So, Boston University is a strange campus. It runs along Commonwealth Avenue (aka Comm Ave) in Downtown Boston, which is a very very close neighborhood to Fenway. The student bookstore is about a 5 minute walk from Fenway. As for the campus itself...Comm Ave is ridiculously long, as is the campus. I'm used to a campus that has some sort of central square or a central building to it. This is not like that. It is 2 miles long and about two streets deep. Weird huh? Thankfully there is a Starbucks on campus...so, you will hear no complaints from me. Other interesting facts, Elie Wiesel teaches here. Currently. As in, I could go to his office tomorrow and duck my head inside. Is that not the coolest thing ever? Alexander Graham Bell taught here and invented the phone in a BU lab. Also, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. received his doctorate here in 1955. Pretty incredible. Lots of very cool, very intelligent people.
As for the feel of school. I'm VERY uncool style-wise. Ok, I'm not going to lie. I thought I was pretty with it when I came out here, but apparently I'm about 3 years behind. Thankfully for me, I don't feel it necessary to make myself into a style queen, so aside from maybe making a few updates here and there, I'm going to live in the past baby! Most people (especially in my grad program) are VERY friendly. None of the bad East Coast attitudes I had been warned of out here. Loving that so far. But check out this fad...not going here EVER. I have seen a lot of butt cheeks hanging out the bottom of shorts in the last few days...and not a single person wearing normal shorts. So excuse me for being uncool, at least my cheeks aren't popping out to say hello. West Coast, watch out...these high-waisted monsters are coming for you.
So, I picked Boston University because it was a Top 25 grad school and because I loved the city. Pretty easy. It happened to be the only grad school I applied to, which looking at the statistics, may have been a really reckless decision. They only accepted 50% of applicants this year, so the odds of me getting a big fat denial letter in the mail were not totally on my side. Thankfully, they thought I was fabulous or at least good enough, and here I am.
So, let me give you a little bit of information as far as school rankings go.
University of Washington is #3 but wait lists a TON of people. And it's practically in my backyard....boring.
Boston College is #10, but is about double what I pay in tuition at Boston University. Which I might add, is already an arm and both of my legs.
Boston University is ranked #16th along with NYU and Hunter which are arguably some of the most reknowned programs in the field of Social Work.
Eastern Washington University was ranked #104...in the country. So, it would have been a really economical option, but it wouldn't necessarily have been a good option. And as much as I love Cheney, this is a pretty big upgrade....
So, back to school. I just finished orientation for both the program as a whole and for my field education (aka internship). Class wise, I am taking the basics that every first semester MSW student takes. That includes (don't get too excited now); Human Behavior, Welfare Policy, Intro to Clinical Practice and Intro to Macro Practice. The first two are pretty self explanatory, but let me fill you in on the Clinical vs. Macro stuff. Clinical is the area of social work that is more therapy based. This includes case management, group therapy, individual and family therapy, trauma work, etc... I am a Clinical major, so my focus is going to fall somewhere either in the very broad category of the major, or somewhere within a focus group. I'm leaning towards the trauma certificate program. As for Macro, that is more based around development and management. Many of the Macro majors are involved in internships that are linked to grassroots organizations and lobby groups and people that are working to change non-profits from the inside out.
Anyways, each of my classes are about 3-4 hours each and meet once a week. Nothing crazy. The crazy part of classes are that by next Wednesday, after my last class of the week, I will have been expected to have read almost 300 pages of readings. I have about 95 that are due by Monday's evening class alone. They are not fooling when they say grad school is going to be harder.... I went to the library to print the syllabi today and it was almost 100 pages....for 4 classes. Lord help me. Then on top of that, I am working 16 hours a week at Greater Boston Legal Services providing wraparound services for the clients that come in to receive assistance from the lawyers. Greater Boston Legal Services is a pro-bono law firm (which I LOVE) that is really really a massive undertaking. They have a large number of attorneys that donate their time to help disadvantaged individuals and families in Boston, of which there are many.
I am also working 10 hours a week doing research in the Human Development and Behavior Department, and its probably not super secret research, but I don't know what it is yet...so, I couldn't tell you.
As if that weren't enough...gotta count in church and small group. Thankfully, and much as an answer to prayers, I have found a pretty good on-campus graduate group that meets to do Bible study and fellowship once a week and through that got plugged into what is said to be a great church. And I don't even have to sit alone on my first Sunday, pretty great...all my fears being vanquished. So, with all this....it hardly leaves enough time to eat and sleep.
So ultimate goal in all of this...you might ask? All I know is that I can sit for my boards and become licensed as soon as I graduate from the program. That would be a test I'd take here in Massachusetts (which is a fairly easy state for licensing guidelines and requirements). The licensure is transferrable, which is good too...considering that Massachusetts is great and all, but so is the Northwest. And after that I have no idea. I don't have a specific area that I am determined to be working in yet, because there are so many options and two years of school to explore it. I feel like undergrad was all about knowing right away what you wanted to do after school. I want to actually take my time this time around and roll with the punches a little bit more. I don't want to get pigeon holed into something that I'm ultimately not happy with by trying to tighten down on one particular area too early.
So, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I really appreciate those of you that actually take the time to read these boring things and care about my life enough to listen to me vent. Really I haven't hit any walls yet and I feel like somehow this is right where God wanted me. I am typically a very anxious person (as you all know), but I feel so certain about all this....it is such a relief to not feel a full blown panic attack at the thought of being so far from home and so overwhelmed with newness. It is literally by the grace of God that I am adjusting so well.
I miss you all. A lot. Sometimes more than others. It hit me today when I was in a Walgreen's that I am really missing normal things. P.S. Mom, if you are reading this. They don't sell Chocolate Malt O'Meal here and they only make Hormel (aka Horrible) Chili out here. Send me the good stuff! :)
So ooooooo proud of you!
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