As I my final semester as a technical undergraduate nears its end, I can't help but ponder about my future.
A) Unemployment
B) Continuing education
C) The amount of money spent on education
D) My travel bug
Unemployment is ever present and looming in my weary face. Not only is there a practical hiring freeze across the globe, but I'm not qualified to do what I want to do. Please tell me why one must have a Masters just to INTERN at a big organization? It's absurd.
You may or may not know that I am currently working on my MPA. This just means that I get to wrack up 36 more credits and add an MPA to the end of my name. I can also intern at the UN. What is an MPA? Master of Public Administration...for public and nonprofit management and policy analysis, with a light focus on health. It's a mouthful. This also means that I will be adding about 40K to my education costs...bringing me to my next topic.
Over the past four years, I have spent approximately 200K on my education. By "I" I refer to my loving parents and Sallie Mae. Due to the ever changing significance of education, my BA is now worth about as much as a GED, requiring me to attend more school and shell out more money. This year I didn't purchase any text books, as they raised tuition 2K a semester. Sigh.
What could I have done with 200K in four years? Hm. Let's think. I could have flown myself around the globe and traveled to far and near lands. I could have studied to be a yoga instructor and moved to India for a touch. I could have actually afforded to live in New York. I could have bought a pretty decent house (in this economy). ETC. There are many things that I could have done with that 200K.
What could I not have done without spending the past 4 years as I did. I wouldn't have experienced ridiculous roomates. I probably would not have lived in New York. I wouldn't have lived in Madrid. I wouldn't have become a mechanic for 3 months (who knows). I wouldn't have lived in Ghana and worked on an incredible project. I wouldn't have met a lot of people. I wouldn't have figured out what I wanted to do with my life academically. I wouldn't have learned such valuable life lessons. I wouldn't be the same person whatsoever.
Was 200K worth it? Who knows. But I did it and it's done and I'm here. And very very very much in debt.
The travel bug is a different issue entirely. I've always had this, but now it's INTENSIFIED! I'm thinking India, Kilimanjaro, or Kenya. Hmmm....
All in all I'm pretty blessed to have such a challenging yet unchallenging life. It's like my yoga practice--only as challenging as I want to make it. It's like I'm always IN control and NOT in control....interesting interesting interesting.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
busy busy little ants, we are
I am really bad about updating...
So, I'm in New York. Nice cold windy wet New York. I found an apt, like my roommates, found a yoga studio to practice work-study, and have started classes. I purchased myself a bed for my birthday, sent my resume to 1.6 billion people, tried to call people, and realized that I need an iPhone. I've gone grocery shopping a few times, out a few times, and driven a Uhaul through the streets of New York city.
I haven't even been here for 3 weeks!
I added a few Mysore poses today but definitely overstretched my shoulders...it certainly doesn't help that I threw myself back into walking 5+miles a day with 30 pound purses.... Whoops.
I guess that's why God made man to make heat packs :)
So, I'm in New York. Nice cold windy wet New York. I found an apt, like my roommates, found a yoga studio to practice work-study, and have started classes. I purchased myself a bed for my birthday, sent my resume to 1.6 billion people, tried to call people, and realized that I need an iPhone. I've gone grocery shopping a few times, out a few times, and driven a Uhaul through the streets of New York city.
I haven't even been here for 3 weeks!
I added a few Mysore poses today but definitely overstretched my shoulders...it certainly doesn't help that I threw myself back into walking 5+miles a day with 30 pound purses.... Whoops.
I guess that's why God made man to make heat packs :)
Saturday, November 22, 2008
HamanahamanaHA!
Hellloooo all!
What a week! Phew, I'm so glad it's over.
