Graduation & Engagement!

Hello dear readers!

Much has happened since “For the Directionless Graduate” was posted. For one, I graduated! Ok, let’s be honest. I celebrated my impending graduation at Brown’s rather odd ceremony last December, which lauded the even odder segment of the Brunonian population who for whatever reason, decided that graduating with one’s own class in the Spring did not suit them. Many graduated a semester later than their classmates, a few finally finished their degrees after beginning at Brown decades ago, and a few more, I among them, “graduated” early! It was totally worth it – I got to shake hands with Ruth Simmons!!! Not to mention I get to skip out on yet another brutal Providence winter. Don’t worry, northerners feeling jealous, I’ll be suffering along with you all next year in either Chicago or New Haven!

Siesta Key Beach in January. Yes, January!

 Now there is a rather enormous and incredibly joyous life event that occurred very shortly after celebrating my non-graduation. (I usually don’t blog about my self, but maybe I am turning a new leaf!) I am now an ENGAGED woman after all!

 After much anticipation, consternation and excited anxiety, Christopher Unseth proposed on December 9th, 2011, in front of hundreds of Brown students and friends. Here’s a look at the crowd that witnessed the event:

Prior to this large gathering at around 11 in the evening, Christopher had taken me on what seemed like the perfect date. Dinner at Red Stripe, our favorite restaurant. Dessert at Pastiche – what could be better than that? In my apparently inferior romantic imagination, these locales seemed more than suitable for a proposal of matrimony, especially given the fact that our time at Brown together was rapidly drawing to a close. I was anxious for him to propose and knew it was coming, eventually… But, I had given up hope that it would happen that night, as the date seemed to be over.

Driving back up College Hill, Chris proposed (no, not that kind of proposed!) that we go for a walk on the Main Green, a rather surprising sentimental gesture to our waning days as Brunonians. It was a beautiful night, after all.

 We started to hear loud cheering in the direction of Keeney, and Chris suggested we go see what all the excitement was about. It turned out to be a Jabberwocks a cappella arch sing in Wayland Arch. Chris had sung with the group until that semester, so it seemed perfectly natural that he would want to see them sing while a student for the last time. He (I thought rather rudely) pushed through hundreds of people, dragging me along behind, until we were sitting at the very front.

 Listening to the songs, I felt so happy to be there with Chris, with so many familiar faces around us, and to be leaving Brown with him, engagement or no engagement. Suddenly as the last song began, (You Send Me, by Sam Cook) Chris stood up, slipped on his Jabberwock’s blazer, and started to sing with the group. He pulled me up, and as you’ll see in the video, it was easily the happiest and most overwhelming several minutes of my life!

Proposal Video

I can’t even begin to explain how I felt during or after the proposal. It was one those moments that was both thrilling and momentous, that I will remember the rest of my life. My best friend, with whom I am deeply in love, asked me to marry him, and I happily and finally said YES!