Bonnie Gross

It feels like I haven’t written one of these in forever. I have been so busy traveling and working, that I forgot to send some updates.

There are so many amazing things happening right now in my life, but all I can think about is the fact that I have to graduate  in a month. Do not get me wrong, I am very happy to be graduating on time and to finally take a much needed break from school, but there is always a part of you that is sad when a chapter of your life is ending. Suddenly every thing you do becomes important. You cannot help thinking “this will be the last time I ever do this” for everything you do. (Yes, I think about this every time I play Bingo Thursday nights at Houndstooth )

It is getting to that time in the semester where we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Teachers have listed out everything needing to be done till the end of the term. Social organizations have put out dates for their final parties. Emails about graduation parking have been sent out. It seems that the months are moving quicker than they ever have before.

I keep thinking that I will magically return for another year after summer. That I will see all my friends, hang out, go to new classes and continue cheering on the football team. I picture myself here next year doing what I have been doing for the past 4 years. To picture doing anything else (let’s not go back to high school or below) sounds strange.

Although jumping into the unknown is scary, there is so much to look forward to. (Finding a job, finding a home, paying bills, maybe living in a cardboard box in the middle of New York…okay maybe not too much) There is excitement though in moving to a new city, starting a career path towards your dreams and figuring out how to fend for yourself.

People are always shocked that I am so torn on graduation. I have lived on my own before in Los Angeles, New York and even Ireland, but in the back of my mind I always knew what the next step was going to be. After LA and NY, I knew that I would be coming back to Alabama. After graduation, I know I will be going back to Philly to get surgery, but after that there are so many unknowns.

I plan everything in my life, so when there comes a time that is unplannable, (I think I just made up a word, but you get what I mean) I find myself lost. I sit there, staring at the wall repeating over and over again “about one month away.” I know I will be fine and that life will be fine, but things are just starting to get real for me.

In my last month at Alabama, there are so many exciting things happening. First, I will be directing a short film that I wrote earlier in the year.You may remember from a previous blog post, that I had the opportunity to visit Poland and the concentration camps while studying abroad. After this experience, I was inspired to write a script based on my family ties to Poland, and my relatives who had survived the Holocaust. We have a Go Fund Me page (www.gofundme.com/Grosz) for anyone who would like to donate to the film or read more about it.

We start shooting this weekend and hopefully by the end of April, I will be able to share the final version with you all!

Also, I will be attending our last date party for Delta Gamma as well as our senior night. I love and hate goodbye parties. It is a great opportunity to gather all your friends for one last celebration, but at the same time, I hate never knowing when the goodbye will actually take place. It is always strange to be celebrating, while at the same time, you just want to hug everyone and cry. Anyways, it should be a fun time.

Lastly, I wanted to tell you about my spring break adventures in Florida. (Sorry I know that it happened over a week ago) Dillon and I decided to get in my car and do a “tour of Florida,” which later would be known as “seeing Florida from a car while dealing with extreme exhaustion.” The drive from Tuscaloosa to Miami is 12 hours, which we split into two days. Later we drove to Clearwater, which is 5 hours, and then had to drive another 10 hours back to Tuscaloosa. As you can tell, it was a lot of bonding time in the car.

After driving through 32 states, I have learned to love road trips (well not the sketchy bathrooms and fast food chains part). There is so much you learn about the US simply from driving down a road and stopping along the way. Plus, there is something relaxing about having hours with nothing else to do, but listen to podcasts and music.

The highlight of our Florida tour was Key Largo, where we did a snorkeling boat trip. It is always so crazy to see the Atlantic Ocean down here, compared to the Atlantic Ocean near me in Jersey. The color of the water is bright and blue. I felt like I was on a commercial for a cruise line, as I jumped into the water and was able to see a turtle drifting along. I was able to bring my GoPro with me while snorkeling, so I was able to get some really awesome photos.

Another cool thing we did was go to the Phillies Spring Training Camp. I had completely forgot that Phillies Spring Training took place in Clearwater and that it was happening as we were there. It was not until I saw a wave (pun intended) of Phillies fans out at the beach, that I figured it out. It just so happened that our last day in Clearwater the Phillies were playing the Pirates (Dillon is from Pittsburgh and that detail might show why this game was so ironic). We got cheap tickets and attended the game. Sadly, since we had so much driving to do that night, we had to leave early. The Phillies won by the way!!!

It is now time to buckle down and finish the semester strong. Sad to say, but graduation photos are coming soon.

Until next time, enjoy this photo of Dillon being a bingo unicorn…