I’m not a “shoe-in” kind of person. Back in high school, getting a lead role in a play was always a pleasant and shocking surprise, and even though I “talked the talk” so to speak, I was always terrified I wouldn’t get elected into student body government. I didn’t think I was a shoe-in for BYU; I worked my butt off in high school to get there, and any talk of “I don’t want to go to BYU anyways,” was a preemptive defense mechanism preparing me for the eventuality of not getting in. Even the job at Timpview was an ambiguous uncertainty until I actually signed my employment contract and signed up for benefits. It’s strange, but “glass half empty” outlooks leave me room for the delightful surprise of success. It works for me.

So it was bizarre to find myself feeling so unbelievably confident as I submitted my application to the summer fellowship at Columbia University’s Performance at the Center, but I tell you, I felt positively serene. Those who know me well know that “serene” is not the most Sierra-appropriate adjective, but there you have it.

The Project at the Center is a 2 & 1/2 week fellowship with working teachers and students that will (so far as I can tell) make a theatrical production out of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and then write curriculum for public schools based on the experience. I saw the opportunity and it just clicked: I knew I would get it, and then I did. I’ve never experienced anything like that before. 

Today, a little affirmation arrived in the mail that this Project at the Center might be the most Sierra-esque experience in existence. But first, I allow you (for the sake of explanation) a rare and brief glimpse into “High School Sierra.” Buckle up.

I journaled like a crazy person/teenage girl. But mixed in with all my adolescent ramblings (Long, long journal entries that I made Sacrament Meetings fly by in a breeze) I included clippings and pictures and all kinds of ephemera.

Here are some of my less private pages.  

SO WHEN THE MOST GLORIOUS PACKAGE THAT HAS EVER ARRIVED IN THE HISTORY OF PACKAGES CAME IN THE MAIL, YOU CAN MAYBE UNDERSTAND WHY I AM SO EXCITED TO GO TO COLUMBIA.

Its contents?

A handmade leather journal (WITH NO LINES! which if you read the link, you understand why that’s important to me), a copy of the book, Frankenstein with a “letter from Victor Frankenstein” himself giving me instructions for the summer. There is also an envelope filled with antiquated text, newspapers, photographs, music selections, etc. My FIRST invitation (first implying there are more to come!) invites me to cover the journal with the contents of the envelope interspersed with my own thoughts as I read through the book before I arrive at Columbia.

If you can’t tell by my syntax, I’m jazzed. I’m a child at Christmas. I am as anticipatory as a quivering puppy waiting to be let outside. I cannot censor my smile. Because I feel like, when I go to New York this summer, I will be surrounded, not only a group of Literature/Theater enthusiasts who also happen to be teachers, but I will also be surrounded by a bunch of nerds that like glue sticks and ephemera and journals with no lines.