10 realizations had while writing my final research paper

My entire day today is planned around working on my one and only thesis paper.  Ten things have happened while writing this thing:

1)  I've come to realize that I enjoy doing research.  Entering key words and having them pull up a million archives on your very topic, is satisfying.  It's like going to Ross or garage saleing.  It fulfills my love for a good treasure hunt.

2)  Life has come full circle again.  Funny how that happens.  It's time to go ahead and add another circle to that grad school-who I am aesthetic--with the handful of circles.  Life has come full circle in the way that while I write furiously for this final assignment, I do so with interest and passion.  How could I not when I'm writing about telling one's story.

3)  With this said, I now consider myself a narratologist.  Had you ever heard of such a thing?  The dictionary refers to narratology as "the branch of knowledge of literary criticism dealing with the structure and function of narratives and its themes, conventions and symbols."  My cup of tea.

4)  Which has had me considering getting this tattooed more frequently.

5)  This is the last research paper that I have to write.  Ever.  But that just sounds so unrealistic.  Seriously.  How could this be, when at the end of 5.5 years of schooling, I could decide that I've been enjoying doing this research?  I guess I'm growing up.  I've been coming into the areas that are meaningful to me, and researching the art of narrative is of greatest interest.  Obviously. I'm a story teller.

6)  And then there is this: at this juncture in time, I can't imagine this being the end of my educational journey.  I love to learn.  I love school.  Makes sense, right?  I'm a teacher.  But schooling is not all titles or the certificates.  For me it's about the personal investment that comes with allowing yourself to be fed and to grow.  Life becomes boundless when you position yourself to be poured into.  You may do some busy work, and at times, you may feel your eyeballs would be better poked out with a fiery metal rod, and you may think about bailing.  A lot.  Because it's not like anyone is forcing an education on you.  But you don't, because it's worth it.  And there is way too much to be learned in life than to be hanging out in the bleachers.  Sure, the lessons of life can happen anywhere--in the woods or while meeting chance strangers, and all of that's necessary and priceless.  But getting a {formal} education is just one of the coolest gifts I've ever given myself, and it has made me better in my relationship with others, too.  So we'll see.  In due time, I may head back--to study narratology.

7)  Which reminds me...a successful acquaintance once told me, that she doesn't like to learn.  Still trying to reconcile that notion.  I'm not sure she listened to what she was saying.

8)  With this said, I've got many books that I'm ready to consume this summer.  Since starting grad school, reading a book for pleasure has been a thing of a past.  My list of to-reads has been growing, and I can't wait to settle into them.

9)  Then there's the sun.  I'd like to enjoy that.

10)  And finally, because I like lists of ten, and as narratology would suggest--the story does not end.  “The story is beautiful, because or therefore it unwinds like a thread.  A long thread, for there is no end in sight.  Or the end she reaches leads actually to another end, another opening, another ‘residual deposit of duration” (Caine, et al., 2013).  This is just a fragment of my query.  Beautiful, right?