Grad School in New York - TheGoodest

Holy Moly, this is a lot of reading!

TheGoodest — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I've been reading articles on the Field of Education in Emergencies and the positive and negative impacts of education on ethnic conflict and post-conflict development for the last seven hours. And I'm not even a quarter of the way through my first batch of reading for one of my classes. What's more, the more reading I do, the more stuff I need to research and look up to follow it. I'm even pulling out the dictionary to look up vocabulary words. The hell! It's seriously intimidating and overwhelming and I'm finding myself back in the I'm-not-ready-for-this and how-in-the-world-did-I-even-get-into-this-school place. I'm a little terrified.

Stupid Black Eye

TheGoodest — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I'm still rocking a big ugly Shiner from the meia lua de compasso I caught in the face at last Saturday's batizado. It doesn't hurt, but it's damn ugly. That being the case, I'm refusing to get my student ID photo taken until it heals because I refuse to be saddled for the next two years with an ID picture in which I am mutilated. The problem is that I need my ID to get into any building on campus. So far, the security guards that I've explained the situation to have been sympathetic and let me go to class. Today, however, I schlepped my butt all the way up to Harlem on a Saturday morning for a writing workshop only to find that in order to get into the building, I needed to swipe my ID. You know, the one I don't have. Grr.

The day wasn't a total waste, though; I finally got into H&M to return a bunch of shirts and now have a $40 credit to put towards a much-needed wardrobe update. So, yay. And I don't have to be at school again until Tuesday, by which point we can only hope that this stupid black eye will have faded enough to at least be coverable with makeup.

One month in

TheGoodest — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

It's been a month and things are starting to come together. I have a bed and a Bureau in my bedroom and the air mattress is back in its box. There's enough food in the kitchen to keep me fed--even if it is just pasta and PB&J--and a growing library of takeout menus on the front of the fridge. At least my diet helps me to maintain a student mindset. I've found a few places in the neighborhood to get a drink, a cup of coffee and sit around wi-fi-ing. I've more or less figured out how to navigate the subway. I've secured a part-time job teaching ESL in the Bronx. And I'm one class into my Masters program in International Educational Development at Teachers College, Columbia University. Yes, things are coming together.