Things that entertain me

Sitting in the library at UCCS, attempting to work on a legislative history paper for my policy process class, A.D.D. is kicking in.

Decisions, decisions

After much consideration and weighing choices, I have made the decision to attend NYU this coming fall. I think that both University of Denver and The New School are great institutions and I know that I'd have great experiences at either school but the NYU Center for Global Affairs is where I want to pursue my masters degree. University of Denver, while a great insitution, was ruled out because Hanna was accepted into Columbia and I had two great options in New York City. New York City and Washington D.C. seem to really be the places for students and professionals in international relations/studies, development, and the like. I love Colorado and it will always be home to me but in order for me to move forward professionaly and academically, NYC is where I need to be. I mailed my tuition deposit check today (found it a little strange that I couldn't pay by card online or over the phone) and Hanna and I have decided that we will more than likely be moving to NYC in early to mid July.

Logistics and the actual move will be a pain in the ass, especially with two dogs coming with us. Once we get that all figured out, I'm looking forward to exploring a new city, having new experiences, meeting new people, and starting my M.S. program in Global Affairs. I still haven't spoken to my advisor at UCCS yet but hopefully I can meet with him sometime this coming week. Unless I come across a large sum of money sometime soon, it will be pretty much impossible for me to continue my MPA at UCCS. The classes I'm currently taking in management and policy process are interesting and intriguing but my heart and my passions are in global affairs and international relations. Perhaps one day in the future I will finish an MPA for from this summer until I finish, my focus will be on global affairs at NYU.

I was thrilled to find out that in addition to my good news and Hanna's good news, our good friend Cristiana was accepted into Columbia for nursing, my friend Anna was accepted into Columbia to study international affairs and my friend Ryan was accepted into Duke to work toward his MBA. March seems to have been a month of great news, no complaints here. I'm very excited for the next few years and very happy for my friends' recent success as well.

The new job is going well. I am still waiting on my background check to come back, still need to be sworn in as a court officer and I need to become a bit more familiar with the procedures before I can do assessments on my own but I'm learning a little more each day. My coworkers are friendly and helpful and I have witnessed some interesting cases thus far. The only thing I will really regret about moving to NYC this summer is that I will have to leave my new job. I'm sure there will be a number of interesting job opportunities and internships available in New York City but I'm not looking forward to the job hunt again. As much as I'd love to be nothing but a full time student, I'd prefer not to accumulate astronomical debt over the next couple of years so I'm fine with working at least part time while I am in school.

I should be working on my legislative history project, as well as other writings for my classes, but once again I find my A.D.D. has taken over and I'm doing anything but that. Time to start focusing. Oh, one more thing. I have been in occasional correspondence with the Peace Corps volunteer who replaced me at the children's development center in Olgii, a guy named Justin. From the last couple of emails I received from him and my former director, Doman, it seems like they are getting the ball rolling on having a new children's 'palace' or center built and they are still in need of some of the funds. I told them I'd like to see about helping raise some money so I will get back on the blog with more details soon. I am hoping to do some work on that, as well as some work with my good friend Travis Hellstrom (AKA Hellstorm) on a few things. For those of you who don't know Travis, he's a Peace Corps volunteer leader in Mongolia finishing up his third year and an all around super hero/humanitarian. If you haven't seen it yet, check out his website and blog at www.advancehumanity.com. Off to be productive! More to come soon!

New York City Bound

Just a few short hours after I found out that I was accepted into NYU, Hanna received her acceptance to Columbia! That was her top choice and she was really worried about getting in(I knew she would). Pretty crazy to think that in a few months we will be moving to New York City for graduate school. Hanna is going to be working towards an MA in international education at Columbia's Teachers College, which is a one year program and I will either be at NYU studying global affairs or New School studying international affairs, both of which are two year programs. I have a few weeks to make my decision so I will definitely be weighing a lot of options.

I don't know whether or not I will be able to continue my MPA at UCCS after this semester but I will talk to my advisor and see what my options are. I'm also not sure if any credits from this program will transfer into either of the programs in NYC but we'll see. Outside of finishing this semester, training at Mission Possible and getting ready for NYC, I am going to try and work on some interesting projects with my good friend Travis Hellstrom, who is still in Mongolia as a Peace Corps volunteer leader. I had a chance to catch up with him tonight and as always, he inspired and motivated me in many ways. I just need to focus on managing my time better and hopefully I can get some good things done over the next few months. More to come!