As the countdown begins to our return to the States, NYU students are dropping like flies. Malaria, respiratory problems, robberies, concussions, typhoid scares, GI issues, flu bugs, strange rashes, meningitis scares--every thing imaginable has hit us all at once. I myself came down with this ridiculous flu that outsmarted every homeopathic trick I had--then proceeded to outsmart every Western medicine trick I had! I was at a loss. In about 2 hours I went from sick to thinking I had strep throat. That turned into flu symptoms after a sleepless night, which then turned into symptoms of a sinus infection. My symptoms changed every 30 minutes on Tuesday and I called into work for my first sick day ever. I was an absolutely miserable mucusy mess. The doctor paid a house visit after a few of the girls had to go to the hospital for respiratory problems and told me that I could develop pneumonia quickly in this part of the world and needed to go on antibiotics. Being onery, I refused. By Wednesday, my "flu" symptoms suddenly went into my chest and I felt the feeling of pneumonia coming on. I decided to give in and take the antibiotics. Of course, the pharmacy was out of my last day's dosage....so I ended up spending WAY more money than I should have :/ But the antibiotics worked like a charm and now I'm suffering from the sniffles and a cough.
That being said, the conference that I was organizing came off yesterday. The conference was geared to be a student discussion on the effectiveness of aid in Africa, based off of the September Aid Effectiveness Conference regarding the Accra Agenda for Action and the Millenium Development Goals. Over the past week, naturally the logistical craze caught up to my team and every thing turned to chaos. Being a complete and utter useless mess, I was pretty sure the conference was going to fail miserably. Half of my team was sick, the other half angry and stressed, our supervisor a complete space cadet, and me hacking through it all. But, I am pleased to say that it was an enormous success. We had about 50+ attendees (non-organizers) which ended up being the perfect size for our small group discussions. The Vice-Provost of NYU attended as well as the Director of our program. While I was running around trying to get every thing running smoothly, I was unable to actually sit in on the group discussions. From what I heard, the discussions were actually very educational and taught both International and Ghanaian students a lot. We ended up getting speakers from the World Bank, UNDP, CARE International, and an NGO. The speakers did a good job, but the discussions were definitely the highlight of the conference.The response was overwhelmingly positive, so I'm pretty happy about it :)
So, not to worry any one, but this past week one of my friends was robbed. We have been warned since day one not to wear our purses diagonally or facing the road...of course, none of us ever listen. Unfortunately, one night walking home from dinner a car came from behind, snatched the purse, and caused her to fall back onto her head. Thankfully the bag's strap ripped so that she wasn't dragged along...also, she did not have very many valuables in her bag. However, 24 hours later she starts vomiting uncontrollably and the hospital here treats her for malaria....yea. We were all pretty pissed that they didn't even know how to diagnose a concussion. At the end of the day she's ok, but we certainly all learned a lesson.
On Monday I changed supervisors. The COP and dCOP had an intervention with me as they had expected way more work from me and had been forwarded my frustrated email from Gigi (my internship professor). I have now taken the lead on data analysis and collection. Of course, then I fell ill. My dad and I had a nice chat about not letting people take advantage of my work ethic...I'm definitely going to have to put that into perspective as finals have begun and the USAID reports are still for an unpaid internship. Sigh. Too much to think about. I really do like working working more than academically working. I think I'll get it done. As long as I don't get sick again!
Other than that, nothing really new to report. I grabbed an ankle in my back bend which gave me a huge feeling of accomplishment :) I'll be returning to the States in 3 weeks. It's either too little time or too much time. I think I either needed to go home a month ago or stay here for another 6....but I guess beggars can't be choosers!
I'm ok with Ghana today. I don't hate being here.
It is, however, getting HOT and HUMID. I thought it was hot and humid when I got here...ha. Ha ha. Funny joke, eh? I will really appreciate being cold and unsweaty. The "hamana" (or whatever it is called) is here--it's when all of the dirt and dust and sands blow into Ghana and linger in the air making it absolutely impossible for the asthmatics among us to live without wheezing, hacking, and getting pneumonia. Superrrrrrrr.
What a week! Phew, I'm so glad it's over.
