This is the Craiglockhart Campus which is home to the business school at which I'll be studying.
I'm full emotions about this upcoming year, and I'll do my best to explain the biggest ones fully.
1. Excitement: I am unbelievably psyched to live abroad again. After my year in Germany I have been searching high and low for opportunities to live in Europe again. But not only am I excited to live in Europe again, but even more so that I'll live in a country that speaks English! As much as I loved and continue to love the german language, lets face it, its not an easy nut to crack. There is just something special about living in a totally different place culturally but easily understandable linguistically. I'm just glad I'll be living in a city where the scottish accent is easily understandable (vs. the Northern accent). And if that wasn't good enough, my best friend Karli, whom I met while in Germany, will be attending graduate school at the University of Stirling just one hour north of me! I anxiously await what will be a joyous reunion.
2. Anxiety: I'll be completely honest. I am crazy nervous about starting graduate school. When I look back at my undergraduate years at Utah State (Go Aggies!) I remember some long nights in the library (which I miss terribly...Merrill Cazier Library is my beautiful second home) and lots of shenanigans with friends. It seemed a bit easy and I was fine with putting in just enough effort to get adequate grades and graduating. I had zero intention of EVER going to graduate school no matter how much my parents advised me to. However, upon graduation and endlessly applying for jobs I came to the realization that my degree and experience were just not as special as I thought they would be. I discovered that undergraduate degrees were getting me about as far as my high school diploma, which is unfortunate as it cost me a pretty penny more.
So although I am quite sure of my decision to acquire another degree (that will hopefully get me a job), I am still quite nervy. What scares me the most? The 80,000 word dissertation I will have to complete. One would think that a journalism graduate wouldn't have a problem with such a task. Well that is just a wrong assumption. As a journalism/public relations student the only writing I was really tasked with was press releases, news articles and the occasional research paper. All of these things ranged between one and five page papers. Do you know how many words are on a five page paper on average? Well I'll tell you: 1,500. Yep thats right. And guess what - even those stressed me out. So you can now imagine my distress upon learning that I will somehow have to write a fifty page paper. Now some of you might think, "Well thats no big deal, I have done that," and I say good for you! I am envious of your massive research paper writing talent, however, I am still quaking in my boots. Weirdly this brings me to my next emotion:
3. Gratitude: I am super grateful to my uni for admitting me into my top choice program. I applied for two other programs in the UK including Strategic Public Relations as well as International Public Relations. Although they are excellent programs geared towards a great profession, I just don't have a lot of passion for press releases, industry framing etc. Which is why I am so grateful to have been accepted into a course I am passionate about. If you know anything about me, there is little I'm more passionate about and dedicated to than Event Management. So although I am having a massive nervy b about my dissertation, I'm glad that it will be based on a concentration that I might actually be able to write 80,000 words about.
So, now all I can do now is play the waiting game. I have received my visa (which was more painstaking than you can imagine), acquired a place to live, and purchased my plane ticket. All that is left is packing! Hopefully I can get through that burden and make it on my way!
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