NYU!!!

This week has brought so much in the way of good news. Less than 24 hours after finding out about my acceptance into The New School I just found out I was accepted into the MS program in Global Affairs at New York University's School of Continuing and Professional Studies. I was pretty shocked and surprised, as NYU was my top choice. I had to read the acceptance message/email 4 or 5 times just to make sure I wasn't delusional. I feel very privileged and I am excited about the prospect of studying at the NYU SCPS Center for Global Affairs. According to the Foreign Policy Association, it's one of the top programs in the U.S. Here's a bit more information on the program.

http://www.scps.nyu.edu/areas-of-study/global-affairs/graduate-programs/ms-global-affairs/index.html

Hanna is still waiting to hear back from NYU and Columbia but hopefully since I got my notification today she will hear back from both soon. If we end up going to New York, it will be hard to decide between The New School and NYU. Anyone have a few hundred thousand dollars you wanna give me? :)

Perhaps with my recent wave of good luck I should buy a lottery ticket.

Back in CO, still alive. More good news - The New School

After a week of fun in Portland, one night in Seattle visiting friends, and a lot of delicious food and beer, I flew back to Colorado today. Ben and I had a good time, he was successful in passing his tests for the Portland PD and I was able to visit Seattle for the first time. It was rainy and overcast in Seattle and most of the time in Portland but it was still a great trip. I need to spend the next few days recovering/hitting the gym and getting reading and work done for school. St. Patrick's Day is on a few days, hoping I will survive.

I was surprised and excited today to receive another graduate school acceptance letter. I was accepted into the Masters of Arts Program at The New School in NYC to study International Affairs. It seems like a really interesting place to study and a great program. The possibility of going there is very exciting. I'm still waiting to hear back from NYU and Hanna is still waiting to hear back from NYU and Columbia, before we make our decisions.

http://www.newschool.edu/internationalaffairs/




Some interesting lists that The New School made in the Princeton Review (via Wikipedia, an always reliable source):


"Dodgeball Targets" (#1)
"Great College Towns" (#1)
"Intercollegiate Sports Unpopular Or Nonexistent" (#1)
"Class Discussions Encouraged" (#1)
"Long Lines and Red Tape" (#1)
"Students Most Nostalgic For Bill Clinton Politics" (#2)
"Least Religious Students" (#2)
"Nobody Plays Intramural Sports" (#2)
"Birkenstock-Wearing, Tree-Hugging, Clove-Smoking Vegetarians" (#3)
"Most Politically Active" (#7)
"Town-Gown Relations Are Great" (#11)
"Gay Community Accepted" (#13)
"Most Liberal Students" (#16)
"Students Dissatisfied with Financial Aid" (#18)
"Lots of Race/Class Interaction" (#19)

Portland

Ben and I have been in Portland for a few days now and it's been fun. The weather has been a bit overcast and rainy, which I guess is typical for this time of year but it hasn't been too chilly. Ben passed his tests today and has the physical portion tomorrow. I'm procrastinating on my homework and stressing out about UCCS sticking it to me with late fees even though I've done everything I needed to do and I was just waiting on them to dispurse my financial aid. Oh the joy.

We've hit some great breweries out here, enjoyed some views of the Columbia and the city and did quite a bit of driving all over the place. Per recommendations from my friend Murf we found a great brewery called 'Rogue' and tried some great, new beers. Depending on how long Ben's test is tomorrow, we might try to take a trip up to Seattle to visit my friend Jennie. I've never been to Seattle and I've heard good things about it from a lot of people so I'd definitely like to go.

In other good news, Hanna was also accepted into Josef Korbel at the University of Denver to study international development. Needless to say we were both excited about that. We still haven't heard anything back from the New York schools but maybe next week? Fingers crossed. Possible trip to Seattle. Next few days in Portland. Back to Colorado on Monday, starting my new job on Tuesday. No more phone calls with terrible, miserable customers. Life is good.

I hate celebrity obsessions but this video of Charlie Sheen 'winning' and 'bi-winning' is f'n hilarious. I can only hope that if I ever become famous I don't turn into a coked out, drunk, bat shit crazy douche bag. Way to be a good influence on your kids Charlie, way to go. Keep winning.

Done!

