Sense of Accomplishment

I had a sense of accomplishment about a few things yesterday and I wanted to share them. I had an appointment yesterday to discuss the paper I have been working on with my professor, who also happens to be a writing tutor. He went over it with me, and pronounced that he couldn't help me with it, that I might as well turn it in as it was, it was an A paper. He asked me to e-mail it to him so that he could read it again, and he sent me the following e-mail: "I'm sorry if my feedback wasn't helpful about your paper; it really is a wonderful, interesting, well-written paper. And thank you for the copy; I want to read it a few more times and think about it. Do you mind if I leave comments on it and send it back?" I have to admit that it felt really good to get such positive feedback about something I worked really hard on. We also sat and talked about what I want to do with my life. He suggested that I go to law or medical school, neither of which I have any interest in, but my new consideration for grad school is the school that my professor actually attended, St. John's College. It has a very unique teaching style, and from hearing about it from a couple of people, I really think I would love it. Of course, the degree you get from St. John's leads inevitably to teaching, but I think I could handle that. I might even decide to go for a Ph.D., you never know. My next accomplishment was that I baked a batch of challah last night and it smelled so good and looked so pretty when it was done. I don't know what it is about homemade challah, but it is such a cool feeling to take a few eggs, some flour and yeast and mix them together; beat out your frustrations kneading the dough; and end up with this incredible smelling, beautiful challah that is all kavod Shabbos kodesh. I really love making challah and I need to start doing it more often. I decided yesterday that I am going to, bli neder, try to focus this blog on positive thoughts rather than griping at the world. Sometimes it is good to get my frustrations out, but I am going to try my best not to do it in this forum. I want this blog to be a outlet for improving my writing skills and expressing the thoughts that I think are interesting and enlightening about life. Good luck to me! Last note. It is snowing! This is actually the same day that it first snowed last year. I have to say it is very pretty. And a guy in my court actually helped me clear off my car this morning, it was really nice of him, and I really appreciated it. Have a good Shabbos everyone!