the few tangible memories I have of her. My state quarter collection is something I started after her death. It was my goal to collect all 50 through normal circumstances, meaning no purchasing them on ebay or specifically requesting states as change from cashiers. To have finally completed it is just a huge life accomplishment for me.

Earlier tonight I informed my family of my job and one of my friends who happened to be on Facebook at the time, but I'm not really said anything else about it to anyone else except the people who were in the room and heard me proclaim, "Holy shit, I just got a legit job offer for XX dollars an hour from a geology company," as I read my email. My family and buddy were all very happy for me. I feel like I've come so far in the past few years, it's really exciting. Maybe I still have 7 days left here in field hell, but I'm a geologist. I never thought I'd be a geologist, I never wanted to be one, but I've ended up as one. I'm celebrating by spending my Friday night posting a blog and writing a landslide report. Sounds like what a responsible adult would do, right? However tomorrow I'm going to be at the Redwoods and Crescent City with other friends of mine. The following day I will be at Crater Lake on Mount Mazama and plan on being just sober enough to walk most of the time. Maybe I've still got some growing up to do. Hell, I'm only 25. Screw the gray hairs and Utahans that try to tell me I'm old. I've still got a lot of learning to do.

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