The End. (Kind of.)

So, I’m officially an Ohio State graduate! Again! And all I got was this lousy mug.

Of course, I kid about the mug. I somewhat begged Megan (our fearless MSE advisor) for the mug during the Senior Breakfast on Sunday, because most everything I’ve received from the department can’t be used on a daily basis. That cast metal Ohio Stadium ashtray we made during our first quarter lab? Yeah, I don’t smoke. The huge personalized ceramic stein we received for graduating? It will look nice with some flowers in it, once I have a garden. All those chunks of metal from three years of lab – some mounted in bakelite, some not – don’t even make good paperweights. This mug will be nice for my daily cups of tea, as long as I don’t start word-finding and as a result, cause my blood pressure to spike. (Is it just me, or is “CORROSION” mocking you, too?)

For whatever reason I keep feeling compelled to write some sort of wrap-up of my experiences these past three years, but I can’t do it. Not only will I creep toward schmoopiness and never return, but the idea bores even me. What I will say is that I enjoyed my three years in MSE more than I did my first four years at OSU. I’m sure it had something to do with perspective, and being surrounded by some really fun people, and also this thing called a curve that is used a LOT more in engineering classes than it is in history classes. I couldn’t have done it without the generosity of my professors. I’m not sure I would have passed myself in some of those classes, especially with my repeatedly frightening performances on final exams. (I’m not a terribly good test-taker, okay?) But now, according to Ohio State, I’m a historian/engineer/writer, which is a strange little sandwich of professions. I don’t know where I’m headed next, but I have a sneaking suspicion it will turn out to be pretty interesting. (And it will not involve another bachelor’s degree.)

I’ll continue to write, but now unaffiliated with OSU and MSE, at a blog location to be determined. If you know me personally, shoot me an e-mail to let me know you’re interested in following along in the new location. Otherwise, you’re welcome to leave a note in the comments section with your request for the new web address (avoid the spammers by formatting your e-mail like joeschmoe-at-osu-dot-edu), or who knows, I may just end up posting the new address in the comments section sometime down the road. Thanks for your readership!