The Next Move
We interrupt this program to bring you some very exciting news!
In less than a month, I'll finally be graduating from college. I was pretty frustrated for a while that I had to stay an entire year beyond what I should've had to do. It's so hard to graduate from college in four years now. Nobody tells you which quarters or semesters certain classes are scheduled (or which they aren't). Counselors aren't there to do their job: counseling. They're there for paperwork, but not at all to help anyone.
I think that was probably the most disappointing aspect of college for me. When I was in community college that was the best part for me. I had this amazing counselor who actually helped me figure out what I wanted to do and what classes to take to accomplish that. My counselor in college couldn't be bothered and was in fact frustrated any time I tried to talk to her. All in all, it was my counselor's fault that I ended up staying an extra year to finish my degree. But can I really be upset with that when it gave me such an amazing opportunity?
From the moment I got to college I knew that I wanted to study abroad. I wasn't sure exactly where, but I had it narrowed down to Scotland, Ireland, Australia, and Greece. In the end, I just had this gut feeling that I needed to be in Ireland. It couldn't be explained, but I decided to trust my gut. I had everything figured out. But when the price was worked out, I knew there was no way I would be able to go. I was really fortunate that I had a study abroad advisor who worked with me to give me options that fit my needs. And thus my summer in Ireland was born.
Now, I'm taking this one step further. I spent two months in Dublin and absolutely fell in love. I fell in love with the people, the places, even the rain. And rain is a big no for me. So now, I'm really excited to announce that I'll be moving there this summer. In 6 weeks I'm outta here. I've told mostly really close friends and family, and I pretty much always get the same questions, so I'll just answer them for everyone finally!
When am I moving? I leave the states on July 2. Nope, won't even be here for the 4th of July!
How long will I be there? When I say moving, I'm not kidding folks. My visa is for one year, but the plan is to get that extended through work while I'm there.
Why?! There's actually a lot of reasons I want to move there.
Number one reason is I'm really not too sure I'm thrilled with where things in the U.S. are going. I'd like to explore other countries to pursue my masters degree. I also just really liked working there. It was a completely different experience from any job I've ever had in America. It's much more about working together than closing every single person off into separate rooms to not speak or see the light of day. And of course, the country is absolutely gorgeous.
Am I getting married? Heck no! I'm currently way more concerned with getting there and getting settled than getting married! A lot of people ask this because my boyfriend is Irish. Yes, that means he lives in Ireland. We met at work over the summer. But even though we love each other very much, it hasn't even been a year. So let's cool it with the marriage guys!
What are you doing for work? Currently, that is a big fat mystery. I've applied to a bunch of different graduate programs. If you don't know what that is, they're basically jobs for people who have just graduated from school, so they start recruiting early and don't expect to have you until you've graduated. I'm still applying to as many jobs as I can. But if I haven't scored anything by the time I move, then it's as easy as interviewing and applying for positions once I get there. And that'll be a million times easier since I won't be trying to convince them to hire someone who doesn't even live in their country!
This is a really scary, exciting, wonderful time and I'm very happy that I get to share it with all of you. I'll be updating with as much information as I can in between trying to get prepped for graduation and the biggest move ever. I'll let you know all about getting my visa for those of you who have been curious or might be considering doing the same. And of course once I get there I'll be writing all about my experiences!
