I made it! (Kinda) - Full Updates Coming Soon

Los Haitises National Park, The Dominican Republic on My Birthday

Yay!!! I've successfully completed my first year as a PhD student. That involved getting something called a high pass (similar to like pass with distinction I guess) on a grueling 6 hour comprehensive exam. It had to be a high pass. Just a regular pass is good enough to get a masters, but not to begin the PhD program. Oh yeah, that whole first year wasn't even the PhD program, it was prerequisite classes for the program. So year 2 is the real year one. Now you know why US PhD programs take that much time. (If you're interested click here to see the requirements so you know what I'm going through).

But hold up, let us back up a little bit since obviously, it has been a crazy amount of time since I last wrote. What did I even say? I can't remember. I think I was telling you why I was going to do this program. Nearly a whole year has passed since then.  It's been a really tough journey full of highs and lows, and while I won't dwell too much on the lows, I will record them to remember the journey. There have also been many good parts to the journey, and all of this will follow in (a) post(s) to come. Please bear with me, there is a lot to tell and I am a superfluous extra wordy writer.

If you follow(ed) me on social media you probably know I left Facebook around... November? of last year. I remained on Instagram, but thanks to the advent of Insta story, my permanent posts have decreased significantly (I like the fact I can post what I'm thinking and it's gone in 24 hours). So I'm giving many updates about my life to my lovely friends that way, but I am not going to lie, Facebook is a much easier medium to keep in touch with people, like when I travel. Did you know within the past year I've been to Nigeria twice (gearing up for my third trip there soon - don't worry all will be explained). I've also been to the Dominican Republic, where I celebrated my birthday, and The United Kingdom, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria  - see what you've been missing?

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However, I do love the fact that people who truly want to, go out of their way to keep in touch with me, from emails and thoughtful care packages to DMs and all the things in between. I may end up back on Facebook someday, but it will literally just be so I can message people when I'm traveling. I don't think I'll ever use it the same way again, the detox has been so cleansing (and let's not forget I was part of the first gen using it for ages, when only .edu accounts were allowed... I hate what it's become, MySpace's preppy cousin - okay I'm totally dating myself... and rambling... STOP). But, if you don't already, check me out on Instagram or email to keep in touch.

Anyways you might say well it makes perfect sense, you are working on your PhD anyway... true, but that wasn't necessarily the reason I isolated myself for a time being. So I think it would be best to update step by step since when I left you I was just about a month in. It's been a whole freaking year since I left Naija (whaaaaaattttttt?????). This is likely my only actual summer off, since once I start my research proposal I will likely need to be working every summer... so I've been using this time to travel, work remotely, and explore Ohio while I have it.

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So here's the topics I'm thinking the updates will be roughly centered on

1. (Re)adjusting to scholarly life - Classes, Students, and Being a "Non-Traditional"
2. Life at CWRU and Cleveland - the quirks of the school and city, at least the parts I've seen
3. Reverse Culture Shock & Other Fun Issues a.k.a How I overcame crippling anxiety
4. Surviving a Midwestern Winter (I'm still wondering what the hell I was thinking here but)
5. How I came to (Still)Work for My Crazy Old Job - Work/Life Balance (which I suck at)
6. Successfully completing the first semester (with more drama going on that you can imagine)
7. Winter Vacation - Cleveland - Abuja -Atlanta - Punta Cana - Atlanta - Cleveland. 
8. Spring Semester Part 1 - Pre-Comprehensive Exam + Korea(n) Reunion in Cle
9. Naija for Spring Break supporting my old job during the craziest time of the year while prepping for exams
10. Spring Semester Part 2 - Comprehensive Exams and the Aftermath + Trip to Atlanta
11. Summer Vacation Part 1 -Eurotrip 3 or How I discovered my heart belongs in Europe
12. Summer Vacation Part  2 - Full Circle. When I left Nigeria, I had no idea when or if I would be going back. Now, literally a year to the date I left, I am off to spend 6 weeks working for my old job and beginning feasibility assessments for potential research. Talk about killing 2 birds with 1 stone...

So that's a lot, but like I said, I have much of the summer to do it, so this list will keep me accountable.

조금만 기다려주세요(Please stay tuned)

If you thought I was going to forget all my Korean, NEVER!

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