Tattoos, Saints, and Penguins

So, I have been on the hunt for employment since I arrived in Vermont. I go out and apply everywhere. I made resumes too. There are a lot of shops nearby Burlington College, and I haven’t applied to even half of them. So on one of these hunts I stopped by a tattoo parlor to see if they could fix a tattoo of mine. I started talking to the tattoo artist and BAM, I am now on top of being a full-time student, I get to put my art education into practice as an apprentice at Body Art Tattoo and Piercing.

This gives me a chance to practice a whole new style of art and make money. Two of the guys who work in the shop are from my neck of the woods, New Orleans. Which brings me to my next point… the Saints won the Superbowl? That’s nuts! The students who live on the Burlington College campus had a get together where we watched the game. Best part: free food. Everyone I know in the South has been doing back flips of joy over this phenomenon. Up here people are more interested in the Burlington Vermont Winter Festival. I don’t know much about it, but I know my boyfriend is going to jump into Lake Champlain in February. It’s some event appropriately called Penguin Plunge. I don’t think I’m up for being a penguin, personally. But if the rest of Burlington Vermont wants to freeze in the lake, I’m sure it’ll be fun to watch.

YMCA for Free

I lost my phone last night! What happened was James and I went to the YMCA because we get to go for free since we are Burlington College students. James is an ex-football player/wrestler and I’m this scrawny art geek. He was trying to get me to use muscles and stuff involving sweat. Haha. It was a pretty hilarious sight. He was lifting hundreds of pounds in weights and I was struggling with the ten pounds! On the way home I realized my phone was gone. I’ve grown pretty dependant on my cell phone while looking for a job and living so far away from my family. It’s weird not having one. But I’ll just get a new one.

Aristocrats, Cell Phones, and Lack of Muscles

This week has been very busy. Thankfully, I live so close to school in on-campus housing. I run across the street to school five minutes before class, it’s so convenient! My classes have basically been set up that the students read a lot outside class, and in the classes we spend lots of time discussing what we read. It’s great because it makes me feel like such an intellectual. I imagine smoking out of an old big pipe, wearing a monocle, and saying things like “How are the stocks today? "

Hey Ho, Let’s Go! Cont...

...So, it was at this time, after I was already enrolled in a little Mississippi Community College to occupy my time while I made my escape plan, that I heard of Burlington College. At first it seemed impossible, I lived so far away. But luckily the falcutly was very flexible and allowed me to arrive two weeks before classes started. This is great because everything about the college appealed to me. There was public transportation in the city, there was recycling, there was moose, skiing, snowboarding, and SNOW. While still in Mississippi I dug through my closet for the warmest clothes I could find and waited with anticipation to start the semester. About twice a week the school would call to make sure everything was in order and they let me sign up for classes over the phone. When I finally drove nonstop for a day and a half in a van full of boxes to Vermont I knew I made one of the best decisions in my life. Seeing the Adirondacks on a sunny January morning was eye watering.

Well now I’m a Freshman at Burlington College double majoring in fine art and writing. I’m a vegetarian, and that used to be a hassle but is now AWESOME. Coming from a town where the only store was Wal-Mart, Church Street in Burlington is like a magical land where people have options. Everyone here loves to be here and the positive energy that envelopes this town is contagious. In general, this college has become an adventure and I’m pretty excited to see what happens next.

Hey Ho, Let’s Go!

Well hello there, my name is Kim Rabideau and my life just changed drastically – for the better. I was born in Plattsburgh, New York, which is about as far north you can go without being in Canada. At the age of ten my family decided to move to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, which is about as far south in America you can go without being in the Gulf of Mexico. I’m still convinced to this day that one of the main reasons we moved to “The Bay” was to be closer to Disney World.

Well the south was definitely a change, and honestly, I don’t think my family liked it very much, I know I didn’t. It was even worse after August 29, 2005. Anyone who doesn’t live on the coast might not recognize the date, but in the south it’s about as important as July 4^th or 9/11. That was the day Hurricane Katrina hit and left our town, home if you will, a total pathetic mess. Since then nowhere on the coast has been able to fully recover. That year was my Freshman year of high school. Instead of worrying about boys and the typical high school fluff, I was worried about rebuilding my house. (A family of six cannot live in a FEMA trailer too long without lives being at stake.)

After four years of high school I was free! Being free, I felt (and still feel) that the world is my oyster. But there is no opportunity, or employment, in Mississippi for people like me. I knew I had to leave...