Growing Up and Going Down

Most people wade into the waters of adulthood in their early college years, fully submerging themselves a bit after graduation.  The unlucky few are shoved into the deep end, reluctantly, through mishap or misfortune in their youth.  I decided to go in via the high-dive, backwards, while drunkenly wearing a prom dress.  That is the best metaphor for how my decision to go to graduate school in a foreign country unintentionally slammed me into all things quintessentially "adult".  This is not to say that I do not welcome the more responsible things in life, merely that I was entirely unprepared to have so many of them hit me at one time.

That about sums it up.

I have lived my entire life in the mid-sized town that I was born in and, save for two short stints with roommates, resided rent-free with my parents.  I graduated high school with same people I went to kindergarten with and attended my parent's alma mater (as stated, in the same town I had always lived in).  My parents make a reasonable sum of money and my mother is good at budgeting, so all necessities were taken care of and my undergraduate tuition was paid for.  I suspect that my parents footed the bill for my college because they knew I would run off and join the circus if I was not forced to stay put.

The move to London will be my first real move.  I will be living alone for the first time and attempting to be self sustaining.  I have to deal with all the normal adulty-graduate school activities, such as ploughing through Stafford loan applications and organizing housing, except I am dealing with doing it in another country.  So, on top of that, I have to figure out applying for a student visa, finding a (cheap) plane ticket and subsequently moving my belongings overseas without breaking the bank, and sort through cellphone plans and how insurance works in the UK.  Most of this sounds easy, and it would be had I have ever dealt with things like plane tickets, insurance, and cellphones before.  I always figured I was ignorant, but I never considered myself sheltered until I finally get thrown in my face all those things that my parents had taken care of for me.

But it will be worth it to get a Master's degree in London.

A very good place to start

My name is Ali and I pretty much have no idea what I am doing. Hi, glad to meet you, too.

I graduated my small town university in the summer of 2012 with a bachelors in Anthropology and Philosophy and Religion. Marketability wasn't exactly a focus during my undergraduate years, so I wound up with three choices in life.

1. Continue working at the coffee shop I was hired at in 2007

2. Go to graduate school

3. Become a hobo and live out of my SUV

Considering #1 requires actually enjoying customer service and #3 would cost waaaay too much in gas money, I decided to go to graduate school.  Okay, in all honesty, it did require more thought and planning than that, but not by a lot.

So on March 14, 2013 (PI day, for the uninformed) I was accepted to graduate school in London for Religion in Contemporary Society. Should I reiterate that I really have no idea what I am doing?

This blog will (hopefully) chronicle my attempt at getting a Master's degree and surviving off student loans in London.  There will be little rhyme or reason to the posts.  It will be a way to communicate with my friends and family back home, discuss my thoughts, and play around with my assorted interests.  It may include stuff about fashion, food, books, witchcraft, and assorted nerdy things.

Oh yah, about the witchcraft. That is kind of what I study. More on that eventually.

Best of luck (to me);

Ali