I Knew a "Cities" Degree Would Be Useful Someday

I'm rather embarrassed by my college degree. Officially it's known as Growth and Structure of Cities. Since that name is long and cumbersome, everyone I know refers to it simply as "Cities". It can be found no where else in the world. It's kinda sorta urban studies? I guess? That's the easiest way to describe it. A little bit of history, a little bit of sociology, some anthropology thrown in for fun and some architecture to round us out. It's a grab bag, but it's really great stuff.

During college I loved my major. The courses were interesting and diverse, the people were fun and always had good conversation and I am extremely happy with what I got out of my studies. Unfortunately now that I am faced with explaining exactly what my major was almost everyday, I've grown to hate it. I've become painfully aware of how ridiculous I sound telling people I majored in "cities" (little quotation mark hand signals always included). I can practically watch my credibility fall as people try and comprehend exactly what I've spent the past four years doing. My inability to give a straight answer about what I studied doesn't help at all.

One thing that a Cities degree did give me was a friendship with my classmate Katherine. Katherine and I were in the same thesis group senior year and we would spend long silent meetings with our advisor staring at each other willing the other to say something. I admired Katherine's ability to evade our advisors questioning regarding her thesis, an area that I was definitely not as adept at, and made a note to be better friends with her. A comment one day about how she was a fan of my senior year blog solidified her as a great person in my eyes.

After graduation she remained one of my most loyal blog fans, despite the fact that I less than ceremoniously ended both blogs that I had going. Nonetheless she kept on encouraging me to get back to writing.

A few weeks ago she informed me that she had gotten a position at The Huffington Post posting blogs to the site and if I had something good she could put it up. Apparently something in my last entry struck her and I got a facebook message the other day asking if she could post it. The Old Boys (er, girls I guess) Network in action if I've ever seen it. I eagerly said of course and 24 hours later it was there.

I have no idea what this means in the big picture. There are plenty of blogs on The Huffington Post and no one has commented on my entry so I don't seem to have changed any lives. I know that a month ago I was freaking out because when my name was Googled all of my terrible Bi-College News articles (often written during a panicked Friday night rush to meet the Saturday morning deadline) were the first thing that popped up. Now when Googled various news feeds featuring the entry flood the screen. Cool and creepy at the same time.

Now I have to up the anty. I didn't really think the Valentine's Day post was my best work. This blog has had a bit of a slow start and hasn't had the great entry that will define it yet. That happens when it's only a week old. I've got some great ideas now that I know people are reading. In the long run, if that one entry bumped down all of my Bi-Co News articles then I'm happy!

If anyone is checking in for the first time, make sure you check out my old blogs as well.

mariannasadventures.blogspot.com -Follow my travels in Ireland

mariannasfailures.blogspot.com -Follow my quest to graduate college (spoiler alert: I succeed)

travelswithauggie.blogspot.com -Follow my trip around the country (but be prepared to stop in Arizona...still under construction)