New Surroundings

Saturday I had an induction for postgraduate students at the University.* Save for one trip to the Arts Centre to see a Russian version of The Tempest, this was the first time I had actually visited the University...which, in all honesty, is pretty representative of how I make huge life decisions. Either I research them into the ground, or I fly totally blind. Definitely doing the latter, right now.

I thought the induction program was going to be mainly geared towards MA students, but, actually, there was a fair amount for PhDs as well. The University runs something called the Research Exchange, promoting interdisciplinary collaboration (as someone fresh off a history/literature MA, that's pretty appealing), as well as a seminar series and programs through the career center to increase employability (those student loans have to get paid somehow**). The whole thing was about two hours, and pretty general, but it's the most contact I've had with the University as a whole since I began this crazy crossover. Definitely worth the trip.

Also worth the trip was figuring out exactly what "the trip" entails. There is a direct bus from Strats to the Uni that takes about an hour, which is what I did on Saturday. I anticipate that will be my primary mode of transport (starting next week I have to take another research skills class), but it stops at 6:00pm. As far as I can tell, my options for night travel all involve some kind of bus-to-train combination, which will have to be investigated soon as I am helping with a Shakespeare seminar series that, presumably, occurs during evening hours. Have I mentioned I don't yet had a firm grasp of what I'm doing?





*I'm still playing around with how to make this blog both easy-to-read AND non-Googleable. The renaming of friends was silly and tiresome, but organizations and authority figures will still, I think, be reduced to ambiguous titles. My old school was the Institute, my new school is the University/Uni. Because simple would be boring.


**On that note, I've recently signed up for Sallie Mae's Upromise. Does anyone have experience with this? As far as I understand, it's kind of like a rewards program where a certain percentage of money spent at various places gets put towards paying down student loans (either yours or someone you designate). I'm trying to figure out how useful it actually is.