So I am now in my final week of school, ever. On Friday I’m flying to Los Angeles for the Big Concert, then to Baltimore/Washington, and finally back to New Have to graduate (round two). I’ve decided to leave New Haven behind and move to New York city, along with my new Master of Music degree and six years’ accu­mu­lated furnishings.

I was wonder­ing a few days ago why I’m not feeling any regret, or prema­ture nostal­gia, as I go about various final­i­ties— concerts, classes, pruning my favorite flow­er­ing shrubs— the answer, I think, is that being in grad school has, somewhat unex­pect­edly, provided a pretty smooth tran­si­tion from student to Real Person. I’m not really sure what I expected going in, but this seems like the best possible result. I wonder how I’ll feel about the previous senti­ment this time next year, after what’s sure to be a healthy dose of New York struggle.