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!