Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
When I was growing up, my favorite day of the week was Saturday. As a kid, life always made a lot of sense to me. Oddly enough, I had a fuzzy understanding that Monday through Friday was meant for school. But Saturday, now that was a different story. Saturday was MY DAY!
I have so many great memories of Saturday morning. I have to admit, I was a 'tootsie pop' for cartoons. And for the most part, I still am (I love Tom & Jerry). I would definitely say a large part of my young adolescent life was completely and totally dedicated to cartoon watching. All I wanted to do was wake up early and turn on the television to watch TMNT (that would be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, by the way), GI Joe and, occasionally, sneak in an episode of Bill Nye, 'The Science Guy'. Nonetheless, I felt it was somewhat of a Saturday morning tradition for me. Now, on Satudays, I like my bed and the amazing sleep that comes along with it. Oh, how times have changed for this guy.
Now, I need to fair to the Saturday morning cartoon argument. Sure, I had my favorite 3-4 shows I watched with religious fervor and intent. Yet, what I remember the most about Saturday mornings was all my "not-so-favorite" shows. Seriously, you almost had to be methodical in your approach because if you got up too late, you were gonna get stuck watching horrible cartoon television programming. Take my word for it: horrible cartoons = no fun.
The show that quickly became one of my "not-so-favorite" shows was, "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?". I strongly disliked this show. And I even more strongly disliked the "annoying, still to this day can't get it out of my head" theme song (listen). The basic premise of the show has you (the watcher) being agents for ACME Detective Agency attempting to thwart the featured V.I.L.E. ringleader, thieving villainess and former ACME Detective Agent, Carmen Sandiego. The series initially focused on teaching geography and history. All I can say to that is: boring. To me, Saturday mornings are meant for mindless watching of cartoons, not educational stimulation. I felt I was getting enough of that in school. Eh, I was 10 years old.
Now, in the month of November, I think I'm going to finally know how Carmen Sandiego "really" felt all those years while she was on the run from the ACME Detective Agency.
After a long month of interviewing at OSU for summer internships, I have been invited to some 2nd round interviews. I feel very fortunate, humbled and excited to be considered for as many opportunities as I have thus far. My 'Carmen Sandiego-esque' itinerary is as follows (so far): Kansas City, to New York, back Cleveland and a few other places in between.
Needless to say, I am just going to take one day at a time and let the chips fall where they may. As always, I will have to continue to balance my studies/class time/etc. around all of this traveling, but I know that's what I signed up for. I may feel like 'I'm on the run' this next month, but I am sure it will be an experience I will be sure to enjoy!