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There's so much about my Brown education i'm grateful for. I asked myself this a few years back when I first got to Brown: what will I be like upon graduation? what will I have learned? who will I be? Today it's getting progressively clearer. I cannot say if I am a smarter person seeing that I keep making dumber and dumber choices (everything done repeatedly is not called a mistake). But I am a proud architect of my own education.

Senioritis is striking me harder and harder as graduation is brimming on my horizons. I'm feeling my ability to focus has been dwindling, and my time management skills are beyond repairs. But I think there's not much I can do when the only thing I have yet to do is graduate. I nonetheless take great pains to remain in control. I know I will miss this. Much as I am a flaky student who shies away from delving into anything, I will miss going to class, taking notes, studying for art history midterms, memorizing slides and the like. I know I will regret what i should have could have done here and there. This is the last stretch of a hell of a ride. And I'm doing it.

One of the graduation requirements of Brown University and probably the weirdest, the most abstract and the least structured, is the lofty "writing requirement":

"Since its founding, Brown has stressed the importance of writing. Competence in reading and writing is required for all degrees. Beyond competence, Brown seeks to develop the quality of writing in courses throughout the University.

All students at Brown are expected to pursue a high level of performance in their writing. Students who, in the opinion of their instructors, fail to maintain an appropriate level of competence in writing, are referred to an agent of the Dean of the College to develop a plan for bettering their writing. This can include placement in a designated writing course. If students do not complete such a course satisfactorily or are subsequently judged by the Dean to be incompetent in writing, they will be refused registration by the Committee on Academic Standing until they meet the responsibilities for the completion of the writing requirement."

Today I can say without modesty that I can write and know how to write. Much more than a student with a global awareness or an informed student of art history, I am a writer who has the preconditions of becoming a better writer. My first art history paper of my last semester was nicely done. The writing fellow said that the authorial voice in my archeology paper came forth so strongly. My professor said my personal statement was flowing and coherent. If anything, this is what my BA has culminated in.