Uber-post

Okay, so now that I've partially recovered from Tamar's news, I will post what I had promised previously.

First off, graduate school visits. I've got one more visit to make (Northwestern), but I'm my gut is telling me UCLA is the place I want to be for the next 6 years(ish).

So, Berkeley was really lovely :) The campus is beautiful, and I loved the city. It's so funky and walkable and... understated? It's lovely, at any rate. The department was really homey and the grad students were nerdy and cool. I especially had a lot of fun talking with the grad student with whom I was staying (Matthew) about psychology, philosophy, life, and video games. Good times.

Princeton was also nice. The campus is very pretty (reminiscent of Yale but I think Yale is better hehe) and the building for the department is really really nice. I met with three majorly female-power professors, which was fantastic. Everyone seems really competent, professional, and intelligent.

UCLA was freaking awesome. First off, I thought I would dislike L.A. because... it's L.A., but, as it turns out, since L.A. is so huge, each neighborhood kind of has its own feel. The neighborhood around UCLA I really liked. It is totally walkable, full of good restaurants and stores, and really safe. Also, the weather is amazing; the last day I was there it was 84 degrees outside. In February. The campus is full of flowers, trees, swimming pools, attractive people, and sun. The department is so great- everyone is really laid-back, friendly, and they all seem genuinely happy. I felt immediately comfortable with everyone, which was a really good sign, I thought. There are so many resources for the type of research I want to do- tons of people are doing sexual orientation and gender research- and the health psychology there is phenomenal. Oh yeah, and my potential primary advisor is quite potentially the sweetest person ever.

So, things are looking up :)

I've decided that with the advent of my transition into graduate school, I am going to take a closer look at my life, how I'm living, and what can be changed. I really want to adopt a wholly positive outlook towards life. I think I'm usually very positive about things, but as of late I've found myself being more cynical than I used to be, and I really don't want to do that anymore. Also, I'm trying to think of myself as more a part of a greater dynamic (nature, the social world, etc...) rather than trying to manipulate and control everything in my world. I'm hoping that'll help me let go a little and let things happen. I have a really good feeling about the next few months.

In the meantime, I'm going to finish up things here at my current job, travel some in April, see my friends graduate in May, and then off to California for the summer and beyond. Wish me luck!