2008

This has been a very good year for me. I might go so far as to say it's been the best year ever. That honor previously belonged to 2006 (the first half of it anyway) when I was in Sweden; the rest of 2006 wasn't as spectacular. This year, however, has been consistently good for me. Let's review, shall we? (in a hopefully not too self-indulgent way) January began the last semester at the U of A, I became the Anthropology Club Treasurer and I became a member of the Golden Key Honor Society. I applied for grad school at UMass (the university I wanted the most) and got accepted in February, they were the first to respond so the rejection letters from the other universities didn't sting at all (I also later found out I was among twelve out of 110 or so applicants to get accepted). In March I go to Sweden for Spring Break and see my old friends in Uppsala again. In May I became a member of Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, finished my Honor's Thesis and completed an honor's contract course thus enabling me to graduate with Honors from the U of A (as well as Magna Cum Laude). My dear friend Stephanie flew in for my graduation and a marvelous time was had by all. I got a summer job doing the least demanding and highest paying job I've ever had and caught up on my reading list in the process. I took dance lessons for a couple months and learned how to waltz, tango, foxtrot, salsa, cha-cha, rumba and East Coast swing. I celebrate the 4th of July in Vegas with my friends.
In September I move out to Amherst and have an absolute blast with all the international students. I got into the European Field Studies program, something unusual for first year grad students and something one must be vetted for before they let you in. I discovered the quirkiness of neighboring Northampton and the...educational experiences at Smith College. I started doing parkour (though had to quit after a month and a half due to mangling my wrists while trying to impress my parents) and learned a bunch of new conditioning exercises. Under the exacting tutelage of my adviser I produce a research proposal that is given funding (more than we were initially told) as well as the full $1000 from Sigma Xi.
In about a month and a half, the plan that I have been working towards for a year will begin to unfold. For an entire year, though a combination of my own ability, knowing the right people and just plain good luck, everything that I have set my mind to achieving I have accomplished with greater success than I had ever planned on. I'm forging my destiny, building my life, making it happen. Every selection process, from honors societies to grad school application, course vetting to research funding, every one of these successes has been the result of someone thinking I'm smart enough, clever enough, good enough to take a chance on.Now all I need to do is prove I can get results. That's what 2009 is for.

Yes we can, indeed.