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  • Writer's pictureAnnie Dupee

The Beginning of the End

Updated: Oct 8, 2020

After weeks of mindless resting, my break is officially over. On Friday, my cohort had a zoom induction for our third and final trimester, during which we will complete our major project.


As I've mentioned before, the major project includes the first twenty-thousand words of a novel-length work with a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the rest of the novel, as well as a critical self-reflection. This is what we've been working towards all year.


My major project is set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and follows a classical studies student who notices a connection between some seemingly-random accidents happening in her city. I still have a lot of work to do, and I am really looking forward to it!


Quarantine is getting a little less strict here, but Scotland hasn't opened up like the U.S. has. A few restaurants and stores are open again, with signs requesting that only a certain number of people enter at a time. Sadly Byrons, my favorite burger place, is completely closed - they're not even offering delivery. Oh, well. They do say absence makes the heart grow fonder (although it would be hard for me to love Byrons any more than I already do).


As August draws near, I think more and more about what I want to do when my program ends. Honestly, my plans fluctuate depending on who I talked to last. If it was my parents or friends in Pittsburgh, then I find myself wanting to move back home. If it was any of my siblings, then I think about moving to Colorado. "But Annie," you ask, "doesn't most of your family live in Phoenix at this point? Don't you think about moving there?" You make a good point - I love the Phoenix Dupees, but the fact of the matter is that Arizona is Far Too Hot. I would die. The Denver Dupees have chosen a better climate.


And then there's Edinburgh. I think about all the traveling I want to do, about all the plans that got put on hold because of Coronavirus (Canary Islands, I'm coming for you someday). I feel a little bit cheated out of my time here because of quarantine. So part of me also wants to stay and make up for that. And when I'm not homesick or dying of FOMO (fear of missing out), I think I probably will stay here for a little longer. Maybe until my Visa expires in February - or maybe even longer than that. Who knows?


And of course, there's also a part of me that wants to see the results of the 2020 election before I make any decisions. But that's a different conversation.


Coming up: birthday extravaganzas! My friend Sienna's birthday is on May 28th, so we're having a May Queen party - we'll all dress up in light, flowy outfits and flower crowns and dance together. And May 29th is my and my twin sister's birthday; sadly we aren't able to be together to celebrate this year, but we'll still be celebrating all the same. When my friends here asked what I wanted the theme of my party to be, one said, "I know! You love sleeping - you should have a pajama party!" So now everyone owns footie pajamas and I'm happy in the fact that my friends know me very well.


The week after that is my Dad's birthday (!!!) and also my first mentoring session of the semester. I was assigned a new mentor this semester, so I'll be meeting with my YA lecturer (yay!). I'm very excited to get feedback from her!


In other fun news, my friend Pim has a video series called "Lockdown Lowdown" where she interviews the women we're quarantined with. She has three videos out already, and the most recent one is the interview she did with me! We talk about Pittsburgh, writing, singing, faith, and more. Here's the link!



Book Recommendation: Mythos by Stephen Fry. This is a book I picked up while doing research for my major project - it's all about Greek myths. Fry details different variations of a ton of different myths, and writes about them in a fun and engaging way. It's been a huge help to me in my work, but it's also just fun to read!

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