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!

Because He Lives

 Christmas Eve. One of the most joyous holidays of the year. One of the holidays my family goes out of its way to make special and has always made special. It’s hard to believe that a year ago was the first time we had not spent the holidays together as a family. It’s hard to believe a year ago my grandfather passed away.

This year is different. We are together in the Middle East celebrating Christmas and we brought my grandmother with us. A time to form new memories and celebrate the holidays with joy. Memories of an interesting church service, where we started laughing at the bell players when the left out half of the song and played ‘unique’ versions of different songs. Laughter when there was only one tenor singing the Hallelujah Chorus  and he came in at the wrong time leading to an unexpected solo with a not so great voice. A sermon where we learned that Jesus was a third-culture kid, just like everyone in the congregation. We have made memories of baking plenty of cookies and cupcakes. Memories of protecting our dogs from a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old who wanted to pet, play and pick up our traumatized dogs. Helping the kids decorate cupcakes and finding toys for them to play with around the house. So many memories and it is only Christmas Eve.

It’s a different kind of Christmas from last year,

A year ago my dad had to make an emergency trip back to the United States; we knew my grandfather did not have much time and my dad needed to be there. He left on the 23 and arrived back in the States on the 24th around noon. From the airport he proceeded directly to the hospital to spend the rest of the time with his father. The rest of my dads family had been spending time in and out of the hospital from the day my grandfather was admitted; but being so far away, we didn’t have that luxury.  My dad was able to spend the last couple of hours with my grandfather before he passed away shortly before 5pm (PST) on the 24^th. My grandfather was a pastor his whole life (he was still working part time up until the day that he passed) and one of my aunts stated it perfectly. She mentioned that he passed away right before the many Christmas services were going to begin at his church. He went home in time for the celebrations.

Due to the time difference, we were awoken to the call in the early hours on the 25^th, Christmas Morning. It changed the dynamics of the Christmas, but we knew at the end of the day he was at peace.  My last memories with my grandfather were good ones, they were the same ones that my mom, dad and sister shared. The memory occurred over Thanksgiving when my sister and I went to visit him. We taught my grandmother how to skype and in their home, my mom and dad were able to talk with my grandfather. My dad, who is the only guy with hair, and grandpa joked how my grandpa needed a wig and my dad teased him and showed him that he still had a full head of hair. It was a morning full of laughter and memories that still brings a smile to my face.

My dad, my uncle and my grandma are all great singers. They decided to sing to him while in the hospital. They often sang Because he Lives in different churches and my grandpa always enjoyed it. They were singing the song and my grandpa passed peacefully during the last verse, a very fitting verse.

I have spent a lot of this year thinking about my grandpa and remembering him. I think everyone in my family feels the same way. On this anniversary, we remember him and his love for others. We celebrate the life that he lived, and at the same time we celebrate Christmas.

Wherever you are, remember the true meaning of Christmas. Remember God sending his Son to earth to die for our sins. Remember to love unconditionally. Find the good in others. Believe in others. Have hope.  Christmas is not about receiving the gifts, it is about giving. Merry Christmas Eve!

Because He Lives

God sent His son, they called him, Jesus;

He came to love, heal and forgive;

He lived and died to buy my pardon,

An empty grave is there to prove my savior lives!

Chorus:

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;

Because I know He holds the future,

And life is worth the living

Just because He lives!

How sweet to hold a newborn baby,

And feel the pride and joy he gives;

But greater still the calm assurance;

This child can face uncertain days because He lives!

Chorus:

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;

Because I know He holds the future,

And life is worth the living

Just because He lives!

And then one day, I’ll cross the river,

I’ll fight life’s final way with pain;

And then, as death gives way to victory,

I’ll see the lights of glory and I’ll know He lives

Chorus:

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;

Because I know He holds the future,

And life is worth the living

Just because He lives!

my life

So it has been a good seven months since I last wrote on here. It is amazing how fast time flies! Let's see since the last time I wrote a lot has happened, so I will start from the beginning.

Summer:
I spent the majority of my summer in Washington D.C. interning at the Save Darfur Coalition, now known as United to End Genocide and I also interned at the Institute for Palestine Studies. I made some amazing friends while in DC and had so many great memories. It was a fantastic summer. DC is an incredible city and I can see why it is so popular with so many young professionals because it is vibrant and just a lot of fun.

Fall:
I came back to school at the beginning of August for RA training. (RA stands for Resident Advisor for those who may not know). I live in a freshmen residence hall and have about 25 residents who live in my wing. I love all my girls, they are absolutely amazing and a delight to work with. But, back to the training. It was a lot of work, but it paid off by the end. I met so many amazing people through the training process. All of the RAs here at LMU are truly amazing. They are incredible individuals who really do work to make LMU a better place, especially within the residence halls. I might be a little biased, but I think I work with the most amazing people in my building. The seven other RAs are the best at what they do and make our building the best on campus. And if you ask any of us, we have the most incredible residence director on campus. She is always there for us and we can talk to her about anything. She makes our staff what it is.

