1.1

day one ~ week one

i sit in the undergraduate study lounge--though i'm a graduate student, i feel more at home here--at the maxwell school. a brief description: it's a largish room with giant tables in the center and smaller group study rooms along the perimeter of the room. i'm in the center of the room at the back-most table, looking out, up the staircase to the sun that shines outside.

today was the first day of class--of real class, public budgeting. while the topic of budgeting isn't something that i get overly excited about, the professors are people that i definitely do find some energy from. i've really gotta say that attending a really good school--mind you, it is the #1-ranked school--really does make a world of a difference. it's pretty ridiculous, but imagine a school where all of your professors kick ass. seriously. each and everyone one of them is captivating in some weird way, whether it be their life experience (one, for example was the under-secretary-general of the united nations), that they're super energetic, or just plain funny, the faculty here are amazing. yet, it doesn't stop there: the administration and the staff are super courteous and helpful--it's rumored that some of them are even willing to do laundry for us.

there are moments when i miss home, however. i'll sit in my room at 800 maryland avenue and be so bored. i hate going downstairs because my landlord is a real dick. he's super picky and discourteous; in this regard, the day after i arrived, he already ate some food that i bought. stupid, isn't it? i figured that i'd need to get a meal plan at that point (besides, i'll be busy and won't want to be home anyway). so today, i picked up a meal plan and am all set for the summer and the fall. $795 over the next 4 months.

the only other highlight of my day was visiting the career center earlier. the connections that our school has are pretty amazing, too. already, beginning this september, recruitment will begin for many private companies (where, if i get a job, i'll be making at least $80K/year). money's quite tempting, so i guess i'll have to prep myself for all of this. and in that, i've put my order in for my maxwell business cards. ...argh, i feel so old.

anyway, it's a little after 5pm now, and i really gotta start studying before dinner comes around. here we go: day 2, bring it on!!!

as an aside, i've got only 50 weeks, including vacations and weekends, left until i receive my masters degree... ursh commented that this should mean 51 weeks until R U S Seption II (in NYC)... we'll see, but i think it'll happen. =P