First of all, I absolutely cannot believe that it’s March. And more than halfway through March! When did this happen??? Whoa.
This time last year I spent some time every single day thinking about where I would be living for this year. I wouldn’t find out until the end of April, and that was driving me crazy. I’m a planner. I need to know these things!
I had applied to five internship programs, with each one in a very different location/part of the country! When I had narrowed it down to those final five, I knew the possibilities. I knew I could end up staying relatively close to my university, or I could be all the way over in Colorado, or Arizona, or in Chicago. Yah. That’s why I was going crazy!
As it got closer to “match day” (finding out where I would be going), it was interesting to think about how much my preferences had changed. Going into the whole process I thought I’d want to be much closer to home and much further away from this cold Northeastern weather. Going into the end of my senior spring semester, all I could think was how much I had grown to love this area and the people in it. I started to think about planning reunions with my roommates and best friends, and taking road trips to New York City (haven’t had enough of those, I forget that it’s so close!), and seeing things in DC and heading back for a football game and some classic tailgating! Even thinking ahead to the fall, October would bring the first wedding that I was going to be in as a bridesmaid, for somebody I met during my very first month in college. I wanted (and needed!) to be close for the wedding!
There were a lot of places and people that I still wanted within reach. I was ready for a new city and the next step in my education, but I wasn’t ready to leave everything behind. Luckily for me, I didn’t have to! I’ve spent the last seven months living in a new city, exploring the area, making new friends and a new life, continuing my education, and continuing my career/job search. I’ve also spent the last seven months visiting old friends, visiting my favorite campus, and meeting fellow alumni in the area who understand why I get so crazy during football season and know how to respond when I yell “We are….!”. And I love all of those things.
Over the weekend my very best friend from college, who has literally been in my life since move-in day (ugh, yes that day), got engaged! It’s still a little surreal, and SO exciting. In the last 48 hours she’s already set a tentative date, in December. I will be there! I may not be as close as I want to be (i.e. uh, down the street?), but I know I want to be around. It’s just one more thing to consider in this on-going decision; career, location, Life.
Posted by Mary Ellen Nunes at 03/24/2009 03:17:27 PM