Settling in

The past few weeks have been hectic, but surprisingly manageable. I successfully made the move from MHT to WCU. I had a little bit of a snafu with my living arrangements (the apartment I'd decided to let was not at all what I expected, and way too far from campus, so I ended up moving--again-- right after I'd moved *sigh*) but otherwise made the transition easily and got set up. Then came orientation, campus tours, and of course, classes starting, including an enormous scheduling conflict which has yet to be resolved.

Despite all that, I feel as if things are going pretty well. My feelings may change as I progress farther into my coursework and start losing my free time, but so far everything has been fine. Public transportation is fairly reliable here, so I haven't had to do nearly as much driving as in MHT, the surrounding area is full of new places to explore, and most of the people in my cohort seem pretty friendly (although I'll admit we haven't spent much time together yet). I'm still meeting people in the department and trying to set up a routine for myself (difficult, because of my ongoing scheduling conflict), but I can see a time in the near future where everything will fall into place.

I've been here just over three weeks now. It's been a little strange being in school again. I'll admit that when I sat down for my first lecture, it felt weird, and I thought to myself, 'This is stupid. I already did school.' No brain. We're not quite finished with classes yet. Hold out a couple more years, okay?

It's been good to get back into academics, though, for the most part. I'm starting to get excited about research ideas, and attending seminars has gone a long way to motivate me toward working on my own proposals. I'm attending a MUCH larger university than I did for undergrad, so it's been a little overwhelming realizing just how many resources may be at my disposal. Now, I need to start attending to my biggest hurdle-- funding.

Hooray... it's almost NSF GRFP time. Again.
(^sarcasm)

Four, to go

It's time. I'm leaving My Home Town and moving to WCU. I've loaded my car, said my goodbyes, and planned out my travel route. Now all there is left to do is drive. I may not post now for a little while since I'll be busy settling into a new city and a new routine. But I promise to update as soon as things calm down a bit.

Wish me luck!