I got this poster as a gift from my colleagues at the DRC at the University of Cambridge. I was super excited because I had been looking at one similar to this at a touristy shop and was thinking about buying it, but didn't. It's so special to me because it's from them and because I know exactly where this is (inside St. John's College); I sat in this spot and took a picture there (before they gave it to me). I had put off getting a frame because I thought it was a weird size. Incidentally, it is exactly the right size for pre-made frames. I wish I would've known that because I would've bought one months and months ago! In any case, this will be going in my office at work. Yay!
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It's so weird, but I oftentimes get teary-eyed when I think about England. I know that people (mostly my boyfriend... er... FIANCE!) probably get annoyed with me because I bring it up a lot, but I doubt that my love for that country will ever go away. So many things remind me of it and it's just one of those things that, until you've experienced it, you can't quite understand... but once you've experienced it, you just know!!! I got an email from John Harding today, who was my supervisor for my internship at the University of Cambridge last summer. He wanted to tell me that he gave the first award from the fund that the research I did over the summer helped secure and that they have 20 other applications. Basically it's a pot of money that international disabled students are able to use to fulfill academic-related needs that have to do with their disability--so it could be things like paying a notetaker or getting a laptop that has specific software. I'm s...
I'm currently reading a book (for fun!) that Philip got me for Christmas last year, called "Looking for Class." The author (Bruce Feiler) attended the University of Cambridge in the early 1990s and the book chronicles his time there. I know most of the places and little English nuances that he describes and it just makes me so happy! Here's one of my favorite passages so far: "Among students, tourists, even professors, there is one indisputable manner in which Cambridge promotes love: it is an incredibly, at times overwhelmingly, romantic place. For some, the charm is the setting. Cambridge, wrote Henry James, boasts 'the loveliest confusion of Gothic windows and ancient trees, of grassy banks and mossy balustrades . . . of single-arched bridges spanning the little stream, which is small and shallow and looks as if it had been turned on for ornamental purposes.'" Even though he was there over 20 years before I was, it's amazing to me that th...
I got an email yesterday from John Harding, who was my supervisor at Cambridge. He wanted to update me on where the project I worked on has been going lately. Today he presented it to a committee and he's gotten word that the University of Cambridge has been talking about adding a £ 40,000 budget for international disabled students' needs. Though this is directly related to the work I did, it's not because of my project that this happened. It's still really cool, though, to see that things are happening with it already. If that budget is approved, it'll happen next academic year and I totally didn't think it would move that quickly. Awesome news! I know I've said this a hundred/million times, but I can't believe that I was in Cambridge and I did that. I can't believe that I can look at the picture above (King's College Chapel) and tell you exactly where I sat on the green space next to the river at "Singing on the River." I can...
An update on the binder situation: I got an email back from Carrie (house mom in Cambridge), who I had left the binder with and who was going to take it to the DRC to see it off from the post. She apologized profusely about it, which made me feel bad because it wasn't her fault at all. She admitted that sometimes people in the DRC are "awkward, especially [insert name of individual who I suspect purposefully did this],"which I believe means that the only person who is awkward is that person. . Anywho... she thinks that I should email John (supervisor at Cambridge) and explain what happened, but I'm kind of over it at this point and realize that not much can be done. I think Carrie is going to try to gather the bits that were missing and perhaps find the actual binder and send it to me. That would be nice, but I'm not getting my hopes up about it. Oh well. I just started reading the book Traveling with Pomegranates last night because I received it in ...
I never thought a binder would mean so much to me. Today I received mail from the University of Cambridge! I was so excited about it! My excitement quickly vanished into confusion, frustration, and sadness when I realized that it wasn't the entire binder I had put together during my time there this summer. From what I saw, all they sent back to me were some of the materials that I used to do my research. All of the extra things that I had accumulated about the university weren't there, nor was the actual binder. I'm wondering why this happened. The reason I didn't just take it home with me in my luggage was my concern that my bags would be too heavy. Carrie was happy to take the binder back to the DRC; she was sure that the DRC would be happy send it back to the U.S. for me since I worked there for free. I said there was no rush--if it arrived in six weeks it didn't matter. So here it is... eight weeks later and I get not even half of what I had put together...
Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. See? Why do I get nervous? Maybe it's healthy. (Even though it doesn't feel like it most of the time.) I can't stop smiling thinking about the fact that I'm actually going and every day will be surrounded by people who talk like that. I'm so excited about the project I'll be working on--a fabulous opportunity to be in an environment that I know nothing about and to use skills that I haven't used before and to get myself out of my comfort zone. Ahh!!!!! I'm so in love with my future.
