Things I Have Accomplished In the Last 48 Hours; Or, Get Me Off This Crazy Train Called Moving Across the Country

The following things happened between yesterday morning and right this second, giving me official cause to tell this move to "bring it, sucka" because I am knocking shit out of the proverbial park.

1. I have a place to live in New York City. Repeat: I have a place to live in New York City. I had to somewhat let go of my ideal Upper West Side quaint studio scenario in a move that is, in the end, totally, mind-blowingly convenient. I'll be four blocks from school, a ten minute walk from the Fairway, and a few blocks from the 1 line which runs from the top to the bottom of Manhattan. Fully furnished. Sigh. And Olive will have a playmate! Deposit sent. Lease in the mail.

2. I have initiated email introductions with two of my new roommates. A teacher, a poly sci grad student and me. Quite the serendipitous combo?

3. Student loans are finalized. Repeat: student loans are finalized!!! Yes!!! And in an odd turn of events, I think I'll actually be acquiring less debt than I would had I stayed in Seattle and done the full-time MPA program at UW. I mean, there are many reasons why that would have been a disastrous choice regardless, but whatever, conscience cleared.

4. "Cat Business" ... I'm lumping this into one because holy hell moving across the country with a cat is an ordeal. But, Olive officially has a vet visit in which I will pay a doctor $80 to look at my cat for five minutes and give me some sort of State-approved certificate that says she's healthy and can travel on a plane. I also managed to track down the Jet Blue-approved pet carrier at Mud Bay and am picking it up after work today. Also, there will be cat valium. Which hopefully doubles as people valium.

5. Discovering that my Columbia ID gets me into most every museum in the city for free. While one R. Matthews pointed out that the museums are all mostly "by donation" anyway, what jerk actually has ever demanded a ticket without paying? I don't have the balls. And now, I don't have to!

6. I have a plane ticket. I have a plane ticket. I have a plane ticket. On August 22nd, 2008 at 11:59 p.m. I will leave the Pacific Northwest from whence* I entered: Portland, Oregon. What? Your mind is blown in the fluidity of that Circle of Life connection I just made there? I think I just gagged.

7. Lost most, if not all, humility. I'M GOING TO NEW YORK CITY IN 23 DAYS! YEAAAAAAAYYYYYYY! Humility be damned!

Siiiigh.

*I know this is technically redundant, but "I will leave the Pacific Northwest whence I entered it" just doesn't sound right so bite me.

Bibliononsense

So I've been grappling with the idea of writing a book. My hesitation lies in the fact that I feel that just by saying "I'm thinking of writing a book," I've catapulted myself into a very special circle of hell reserved for self-indulgent know-it-all assholes. But I do really want to write one. At some point.

What, at nearly 25, do I have to contribute to the world, save for a knapsack full of crude jokes and some optimism and a subpar vocabulary (according to the GRE)? Well, that's very much TBD, but I'm going to use the next year to start recording some blah blah blahs and whathaveyous. I'm envisioning something about education (shocking!) ... maybe some sort of memoir about going from a three year old who sat in my bedroom teaching my Teddy Ruxpin how to read; through an iffy public school system in which Mr. Stamp laughed at my 16 year old self when I told him I wanted to go to Harvard; to a Jesuit University; to, finally an Ivy League school where I'm going to study ways in which I can make education more accessible and equal and just plan exciting for kids back in the communities in which I grew up.

People seem to think it's funny that I'm a bleeding hearted liberal athiest borne from a conservative Christian family (my family doesn't know what to think of it) ... I wouldn't have it any other way, but in large part, I have my education and the incredible folks I've met along my academic way to thank for Katie ver. 2008. I'm a nerd to the core, always have been, and I love it and I want to write about it.

So, anyways, here's to spouting off some big words that I hope to live up to this year ...

Officially a student again...

That's right, I officially have a schedule for fall semester, and I couldn't be more excited. Let's just put the nerdy right out there. I'm taking:

Education & Public Policy; Political Policy Analysis in Education; Social & Political History of American Education Reform; Probability & Statistical Inference; and (hopefully) the Federal Policy Institute

I say "hopefully" on FPI because it appears to be quite legendary at TC:

Rated by TC students as “a course that changed my career,” the Federal Policy Institute examines historical and current debates over federal educational policy-making through an intensive week-long institute in Washington, DC linked with preparatory and follow-up sessions at Teachers College. While in Washington, participants will meet with leading policy makers from the legislative and executive branches of government, along with prominent representatives from key professional, advocacy, think tank, and member organizations. Upon return from Washington, students will prepare a policy analysis and present mock testimony on an educational policy topic germane to their interests.

Not only that, the course is taught by Sharon Lynn Kagan, who is Big Deal, A when it comes to Early Education Policy. I swoon.

oy

i've reached a point where even the thought of graduate school makes me faint. not in swoony kind of way. in a my brain can't handle these options so will just shut down kind of way. is it odd that i'm feeling as if i don't know enough to go back to school? i'm paralyzed by this idea that i haven't yet paid my dues ... that another academe isn't going to solve the world's problems. i went from loathing my job (abusive boss) to loving my job (two incredible bosses + actual intellectual challenge) over the course of the last 9 months or so. aside from no longer being miserable for 8.5 hours a day, i've come to adopt this attitude that action (in regards to the things in this world that irk me most) is not really an option for educated people. my basic needs are taken care of, i'm safe, i'm (relatively) financially secure and (relatively) privileaged; not contributing to the greater good in some way is (i apologize if this sounds militaristic) just gluttonous, maybe even immoral. one of my bosses, who ran the state's largest legal services organization for twenty years (and, rumor has it, won a genius grant), said something to me the other day that stuck. i'll preface this by telling you that a favorite pastime of hers is harassing state legislators, in person, day after day, until they break down and give into her requests for things like increased funding for low-income legal service programs. anyways, she said to me, "katie, i've been doing this for twenty goddamned years and nothing has changed! i was walking down the street the other day and saw a woman walking her dog and wanted to grab her and shake her and yell 'there's no time for dog walking when so many people need our help!'" no i'm not about to start attacking dog walkers (except maybe with hugs) i know that i want a career that inspires in me that kind of passion. and i know that when i receive phone calls from people who are so incredibly disadvantaged (by their own actions, or, more frequently, by no fault of their own) and they don't even have the tools to comprehend how to start to help themselves, i forget about everything and help. i can't not help. so i've narrowed that much down: my education has been my saving grace, my golden ticket. i want to solve the world's problems by empowering people to change their world. i think this starts by educating them. and advocating for the education of those who can't advocate for themselves. that is what i want to do. that is my new mantra. writing that helped. you'd think i'd have learned that after 24 years. ugly betty is eating poutine right now. and i have some chocolate fig greek ice cream to attend to.