baby goes to grad school

[raven]

...baby got into grad school.

Actually, baby got into grad school a month ago. I have been Thinking About Things for several weeks - whether I can justify this in terms of my mental, physical and economic health, whether I want this, what this will do for me, how I will manage being thousands of miles from my family, friends and partner, all the rest of it - but I've finished thinking. I'm doing this.

So, this August I will fly to New York City. I'll be spending a year attending Cornell, which is in Ithaca, NY, a city smaller than the village I grew up in, finishing off my legal education. I am looking forward to it, so much, to the experience, to meeting the tonnes of my flist on the east coast, to maybe not feeling a fraud as a lawyer any more.

Yes. That's it. I am all aflail, of course, about the prospect of packing up my whole life and moving continents for a year, but at the same time - I have a good, deep, within-my-bones feeling that this is the right thing at the right time, that this will be scary but good.

(This afternoon I have slow-roasted tomatoes and watched cherry blossom drift past the window while shimgray rediscovers The Kinks. Things, they could be so much worse.)

Comments

[thecapitalc.livejournal.com]

Congratulations!

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

I know I said this before, but I'll say it again - congratulations! And I shall be coming to pitch up on your bedroom floor, so you know. :-) I think you're made completely the right decision.

[rhipowered.livejournal.com]

Congrats! A friend of mine at Smith was from Ithaca, and I've heard good things about both the town and Cornell grad progs.

[soupytwist.livejournal.com]

I found moving continents for a year really awesome in all respects, so I hope you do, too. Wow! Congratulations!

And Ithaca is tiny but GORGEOUS.

Also, rediscovering the Kinks is always good times, aw yeah. :D

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Thank you, so much. :) And thank you for listening to me babble the other night, I really appreciated it. Almost as much as I appreciated being poured into bed after. :P

And, absolutely, you must come and sleep on my floor!

[manynames.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! That sounds like it will be a wonderful experience.

[leiascully.livejournal.com]

Yay, congrats! My cousin went to Cornell, and both of my grandparents before they dropped out to elope, and my great-grandfather taught there. You will be great! Make sure you have a very good coat.

[sophiahagia.livejournal.com]

Yay! Ithaca is tiny, yes, but pretty cute and has interesting shops thanks to Cornell and Ithaca College and the influx of young people and so-on. The winter will be nothing like what you're used to, probably, but it's livable.

Also, you will be something like an hour away from me. 'Cause that is very important for you to know, obviously.:) If you need any Central New York State tips (because it's a baffling place even for those who live here), let me know.

Congratulations again. <3

[yahtzee63.livejournal.com]

Way to go!

[jmkg.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! :)

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

Congratulations!

[macadamanaity.livejournal.com]

Congrats again! I'm sure you'll have a brilliant year. And, of course, any time you come down to or through NYC consider mi couch is su couch!

[stained_glass]

*SCREAMS* I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT! You are so awesome! I am so excited and happy for you! *HUGS* and *ADMIRES* and *ADORES*

(P.S. Am I allowed to be a teeny bit selfishly sad that you will not be coming to Turkyria with us? *CLINGS* It is an excuse to go somewhere else!)

[proskynesis]

This is amazing! Congratulations! I'm sure good things will come of it, and at the least it will be, as you say, an experience worth having. :)

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! Feelings of rightness are a wonderful thing, and having something secure in the future is even better. :D

[proskynesis]

omg nuuuu I had not realised this meant no Turkyria! Sadtiems. But yes, somewhere else. :)) (CATALONIA???)

[jacinthsong.livejournal.com]

Oh, honey! *hugs* I will bankrupt self visiting you. :)

[dr-biscuit.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! You are amazing!!! There must be celebrations (maybe with WHISKY?!?)
And partner-on-another-continent is, well, more doable than some people think. If you want i can bore you stories on that front
xxx

[icepixie]

Congratulations! You'll totally love it, and do really well. And yes, like others have said, moving continents for a year is a great experience (albeit not always a pleasant one--still, what doesn't kill you, etc. etc.).

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Awwww yeah! Serious congratulations to you, and I hope we can meet up at some point in NYC.

[purplerainbow.livejournal.com]

Congratulations!

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

Well, well, well done (in the excellent not three-holes-in-ground sense).

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

YES WITH WHISKY. :D Thank you!

Please do tell me stories on that front! (er, by email, if you would prefer) I would really like to know it's done. :)

[mirabile-dictu.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! That is so cool. As are you!

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Thank you!