I could drive myself crazy with nerves. I have become a significantly more nervous person in the past few years. It's very strange--I never used to be this way. Atleast I don't think I was ever this way. Maybe I've blocked it out. I'm waiting for John to call me from the DRC. It's 10:28 am and he's supposed to call at 10:30. It's the anticipation that just kills me. This isn't even an interview--I'm already past the hard part of getting offered the position. We're just chatting about my project. This is the first time I've actually talked to him though and I'm nervous about it. The time delay makes things awkward. We'll see though. I'll be sure to update once it's over...
Finally an email back from the DRC. Pretty brief, though--just to say that he's waiting to hear back from HR about next steps, I'm assuming for filing paperwork for me to get payment of some type. I'm sure he knows what he's doing, but I wish we could talk about dates and projects in the meantime. He did say that they would need a background check, so I'll work on that as soon as possible. At least it's still good news from them. I finally broke down and at the end of the week last week sent out a couple emails to Canterbury Christ Church University. I feel like I need to cover my bases now in case none of this works out. I do feel better/less pressure about the whole trip planning with Pam thing. I saw her over the weekend and let her know that I still don't have any information but once I do, I will let her know as soon as possible. She understands and gave me some info on what other trips she has planned for next summer, so I know now what else is going ...
Well... Tom Levinson from Admissions emailed me back. He's concerned that they don't have a student affairs structure at Cambridge (which I knew) and that I won't have experience with the projects that will be going on in May and June (which I was wondering about too). Sigh. I think it would still be good for me to do something with assessment and planning--anything really. I tried to convey to him that it doesn't need to be overly student affairs-y. Hopefully he gets that, but at the same time, I do want to be working on a project that is relative and interesting to me. Perhaps he'll come back with project ideas in the next email or perhaps he'll just say no thanks and then I can move on. He did offer to give my information to some of his colleagues at different universities, so that might be good.
Still haven't heard anything from Mr. Harding with the Disability Resource Center. He should've emailed me a week ago and he hasn't responded to my email from the beginning of the week. I'm unsure how long I should let this go before I explore other options. I feel like it's really important that I start making plans. It would be especially nice to have something to tell Pam next weekend when she's here for Adam's birthday and is asking me... I wish I didn't have that added pressure. I can only do so much and the traveling after the work shouldn't be at the forefront of my mind, but I understand how she's wanting to know. I would've liked to know two weeks ago myself. I think definitely by midweek (Wednesday or Thursday) if I haven't heard anything I'm going to do some follow-up emails with other departments and send some to Canterbury Christ Church and University of Kent. This is just so incredibly frustrating!
It's now past 5:00 pm in England, so I doubt I will hear anything regarding the internship today, though I was anticipating it. I'm so anxious to know and plan! I will surely die tomorrow if I don't get an email from Mr. Harding and have to suffer through the weekend wanting to know the outcome of his meeting with HR. I'm wondering what type of practicalities are in question if I'm not being paid--perhaps he was just bringing up the possibility of some type of payment and still had to talk with them. I will know shortly, I hope!
Finally some good news! I got an email from John at the Disability Resource Center at Cambridge and he sounds interested, pending some information from HR. He mentioned how they would like to pay me, but may not be able to due to budgetary things. I'm of course fine with that--I wasn't planning on being paid anyway, but if they could give something (like reimbursement for the flight or payment of rent while I'm there), that'd be phenomenal. I'm so super excited and want to know nownownow! The project he's thinking about has to do with benchmarking, which I just learned about a few weeks ago because a second year student talked about doing it during her practicum. It's not my number one choice of project--finding out what other universities are doing for international students with disabilities--but it will be a great experience. I just hope there is an opportunity for me to also work with students face-to-face. If not, I'm cool with it because I realiz...
I got the most fantastic e-mail today from a former student in the program I'm in. She did an internship at Cambridge University in England and my advisor gave me her e-mail address so I could bug her about what it was like. It sounds so great! She calmed some of my fears about the logistics of the whole thing like getting there, finding a place to live, being/feeling safe, being away from home, etc. And she made me really, really excited about the important things like actually being there, working there, getting to know the people, and having the experience of a lifetime for six weeks. I'm excited to hear back from her again because I had some questions about when the terms begin there. It's a good thing to have someone like her that I can contact when I have questions. Maybe I'll go to Cambridge instead of Canterbury... I really wish I were going this summer instead of next summer. I just need to remember to take one day at a time because the days go fast enough ...