The end of the semester officially arrived on Wednesday afternoon with the slightly unsettling 'thunk' of six essays being ceremoniously dropped into a locked submission box. Despite the fact that I feel relieved to have successfully survived my first semester of graduate school, when I got home Wednesday evening I felt at a loss. Mostly because I had nothing more to procrastinate and there were so many options of what to do with my time that it was slightly overwhelming.
As a result, I bought myself a reward for finishing the semester. Actor John Barrowman is a native Glaswegian and does pantomime shows at the SECC, which is a short walk away from my flat. I bought a ticket to go see it; it wasn't too expensive, and I figured it would be entirely cool to get to see one of the actors I admire up close. Boy, was I right. The show was amazing. It was called Dick McWhittington, based off of the show Dick Whittington and His Cat, but with a Glaswegian twist! It was phenomenal and while I did not get the chance to meet John this go-around, I'm thinking of going again!
And more adventures will start soon enough.
Rough itinerary for the holiday break is Inverness from Christmas Eve until the 27th with Heather, Matthew, and Patrick - since we're the four North Americans in our program not going home, followed by a break to take possible day trips/relax in Glasgow for Hogmanay/New Years, then going to see Ramona from the 4th to the 9th back in Dublin, and then probably a quick jaunt down to Liverpool to see Lottie from the 10th to the 12th! Before I know it, it'll be the week of the 13th, and the final semester will start with GIS (Geographic Information Systems, for all the non-arc folk) class on Wednesday the 15th.
Sounds like a shorter break when you separate it down like that.
Regardless, I wanted to put up a little post about the various things that have happened this year that got me where I am, sitting at my desk in Glasgow. I started this blog in July, with the notion that things were starting, or attempting, to fall into place regarding my placement here at Glasgow, but not entirely sure if they were going to go forward without hiccups, and if there were hiccups, just how many.
This time last year, in early December, I woke up one morning at 7:00 for a shower and checked my phone for emails as per usual. Quietly, I had jumped up and down when I opened my inbox because inside were two emails from both Universities I had applied to for a Masters in Archaeology saying that they both had accepted me. Both. Both Durham University and the University of Glasgow had offered me a place in the same day, within minutes of each other. Just a mere few weeks before I was sending off the final applications and I restrained from saying anything until after class and work that morning, until I could tell my mom and dad, and then in Servo - I told my flatmates Alex, Leah, Laura and Smitty. There was much screeching and hugs to be had, followed by a dinner and lovely dessert at The Pub. I won't ever forget that day; I was happy as anything. 2013 started off with making that hard decision between the two, and after watching YouTube videos from the unis, I decided that Glasgow would hopefully feel like home.
I had a lot of problems getting here, and a lot of entirely unrelated struggles as well. Between Accommodation Services messing things up, fees that needed to be paid, and paperwork to be submitted - not to mention the loans that I needed to cross my fingers and apply for all on my own, working a sometimes rather stressful summer job, my car being on the verge of death several times, and trying to tie up loose ends, I finally did it. I remember being told by others that I should apply to some US schools and take the GREs, just in case things didn't work out.
Guess what? They did. And despite the fact that I'm slightly anxious to be here over Christmas, my first Christmas away from home and my family, and nervous about what sort of feelings are going to be flying around, I'm excited to be going somewhere new and doing something that I've always wanted to: pick up my stuff and move to the UK and live and travel. I will definitely miss home, my family, my dog, the Pennsylvania snow, (definitely not my car breaking) but I'm going to try and enjoy myself while I can.
So, those next few trips coming up I mentioned at the beginning of this post? That's all a part of ending what has been an especially rough, yet rewarding, year that I'm rather proud of.
And an interesting semester that definitely went by super fast.
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