Beginnings and Endings

So this past week and a half has been filled with activities, I hardly know where to begin! Well let's start with last week Monday because that is when my adventure of two weeks really started.

Back in December I completed all of my applications for graduate school, I applied to three schools and was asked to interview at two, which in my opinion is actually pretty good statistics. I was very excited to hear back from just one school, but to hear from two was simply amazing. The first school I heard back from was North Dakota State University (NDSU), and upon further research preparing for the interview I began to like the school more and more. They have a strong emphasis on underserved families and individuals, which would include those from minorities, single parent households, and those from the LGBT community. In essence NDSU has a very diverse program and would prepare me for a wide array of situations and allow me to reach out to more people. So the next part of my experience was the interview,

As you know interviews are never easy, they are anxiety provoking and no matter how prepared you think you are there is always something that goes under your radar, and this question always seems to come up. This is basically how I felt that my interview went. I was so nervous I could not find my words, I stuttered, I stammered and did basically just about everything else you could do that would show signs of nerves. At one point I could not find my words so I said that I sometimes thought in Romanian and had to translate into English, but I think at that point my mind was just blank with nerves. I was able to answer every question however, and they were each really nice and patient and it was an interesting experience. My favorite part of the interview was asking them questions however, I learned a lot about the school and I could see their pride that they have for the program, which was really amazing. I also learned about the research opportunities, which are abundant (which I really like!) and that I can apply for an assistanceship. This assistnaceship would entail 10 hours of work a week with a professor either as a research assistant or a teacher’s assistant, thus resulting in a tuition waiver and some extra money for other living expenses. Essentially I hear tuition waiver and all I think is “AWESOME” and I get to do research, which I love to do! So that was the basic gist of the interview. They told me that they would get back to me in about two weeks, so I was in limbo left with my mind wandering on what I should have said and didn’t and shouldn’t have said and did. Oh fun!

The following Friday morning I went to check my e-mail just like I do every morning and a surprising message was waiting for me, it was from NDSU! My heart stopped! I saw the director’s name, then the program, and opened it faster than I have ever opened anything else before. The first word that greeted me was “Congratulations!” , I had done it! I was accepted into graduate school! This was one of the times I wished that I lived with someone so I could give them a big hug in celebration, but instead I went running around my apartment like a chicken with it’s head cut off trying to find my phone so I could call my friend Carly and tell her the good news. They told me two weeks and accepted me after just four days, and I was the last person interviewed as everyone else was present for the group interview, and being in Romania that made it a little hard for me. Needless to say I was ecstatic. I was accepted into graduate school! This brings me onto my next step, the decision.
Oh who am I kidding, the decision was extremely easy to make. I accepted their offer and I will be studying in Fargo next year at NDSU and I will be getting a great education in the process. I am so thankful for this opportunity and I am very blessed to be accepted into graduate school. This just takes me one step closer to achieving my goal of becoming a therapist. I am so excited to start this journey.
So next year I will be moving to Fargo, studying, hopefully working, studying, researching, studying, and oh did I mention studying. I am sure that I will be very busy and it will be extremely challenging, but I never run away from a challenge. I run at them full speed and conquer them, and that is what I will do in Fargo. I will have great opportunities and will receive a great education. I am sure that it will be hard to get into the swing of things at first, but I know in time that I will be able to do it. I love learning about Psychology and I look forward to studying it again, this time it will be the start of studying it and practicing it for the rest of my life, I can’t wait!

With graduate school lined up for next year, I could focus on my next task, preparing for the Peace Corps visit. Every year Peace Corps makes its rounds and visits volunteers at their school, to check in and see how things are going. Tuesday was my day, our country director and TEFL program coordinator came to visit me. I was very excited to see Mirela, the TEFL coordinator, because she returned mid maternity leave for a bit to help out with site visits. She has been gone for about a year (maternity leave is two years in Romania) so it was an absolute treat to see her since I didn’t think I was going to get the chance to see her again. We visited with my counterparts and director and talked about the things that I have done so far and the things I have yet to do in my four months left in country and just had a nice time chatting with each other. Then we went on to classroom observation. I was able to choose which class we would go to, so I chose the 7th graders, because they are such a wonderful class. They were a little bit nervous, but they did a wonderful job just like I knew they would! I thinking I was just bursting with pride for them, they make teaching such a wonderful experience. Teaching can be so hard, but these kids just make it so easy and I am very blessed to have them as students. I think this is the most quiet I have ever seen them, but they still participated and did a great job. I am going to miss those kids next year!

Which brings me to my next point Close Of Service (COS). In about two weeks I will be traveling to Sinaia for my COS conference. It is hard to believe that it is already almost here! It feels like just yesterday I got to country, and now I will be preparing to leave. It is just crazy, absolutely crazy! I am excited that I will be returning home in just four months but sad at the same time, because I have created so many wonderful memories and friendships here in Romania. I guess I will just have to enjoy them while I can! I have lots to do in my last few months in country so I am sure that I will have lots of things to write about in the coming months.

Speaking of endings, I unfortunately had another loss in my family this week. On Tuesday, March 8th, my great uncle, Ted Thoele, passed away. While it is a sad event, he was 94 years old and lived a good full life. He was a wonderful person and I have many fond memories of him. We did not get to see each other often as he lived in Minnesota, but when we did it was nice. My brother and I thought it was so cool going to visit him in St. Paul because he lived on the 40th floor (I think) of an apartment building and you could see forever. We just thought it was the coolest thing. It was also fun to joke with him about the Vikings, he was a huge Vikings fan, and my parents and I are huge Packers fans, so we would always go back and forth about who was the best. I also thought it was funny when he said he was taking “the kids” to the doctor. He moved to an apartment complex for older individuals when he was in his late 80s and he used to take other residents who were in their 70s to the doctor because they couldn’t drive. He was able to drive up until he was 92 and he still played golf well into his 80s. He was a very good man and he will not be forgotten. He passed away peacefully in his sleep at home (he lived alone) and I know he is now happy and together again with my grandpa (his brother) his wife, and his good friend Liz. We will miss you Uncle Ted but we will never forget you, you are in our hearts forever and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to know you.
That is all that I have for today. I hope you are all doing well, I miss you all very much and I am looking forward to seeing you in four months! Exactly four months from today (July 11th) I will be coming home! I can’t wait and I will be expecting lots of hugs from all of you. Take care and I hope you have a wonderful day! Love you!!

Va pup!
Va iubesc!
Mi-a dor de voi!
Pana mai tarziu
~Sarah B.