Resolving The 'Fee Thing'
October 20, 2023 |
| Lunch Break by the School Pond (October 2023) |
Good afternoon beautiful souls,
We are past the half-way mark of the semester and it is advising season aka the time when academic advisors meet with students to make sure they are on track to graduate when they should be graduating. I just met with my academic advisor and we discussed the classes I am required to take next semester (excited to be reuniting with Statistics) and most importantly, graduation. Today's post will have updates on the 'fee thing', the direction I am taking with my PhD application and what I plan to do between now and graduation.
1. The 'Fee Thing'
If you missed the post, I will summarize - a couple of weeks ago, I was sure I would be dropping out of school because my fee structure was adjusted to a rate beyond my reach. In my post about it, I mentioned that I was considering talking to some people to advocate for me. I had not figured out who exactly to talk to but two days after I did the post, I was in church for First Friday Compline and I happened to mention my student accounts woes to someone. We are kinda close so it was more of a vent/life update thing than me asking them to do something about it. Well, I guess they were the right person (thank you NN) because they talked to someone (thank you SW) who advocated for me and some things were worked out...and I am happy to report that we are back on track...guess this is what the Psalmist meant when he said 'God orders our steps'.
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| Enroute to my Yoga 🧘🏾♀️ session |
2. Health Updates
Though this issue has been resolved, my body is still recovering. As alluded in previous posts, I have not had sufficient outlets since I came to the US. This has, unfortunately, meant that my body carried, and still carries, a lot. Sometimes I literally have to remind myself to exhale. So it goes without saying that when I was in this phase of wondering if my academic journey was over, parts of me absorbed that and the tension from my worry spread through my muscles and made me sore. My shoulder blades and waist became so stiff I signed up for yoga and started using the school gym again just to get some flex in there.
I have been doing these two activities for the last 2 weeks and though the tightness is still there (or maybe these are the 'welcome back to the gym' aches), I can feel myself slowly letting go/releasing some things I have been rigid about...clearly this body keeps the score.
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| At the School Gym (October 2023) |
3. PhD Application Game Plan
Another thing that has had me on 'chokehold' is this whole PhD Application process. I have been slacking on my applications because I do not want to apply to just any school, just to increase my chances of being picked. So I have reduced my list from 6 programs that were very randomly selected to 2 professors who were not on the original list. I emailed both of them this week to introduce myself and declare my intentions.
One is in one of those schools everyone hopes to get into while the other is in a school that is not even in one of the major US cities. The latter responded almost immediately (very good sign) - and I must say, from her email, I can tell that she is such a lovely soul and someone I would definitely want to work with.
All the dread I had about this process was lifted by her positive response. I am motivated to get my application in (another good sign).
I know it is 'risky' - and dare I say, overconfident of me - to put all my eggs in one basket but I only want to get into a program I feel that I can commit to.
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| Looking forward to watching this play |
4. Road to Graduation
Now that I have a PhD Application game plan and a graduation plan (which according to my advisor, is to 1. pass the classes in my current semester and the upcoming Spring semester, 2. register for graduation in January (THIS IS REAL!!!) and 3. walk in May (in 6 months 12 days). I will, however, not get my official diploma until the Summer (will have a class left - unfortunately I cannot take it until then...but either way, a girl will be DONE, DONE with the first leg of this Academic Journey). All that is left is to live in the present and enjoy every single moment of my last 6 months here.
As mentioned before, I had a couple of activities lined up including attending the Harrisburg Book Festival this weekend. I am also looking forward to the Arsenal vs Chelsea match this weekend (maybe I will watch it in the local sports bar instead) and might be going for my first 'cabin trip' later in the month (might is the key word). Looking into November, I got student rate tickets for MacBeth and I registered to volunteer for the second time at ExtraGive - an annual county wide crowdfunding event here in Lancaster.
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| Was an ExtraGive Lancaster volunteer last year - over $9M was raised (Nov 2022) |
I finally understand why Don, my therapist, kept insisting that I need out-of-the-apartment activities - guess he saw the tension and tightness before it hit my body.
So beyond this list of activities, the best thing I can do is to let go and trust that whatever happens in the next phase of my journey (academic or otherwise) is in God's hands...all I have to do, at least for now...is to be present in what He is doing, and enjoy the gifts He keeps on giving me in the here and now...que sera, sera.
Until next time,
Sending love and light,
Sitawa
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