Hi Everyone!!
So I promised that my next blog would be about my exciting spring break trip. I am now going to break that promise... I'm so sorry. The reasons behind this choice are sound though, I promise.
Basically, I got home to Maryland, started working my ass off, and then got into school... twice. But in the most chaotic ways possible.
Also, tangent, it's funny to be writing this while in LA visiting most of the people who read this blog, but I figure it's worth it anyway.
Maryland:
I got home to Bethesda in the middle of July
Then I immediately went to interview at a restaurant to get a waitressing job
the place is called Flower Child, and it's a cute, fast-casual green-washed, 'healthy' place at a strip mall near my high school
they pretty much hired me on the spot for my veganism and tattoos
I really like my coworkers and it's been fun to work there so far :)
sucky to have to quit like a month in though
so I have been working there basically every day for a few months, after I went away to Lake George for a family reunion the last week of July
I have hung out with two friends total while home
everybody has moved away!! and I've been super duper workaholic
mostly I get off a shift a like 10pm, and come home to eat ice cream and watch supernatural with my mom on the couch
this all sounds terribly dismal but honestly after such an excitement filled year it's been very soothing
Nick and I went and hiked billy goat trail
it's this beautiful trail through Great Falls National Park and you scramble all over these big rocks and such
we saw some great wildlife and I got bit by mosquitos on the booty
Nick is moving out to SF soon!! for my friends in the bay area, if you are looking for another Marylander to befriend, he's a good one.
Jackson and I went out and had vegan burgers and discovered that he loves vegan chicken nuggets
thanks for the life advice <3
also I got to hold Hendrix, Jackson's awesome snakey dude
Jackson is being a total badass and currently hiking 500 miles on the Appalachian trail to have a Cheryl Strayed in Wild moment. Literally so cool. Hope you are having a safe journey!!
I also started working at a retail shop on the same strip mall, it's fancy boutique selling free people type clothes. Honestly though the employee discount really hit for buying winter things for London.
And I've been up to Baltimore a couple times to visit my brother and his girlfriend
went and got yummy vegan foods
did crosswords until 1am
puzzles and berry wine
Megan is working very hard at the hospital and doing rotations which is scary and cool
Carson is doing very fancy finance bro work and getting very into being a plant parent
we also did Barbenheimer earlier in the summer :)
I went to the rheumatologist which is not exciting
Hanna has been similarly working her butt off up in Vermont and is thinking of moving back to Spain but also who knows
Schools:
Okay so the big updates and why my life has been such chaos
basically, after Lake George in July I got into the Freie Universität of Berlin. It would be a two year long masters in south west Berlin studying planetary science and space exploration. Really cool program with great connections
So, because I hadn't heard anything from University College of London (in London hehe) which was the only other master's I applied to, I decided to go ahead and commit to Berlin.
I absolutely love Berlin, one of my favorite cities, for context
but I also do not speak German and even though the program is taught in English, it's a bit complicated getting settled in a place in a non-native language.
THEN after finally figuring everything out and finding a beautiful apartment and paying my public transit fees for Berlin, I got into UCL.
I got the email literally while cleaning the toilets at Flower Child
reminder to ALWAYS TIP YOUR SERVERS EVEN AT FAST CASUAL
This was on August 25th and classes start September 25th, for context
Honestly, fuck them for that
at first I was like lmao, but still going to Berlin
Then I started doing some digging on the stats of the programs, faculty, PhD opportunities etc.
to toot my own horn: UCL is ranked the 9th university in the World :,)
they also have a better astrobiology side of their research and are generally better recognized in the US
I speak English and I like London a lot
and I have good friends in London (shoutouts to Nebula, Gabe, and Amelia <3)
And after some deep philosophical and emotional panic, I changed my mind and went with London
yes, I will be in debt and owe a huge thank you to my family for supporting me
better find some aliens one day to pay them back
So, since the end of August I have frantically been looking into the visa process, finding an apartment, setting up courses, and the like for UCL
And this panic problem solving is why you have not heard from me as much!
So, now I'm in LA visiting many of you for the weekend and having a great time <3
Here are some photos from the summer!
Here's the link to a new form!!
Much love and so many hugs to all. Love you lots <3
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