kryptonite

WAITLISTED. oh my god, i'm going to shoot myself. i've been waiting for news from Michigan for the past 6 weeks, and the news is that i have to wait some more. but not really... because if i hear that ISU's accepted me unconditionally and with a full assistantship, then my plan is to take it, regardless of how cool it would be to live in ann arbor and live with all of the little neo-hippies that remind me of some of my favorite friends.

on the plus side, the letter that they sent was really nice (which i guess it would have to be if they're trying to get people to hold off on making decisions until they hear that they have or have not been bumped up to the next round). the best line was "I can tell you quite frankly that, in more comfortable years, you would have received a first-round offer; indeed, you came very close to receiving one this year." sigh. and since the budget cuts they alluded to in the letter mean that they probably only admitted three of the 3-5 candidates that they usually admit, i guess that i'm pretty much okay with not being one of them, especially since i was fluxuating between preferring Michigan and ISU anyway.

the good news: i'll probably be staying in this area, which means...

i don't have to deal with horribly nasty winter weather and being six hours away from my family (which is fun for a while and then just sucks);

i can find a new, less expensive place to live relatively easily, since normal's only 45 minutes away, and a new, relatively sane roommate, since i have friends in the department already;

i'll probably actually be able to pay my bills; normal is nowhere near as expensive as ann arbor (where studio apartments start out at about $700 - ridiculous), and my quality of life will probably be a lot better;

i can still do the polar plunge (see sidebar) to help raise money for special olympics. [which, by the way, was superfun - lots of eccentric people there, including bear from bear and the big blue house, beer pirates and their wench, lab technicians, a richard simmons (a local DJ who essentially lost a bet), and cowboys - then me, with my oh-so-pretty black t-shirt, pink butterfly skirt and sandals, complete with sequined butterflies, and my black pajama pants underneath. it was classic]


any other plusses to being in this area still? i'm trying to keep a running tally in my head...