First Week of Grad School

I am a graduate student. I am a counselor. I am done with my first week of grad school. All three of those statements are hard for me to believe! I can't believe that this time last year I had no clue what I was going to be doing with my life and going to grad school for counseling was not even on my radar.

An interesting fact I learned this week was the number of people in my program. I don't know how true the actual statistic is, but I was told that there were 28 people in the program as first-year school counselors and over 200 people applied. (you do the math, that means the program is VERY selective!). To be honest, I think there are about 35 people in the program, but it still makes me very proud to be in this program and to be at NYU!

My classes are fairly interesting. I think my two favorites are going to be my lab and my ethics class. I think the lab is going to be a lot of fun because we basically become counselors for everyone else in the class and practice being a counselor while learning what to do and what not to do. It is great practice for the real world and you are spending the whole time just talking or listening to people! My ethics class seems interesting because the professor seems very knowledgeable and interesting. She has a lot of energy and I think that will help with the class. I am not too thrilled about the ethics in general because I think some issues are too black and white and that is not how life works. I also have a hard time because everything is based purely off of NY state law and basically we talk about what we can't do because we might be sued and the code of ethics that is used. I think there is a deeper issue when everyone always needs to walk on eggshells because they worry about being sued, that is not how a society should function!

I also had a class called foundations of school counseling, and I think that one will be interesting. I got to talk to the professor after class and I am excited about some connections she has that might help me in the long run. She is not the most interesting person in class, but she tries hard and I think after the first day it might get a bit better.

My hardest class with be the theories about counseling and psychotherapy. I did not major in psychology,  so I need a crash course on terms and things. I know I will spend more time reading and trying to grasp the concepts in that class because it is so much information!

I only have class on Tuesday and Wednesday, each of my classes is about 3 hours so that gives me time on Monday, Thursday and Friday to work. I still need to find a job, but I am excited for everything that the future holds!

I know it sounds exciting, but my roommate and I decided to celebrate our first week done with grad school. Since we are still int he process of getting our apartment together we got smoothies and built our kitchen table. At least we now have a kitchen table!! We figured we would celebrate more another night :)

The Start of a New Chapter...Moving to NYC

I am beginning a new chapter of my life. Finishing undergrad and getting my degree on one chapter, beginning grad school and moving to New York is another. Actually, I think this could be put into two chapters. One would be moving to New York and two would be starting grad school. Of course, in the grand scheme of things, these are just two chapters in my whole life. A lot of chapters have already been written and a lot are still waiting to be written. For right now though, I am going to focus on the two newest chapters.

1. Apartment Hunting in NYC

Finding an apartment in New York is not easy. I have friends who have apartments in other states and places and they all said the process was relatively easy, you find an apartment you like, fill out an application and the next thing you know you are signing a lease. This is NOT the case in New York.

First of all, finding apartments you can see is a struggle. There are not endless places listed where you can just see the apartment. Instead, you have to call a real estate broker to help you out and after you call, you actually have to hope they are going to call you back. This process can go on for days. Another important piece of information, broker charge a fee of 11-15% of the entire first year rent! It is ridiculous! The whole time I was looking for an apartment I was staying in a hotel. Actually, it was hotels because I moved hotels 4 times before I was eventually able to find a place and sign a lease! During this time my parents had left to go back overseas, when things started falling apart, my mom flew back and helped search and actually signed the guarantors form on the way back to the airport to catch her flight back home. It was such a stressful time! however, we did have some really fun moments and I will always remember her coming back to help me out and to be my support system throughout everything! 

The apartment I will be living in is small, but it is perfect for grad students. It is located on the upper east side and is on the 4th floor of a walk up building. It is in a really cute neighborhood. It is about a 10 minute walk from the subway and it 3 blocks from a running trail along the river. It was great because we found it without a broker so we DID NOT have to pay the brokers fee! it is also a rent stabilized place, so while other places around us may increase in price, our place will stay the same! 

Below I have put some photos of the before and after of my room! I had to buy all of my furniture from ikea and bed, bath and beyond and put it together by myself. after lots of hours of manual labor and some frustration, it finally all got done! (I think I could get hired in Ikea to put their furniture together now!)

The before shots

The after shots 

Im getting a little couch, but for right now just have a comfy chair, and I don't actually have a door, so I put up a curtain to act as my door!

The view from my room

Our kitchen/bathroom. One of the quirks of the place is that the shower is in the kitchen next to our kitchen sink across from the fridge! We are not done with this room because we have just been focusing on our own rooms. We are getting a table and things this week though, which is really exciting!

So another interesting thing about the apartment is that the floors are slanted. It makes it kinda hard to keep furniture straight and things, but it just adds to the adventure of the place!

I was going to write about grad school and New York, but I realize this post got kinda long, so I will post tomorrow after my first day of classes!!!

Looking towards the future

I am officially a college graduate! I graduated from Loyola Marymount University on May 5, 2012 with a BA in Communication Studies. The past four years have gone by wayyyy too fast. I know there were moments throughout my college years that I did not feel that way, but now that they are over, they feel like a blink of an eye.

It is a bittersweet feeling to graduate. It is exciting because it means I am starting a new adventure and a new journey in my life, but it is also sad because I am saying goodbye to amazing friends and the familiarity. Yes, after 4 years I am ready for the next chapter of my life, I was ready to graduate, but going into the unknown can always be scary. It was scary picking a college, and it was scary deciding what I was going to do beginning the next chapter of my life. Although we never know where our paths will lead or the direction our lives will take we all need to make decisions regarding the future, and I have done just that.

I am moving to New York. I am going to New York University for graduate school. I will be getting my Masters of Arts in School Counseling. I have no clue if I will actually end up working in a school or being a counselor, but it is something I enjoy and I figured it would be a useful degree to have because I never know when I will need it.

I am really excited for this next stage in my life. I am stoked to be moving to NY! Every time I have visited I fell in love, and I can't wait to be there for at least 2-years. I am excited to run around central park, explore the streets of the different districts, see the giant Christmas tree, go ice skating during the winter time. I am looking forward to a change.

It's funny, when I was growing up all I wanted to do was to live in LA. I decided when I was little I was going to move back to the US, stay there for life and live in LA. Upon entering college I reevaluated my thinking and realized that I wanted to live internationally again. I ended up living in LA, and as much as I love the city, I realized I was ready for a change of scenery and location. I may not be ready for the cold weather (okay, I am REALLY REALLY not ready for the cold weather), but I am ready for a change and the excitement that goes with it!