I start school in 5 days.
I deferred for a semester to travel because unlike most of my friends I wasn't looking to run right into college. I was hoping some things would come together and I would just not go, but they didn't. I was going to George Mason for Global Affairs and proximity to DC, but decided I would rather be closer to home and going to a state school out of state is crazy. It's something like 10,000 instate for George Mason and 40,000 otherwise.
It would take a day to drive home or I would have to plan a trip to the airport. After getting stuck at JFK on the way home from China for about 10 hours I decided I'd rather be somewhere that when I wanted to or needed to come home I could get up and go.
Now I'm going to Umass Amherst.
I was the first to bash on kids for going to school undeclared, but I ended up applying to Amherst undeclared. I knew I was leaning heavily towards what people would call Political Science, but I do not want to be a politician. So I thought maybe I'd pull a make your own degree. At orientation I went from undeclared to polisci in under 5 minutes when a guy, I think he said he was dean of colleges, had me sign my name and that was that.
I'm considering going into the Peace Corp after school and then working the NGO/UN type work. All require a degree to be involved with. You need to be like an expert with the ability to teach your expertise to even volunteer for the UN and they wait list you for 2 years.
A friend's brother just came home from working in Guatemala for the Peace Corp., but it's more than 2 years, you don't get to pick where you go, and you get 40 days off. Still on the fence about it, but I have a couple years at least to think about it. I went a little crazy in China for a month. 30 days in, what they consider, rural China with only one friend that could speak English and he was a man of few words. Try spending 30 days in your own head with almost no one to talk to. So 2 years is daunting, but the experience would be priceless.
Starting in Spring I had to choose classes after 18,500 other kids. So orientation was basically, "try and find 4 classes, we dare you." And if you could enroll into 4 you could leave. I had a weird ass array of classes, but I've been picking up and dropping as things come up at like 3am. Most of the classes I pick up close after I enroll.
Here's my classes for this semester as of right now.
ECON 105 - Introduction Political Economy
MICROBIO 160 - Biol Of Cancer&Aids
POLISCI 121 - World Politics
PORTUG 408 - Brazil in Film&Fictn
PSYCH 100 - Introductory Psychology
I have ap credits in math, trying to test out of spanish, and looking into CLEP tests for the rest of my gened requirements.
I know plenty of friends that are in school to delay life a bit. It's part of why I'm going to school as well, but it's sort of an essential part of getting into the realm of work I want to be in.
Going to work hard, get what I can get done as quickly, but as thoroughly as I can and in my 3rd year look into transferring to a better school possibly. But I'm definitely going to enjoy myself at the same time. I'm moving in with what amounts to two 30 racks.
I wasn't sure where I was going when I started this, not sure where I ended up either. I guess I just really enjoyed the sentiment of this thread so close to the start of school for me.
After the longest vacation of my life, 8 months, I'm ready to get back to school.
