Proud New Member of the Gator Nation
Trip Start
Jul 18, 2009
1
50
52
Trip End
Jun 08, 2011
Gainesville, Florida
Friday, April 15, 2011
Sooooooooo I know it has been a long time since I have written one of these and I do apologize. I have been busy! If you checked the blog, you would have seen that I have had pictures uploaded for a while but just have not gotten the chance to explain what they are and most importantly, why I have them. So allow me to briefly J
Well the cat is out of the bag for most of you who already know and have talked to me, but I have accepted a Fellowship to attend the University of Florida to earn my Ph.D. in Social Studies Education. It was a tough decision between that and the other universities but Florida really has everything that I could want and more; not to mention the generous Fellowship offer. I am very happy and proud to be a new member to the Gator Nation!
I wanted to check out my classes, professors, and the city before I actually started my schooling there, and since I must be trying to set a record for highest credit card debt, I once again booked a ticket to America and made the trip to Gainesville over my Spring Break. I landed in Myrtle Beach and stayed with some friends, and then made my way down to the University of Florida campus and stayed in Gainesville for a number of days.
There is not an adjective that I know of that can truly express how impressed I was with the campus. It has that great southern charm that I fell in love with at Coastal….except UF's campus is about 1.3 trillion times bigger. The grounds are beautiful, the buildings are beautiful, the PEOPLE are beautiful (sorry CCU, you got some fine peeps walking around there, but U Florida has you beat), and the city of Gainesville is one of the coolest college towns I have ever seen. Immediately upon arriving I knew I made the right choice. Now I did my best with the pictures to try and convey the sweetness of the campus and city, but I have spent the last couple years photographing beautiful Thai beaches, so I am a little rusty on wooded landscapes and brick buildings. Either way, check out the pics and you will see what I mean. And I was able to meet all of my professors and get started with preparing the class that they are going to have me teach (a Social Studies class for Elementary school teachers), so all and all it was a VERY worth-while trip to say the least!
The trip really made me realize that I can not wait to get started with this next chapter of my life and am thankful that I have the opportunity to move on to something like this and achieve a personal goal of mine. I know many people who complete their international contract only to go back to the same lifestyle they once despised so much. I am blessed that I have an opportunity to keep progressing in life and venture out on another new and exciting quest. Many crazy and unexpected things have happened over the past 2 years but I continue to put my faith in God to lead me down the right path. I know that if I continue to do this during my time at Florida, there is no way that I can go wrong. Put it all in God’s hands, and life turns out to be a breeze!
You are all welcome to come visit me in Gainesville as often as you would like. It’s a lot closer than Bangkok so no excuses this time! I am going to have a pretty decent apartment so the more the merrier. And I will even try to score us some football tickets too (did you know they had a football team? :-p).
Thank you all for your love, support, and encouragement through this transition to the next chapter in my life. You all rock!! My love and God’s blessings to you all….and one more thing….. GO GATORS!!!
-J
