The Parable of the Parking Spot

You know when you're really in a hurry for something? You dash like mad out the door to make up for the five minutes it took you to find the gloves that were in your pocket the whole time and then you have to heat up the car because of course this job interview has to be in Utah, which means that it may only be September, but winter--like the sale of Christmas decorations--sure as hell ain't going to wait till December. So you're late, it's cold, the roads are slushy where they're not icy, and then TRAX has to go and block the freaking intersection. And then you have to find a parking spot because the interview is downtown and God himself would be hard-pressed to find a spot on this day. So you park and walk-jog the three blocks from the (scalpers! at the) parking garage and you make it to the interview five minutes late because the five minutes you made up through good traffic light karma were lost to one-way streets and illegal left turns. Curse you, TRAX!

(Do you know where I'm going with this?)

Because this is Utah, the next day is bright and sunny. You're downtown again and just happen to pass your future place of employment and there! Right there! Is a parking space. A parking space! Right there, downtown. On a day when you have no interview to make, when you're not running late, when you have no one to impress. Right there in front of your building.

Guys, studying is my parking spot!!

Now that I'm out of school, I am *awesome*. Awesome!


I used to stay up till 3 doing homework.

I used to stay up past 3 surfing YouTube and Facebook.

I used to stay up past 3 and hope that I would sleep through my alarm so I wouldn't have to go to class.

I procrastinated papers.

And blew off deadlines.

And turned in papers that didn't meet the minimum number of pages required.

(And still got As. Boo Yaw.)

I skipped class to work. (Hello, Paycheck!)

I skipped class to read.

I skipped class just because.

I daydreamed instead of taking notes.

With the exception of two courses, I never did any reading.

I never contributed to class discussions.

I was, by all accounts, a terrible student.

And that's just college.



You get it, right?

Now that I don't need good grades--don't even have the option of grades!--or recommendations or credits or sleep, I am disciplined. (Disciplined!)

I go to bed at a reasonable hour (it's been 1 AM lately).

I wake up while it's still morning.

And then I study.

I read.

I take notes.

I ask questions, and then write them down.

I jot down ideas and color code topics.

I don't allow myself to get distracted by YouTube or season 5 of Grey's Anatomy.

I have a stack of books related to Arabic and job-hunting and human trafficking, and another tower of recreational reading books.

I haven't even touched the tower. Which is a BIG DEAL because it includes Eclipse. And Eclipse means Jacob. Jacooooob!

And yesterday, I made rolls! Fluffy, delicious dinner rolls.


Being out of school is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. Productivity ROCKS!

As do I.

Obviously.

And now it is 12:51 AM and I am going to bed. To bed!

YESSSSSSS.