Final Thoughts

I’m not sure what to post about for this last blog entry, so I guess I’ll just wax nostalgic for a moment (if you don’t mind.)

“A Sense of Place” was my very last Gallatin Interdisciplinary Seminar, and a few short days from now I’ll be graduating. Steve’s comments about not knowing how this class will affect us until years down the line might be true, but I’ve utilized it this semester in several ways already. Most notably, I used two of our text in my collquium. Both Tuan and Kunstler played an integral part in my discussion of how American’s create a sense of place (or rather, how, perhaps, America has no sense of place.) I guess the argument can go either way.

Colloquium aside, I’ve been thinking a lot about that phrase, “sense of place.” In two weeks I’m leaving New York to search for a new place to get a “sense” of. I’m not exactly sure why I’m leaving other than the feeling that I’ve “conquered” New York. Been there, done that, and shamefully bought six T-shirts for $10 on Canal Street. In short, I want a new sense of place.

It’s funny to think about especially at this age. This week was my birthday and in the mail I received cards from Mississippi, Alaska, Washington D.C., New York, and places in between. I find it amusing to think that we, as graduating seniors, are finally at a point where we can go out and create our own sense of place. Those cards were from friends of mine who have moved on to new towns, new jobs, and new lives. This side of five years ago all of my cards would have come, undoubtedly, from Tupelo, MS. (I warned you I would get nostalgic. I feel like I’m writing a graduation speech.) None the less, I’m moving on with that phrase in mind, wherever I may land in the next few months.