As of today I am no longer employed at my technical support/customer service job. Leaving today, knowing that I no longer have to listen to miserable, terrible, ignorant, overprivileged, assholish customers bitch and whine about every little problem with their phone, cable and internet(or their own inability to handle the responsibility of paying their bills).......what an awesome feeling. Words cannot describe it.

I will flip burgers before I will ever work another customer service job again. Can't wait to start my new job with Mission Possible. More to come!

Things that make me ashamed to be an American...

Absolutely disgusting. I have a terrible taste in my mouth and I am honestly disturbed by this.

Mission Possible + No More Customers!

Since I gave my notice of resignation at my current work today and for the most part its common knowledge that I'm leaving, I'll go ahead and post some more information about my new job opportunity. Sunday is my last day of dealing with miserable, terrible, no good customers on the phone and on March 15th I will be starting a new job with a local nonprofit organization called 'Mission Possible'. It's a part time job with the possibility of going full time. I'm fine with part time because I really need more time, so I can finish the rest of this semester strong and not have to worry about losing my mind dealing with assholes on the phone. My work title is going to be 'juvenile assessor' and my primary responsibility will be to perform risk assessments on kids who get put in the Spring Creek corretional facility, ages 10-17. I'll be assisting in the legal/judicial process in assessing whether or not kids will be at risk to be repeat offenders. It seems like a really interesting job opportunity and I am excited to start. I can feel some of my idealism coming back, we'll see if that continues. ;)

Working 20 hours a week and doing something that is actually related to the type of work I've done the past few years as well as the work I'd like to continue to do in the future will be a lot less stressful than working in a call center environment and having to listen to people bitch and moan all day. I'm sad that I won't be working with some of the good friends I've made there but I'll be keeping in contact with them and harassing them into hanging out with me outside of work.

In other news, congrats to Hanna for landing a pretty sweet job at a local nonprofit working with developmentally disabled kids, as well as a part time tutoring job and some other interviews. Congrats to Ben Rexroad for getting a provisional job offer from the Santa Fe police department. Ben and I will be taking a road trip up to Portland, where he will be testing for their police department and we will be enjoying the city and hopefully spending time with a few friends. Should be fun. Pictures and stories to come.

Bad News, Good News

Today was a day of bad news and good news. This afternoon I received my results for the Foreign Service Officer exam, which unfortunately, I did not do well enough on to get selected for the oral assessment/interview portion. I admit I was a little disappointed but given that I spent maybe a total of 3 or 4 days preparing and studying, while working full time and starting graduate classes at UCCS, I'm not letting it get to me too much. I missed the score necessary to be selected for the next part of the process by seven points. I am not too distraught about it, because my intent was to get a feel for the test and see how I did the first time around. I might consider taking the test again next year after more preparation but it depends on how things are going with grad school.

On to the good news. About an hour and a half later, I received an email notifying me that I have been accepted to the Masters of Arts program at Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver. Needless to say I was very excited, as well as surprised. My dad did his Phd and JD at DU, my stepmom did her JD there, my cousin Shanae is finishing up her MA there now, my undergrad advisor Dr. Hazan did his Phd there and my friend Brian is finishing up his MA there as well. From all of these people, as well as other friends and acquaintances, I've heard many good things about the Josef Korbel school at DU. I feel very privileged to have been accepted and I'm very excited about the possibility of studying there.

We're still waiting to hear back from schools in NYC, both for Hanna and I, and we're waiting to hear if Hanna was also accepted into DU before we make decisions about where we'll be attending school in the Fall. To complicate things further, I'm enjoying my current MPA classes at UCCS and I'd like to continue in this program. I'm looking into the possibility of doing a short term study abroad in Europe and I'm going to sign up for at least one summer class. If possible, as I think I've mentioned previously, I'd love to get both my MPA and an MA in international studies but we'll see where things go once I know what my other options are.

In other good news, a new job opportunity has become available that I'm very excited about. I'm keeping the details on the down low until I know more but I will update the blog with more on that as soon as possible.

Two awesome songs that I'm loving right now.





Thanks for reading, more to come!

Bieba Feva

Here's a music video and song put together and performed my friend Mike Farrell (and I believe his brother, Zach). Mike and I worked together a few years ago. He's one of the funniest guys I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. I wouldn't be surprised to see him become a pretty famous comedian/actor/musician one day, haha. Keep up the hard work and craziness Mike!