As the countdown begins to our return to the States, NYU students are dropping like flies. Malaria, respiratory problems, robberies, concussions, typhoid scares, GI issues, flu bugs, strange rashes, meningitis scares--every thing imaginable has hit us all at once. I myself came down with this ridiculous flu that outsmarted every homeopathic trick I had--then proceeded to outsmart every Western medicine trick I had! I was at a loss. In about 2 hours I went from sick to thinking I had strep throat. That turned into flu symptoms after a sleepless night, which then turned into symptoms of a sinus infection. My symptoms changed every 30 minutes on Tuesday and I called into work for my first sick day ever. I was an absolutely miserable mucusy mess. The doctor paid a house visit after a few of the girls had to go to the hospital for respiratory problems and told me that I could develop pneumonia quickly in this part of the world and needed to go on antibiotics. Being onery, I refused. By Wednesday, my "flu" symptoms suddenly went into my chest and I felt the feeling of pneumonia coming on. I decided to give in and take the antibiotics. Of course, the pharmacy was out of my last day's dosage....so I ended up spending WAY more money than I should have :/ But the antibiotics worked like a charm and now I'm suffering from the sniffles and a cough.
That being said, the conference that I was organizing came off yesterday. The conference was geared to be a student discussion on the effectiveness of aid in Africa, based off of the September Aid Effectiveness Conference regarding the Accra Agenda for Action and the Millenium Development Goals. Over the past week, naturally the logistical craze caught up to my team and every thing turned to chaos. Being a complete and utter useless mess, I was pretty sure the conference was going to fail miserably. Half of my team was sick, the other half angry and stressed, our supervisor a complete space cadet, and me hacking through it all. But, I am pleased to say that it was an enormous success. We had about 50+ attendees (non-organizers) which ended up being the perfect size for our small group discussions. The Vice-Provost of NYU attended as well as the Director of our program. While I was running around trying to get every thing running smoothly, I was unable to actually sit in on the group discussions. From what I heard, the discussions were actually very educational and taught both International and Ghanaian students a lot. We ended up getting speakers from the World Bank, UNDP, CARE International, and an NGO. The speakers did a good job, but the discussions were definitely the highlight of the conference.The response was overwhelmingly positive, so I'm pretty happy about it :)
So, not to worry any one, but this past week one of my friends was robbed. We have been warned since day one not to wear our purses diagonally or facing the road...of course, none of us ever listen. Unfortunately, one night walking home from dinner a car came from behind, snatched the purse, and caused her to fall back onto her head. Thankfully the bag's strap ripped so that she wasn't dragged along...also, she did not have very many valuables in her bag. However, 24 hours later she starts vomiting uncontrollably and the hospital here treats her for malaria....yea. We were all pretty pissed that they didn't even know how to diagnose a concussion. At the end of the day she's ok, but we certainly all learned a lesson.
On Monday I changed supervisors. The COP and dCOP had an intervention with me as they had expected way more work from me and had been forwarded my frustrated email from Gigi (my internship professor). I have now taken the lead on data analysis and collection. Of course, then I fell ill. My dad and I had a nice chat about not letting people take advantage of my work ethic...I'm definitely going to have to put that into perspective as finals have begun and the USAID reports are still for an unpaid internship. Sigh. Too much to think about. I really do like working working more than academically working. I think I'll get it done. As long as I don't get sick again!
Other than that, nothing really new to report. I grabbed an ankle in my back bend which gave me a huge feeling of accomplishment :) I'll be returning to the States in 3 weeks. It's either too little time or too much time. I think I either needed to go home a month ago or stay here for another 6....but I guess beggars can't be choosers!
I'm ok with Ghana today. I don't hate being here.
It is, however, getting HOT and HUMID. I thought it was hot and humid when I got here...ha. Ha ha. Funny joke, eh? I will really appreciate being cold and unsweaty. The "hamana" (or whatever it is called) is here--it's when all of the dirt and dust and sands blow into Ghana and linger in the air making it absolutely impossible for the asthmatics among us to live without wheezing, hacking, and getting pneumonia. Superrrrrrrr.
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