Classes, applications, new students and all that fun stuff!

Well, it is the second day of classes and I am slightly stressed. I still have no idea which classes I am actually taking, and I've only been to one so far. If I go with the classes I would "like" (meaning I need to take and these are those that are higher on my list of options) to take, then I'll have 1 class on Mondays, 3 on Tuesdays, 1 on Wednesdays, 4 on Thursdays, and 1 on Fridays. I could possibly take a different lit course and have 2, 2, 2, 3, and 1, but that still means I'll have class on Friday and I don't want to take the Lit class alone since it is a University course and I'm scared!!! Plus, the director of BCA isn't really being very helpful at the moment because she keeps telling me that it will be no problem to get anything approved as my gen eds... but the responses I am getting from the school are that things aren't really going to count for the gen eds I need. It is just really super frustrating because I had my whole schedule worked out so that I can do a full time field placement next Spring, but it looks as though it might not work out that way and I'll be taking classes and only doing a part time field placement. Needless to say, I will be very happy when I hear back from the school officially and know what each class counts for so I can finalize my schedule here.

I have decided that I would like to pursue the research that I originally wanted to do this summer. Not only do I need more research experience before applying to grad schools, but I also truly believe that doing this research for ECR (the non-profit organization I interned for last summer) will really benefit them and in turn help the community. So, I am in the process of trying to find grants that will fund me to do this research since I definitely need to make some money this summer after a whole year of not working. Luckily, I received two replies from two wonderful professors at my school who said they would be happy to be my references on one of the applications. I also got a suggestion from another professor to ask one of my professors to apply for a student/professor collaboration grant, which I hadn't thought about before. So I sent that email out and am waiting for a reply. Along with thinking about this summer comes thinking about next fall and the whole RA thing... so I got an email today saying that it is fine for me to apply to be an RA and do a phone interview, which is great. Now I just have to find out the same information about the Senior RA position and get moving on that as well... There is just so much to do!!! Plus, as soon as I return from Spain, I'll need to start moving on grad school applications to high application fees and take advantage of early acceptance possibilities, which means my summer is going to be sooooo fun!!!! Haha, it really isn't as bad as it all sounds, it is kind of exciting to know that there is so much going on and so many opportunities. However, when I look at them all together like this, it begins to get a little overwhelming. So, I'm going to try taking everything one step at a time and just apply as things come. Luckily I have a supportive staff at Manchester and super supportive parents who have helped me along every step of the way.

Meanwhile, things in Barcelona are pretty good. I've met a few of the new semester students, one of which goes to Manchester! She had no idea there was another student from Manchester already here and I had no idea she was coming! It's pretty exciting to see things up and running again and to reunite with the other 4 year-long students who all went home for Christmas. I know this semester will be different, and I'm not yet sure how it will unfold, but I'm excited about watching it happen! Now, if I could only figure out the whole class thing....