So apart from being an RA I have been taking classes, standard classes for my major but they are good. I registered for classes next semester and I can't believe that it will be my final semester! I will have Mondays and Fridays off, which means 4 day weekends! I am honestly very excited about that! It is hard to believe I am graduating next semester, these past four years have flown by wayyyyyyy too fast!

We just had Thanksgiving break which I really enjoyed. I got to spend wednesday with my sister which was so much fun! We went to the mall and just laughed a lot. We rarely spend time together throughout the year because we live so far apart, so we made the most of our day that we had. It was such a fun time. I arrived at the house at 6:40am and we ended up watching a tv show right away and laughing the whole time. She is one of the most amazing people that I know and I am so blessed she is in my life. She, along with the rest of my incredible family are people that I am so thankful to be in my life.

I have three weeks left of this semester and then it is back to saudi to be with the rest of my family. I have a lot to do within those weeks, like papers, projects and exams. It will be a really busy time but it will be worth it!

I hope you are having a great year and that you have a lot to be thankful for. Count your blessings and enjoy every minute of every day because time goes by too fast!

Royal Wedding

So this post is a long time over due, i mean, the royal wedding was only about two weeks ago! anyways, here it goes!

After Norway, I headed back to London where my fourth grade teacher, Ms. Santos, had invited me to stay with her for the two days and in fact invited me to sleep outside with a couple of her friends for the royal wedding. We arrived at the campsite they had already staked out at around 9am. there were less people camped out than I was anticipating.

Campsite by night

After dropping off our stuff we headed over to check out the crowds around Westminster Abbey.

It was very busy around that area. The crowds were massive, not as bad as when I lived in China, but it was still swarming with lots of people trying to move on very narrow sidewalks! They had lights on the abbey so it was lit up against the night sky.

It was also incredible to see the media center that was created right across from the abbey because it was massive. It was so bright filled with multiple studios!

We then went back to our campsite and headed towards Buckingham Palace. Now if you do not live in London, or have never been, these places (buckingham palace, westminster abbey, parliament, big ben) are so incredibly close to one another!

The mall, which is the road leading to buckingham palace was just magical. there were huge flags lining the street and as we got closer those changed into a groups of four flags put together. Again, they had the building lit up along with the statue in front and it was really pretty.

I think throughout the night i got about 1.5 hours of sleep, which wasn't a lot (especially knowing I had woken up at 3am london time on thursday to get back to london!) But it was worth it!

As day began to break a lot more people started showing up and the excitement really started to grow! We had great seats and were located right by the barricade! We had placed a flag in the tree and lots of photographers came up and tok pictures of it and our campsite while we were there, and at one point these italian broadcasters came by filming and filmed our campsite. They also asked me to stand up to film me because i was wearing a shirt with a large union jack. It was rather awkward because they didn't want me to really do anything so i just kinda stood there and waved for about 3 minutes.

We got to see the procession both to and from the wedding which was so cool. During the ceremony speakers were set up where we could listen to the ceremony and at the same time the Royal Guards (the men in red uniforms) were getting set up so we were able to watch the drills and how they get into position, which was not shown on tv!! Below are loads of photos from the day! so enjoy!! It was such an amazing experience that I would do again in a heart beat!!

Visiting My Heritage, Norway!

For those of you who don't know anything about my heritage, I am 50% Norwegian, 25% Swedish and 25% German. (There is a reason I have bright blonde hair!) I have spent the last 5 days in Norway spending time with some distant family and getting to know part of my heritage.

My great grandfather was born in Andoya, Norway. I didn't go to Andoya, instead I went to Oslo. But for those of you who are curious, check out http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&q=andoya+norway+map&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Andøya&ei=Gnu4Ta6EBIuhOoWiyY0P&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CBgQ8gEwAA

you will be able to see andoya on that map!

I spent my time staying and visiting Gunnar and his wife Mette. Gunnar is my grandmothers cousin! They live in a gorgeous house with an incredible view! it was stunning!

I arrived on a Saturday, but we mainly stayed around the house and had a great meal with Mette's family and a couple of friends. it was a great meal and a wonderful time! then on Sunday, I went to church. Now for those of you who do not know me very well, I know absolutely no Norwegian. It is nonexistent, but I went to church and it was great. I didn't understand a word of the service of the hymns (I got Alleluia and Amen) but I read my Bible and it was just really fun!

After Church I started the sightseeing tour. We went to the Ski Jumping place (I know I would spell it wrong, so I am referring to it as ski jumping place!) It looked a lot different than I imagined ski jumping would be. I didn't know it was a giant pit that they jumped in to! Seeing the enormity of the facility made me realize two things:

1. It was very very steep and

2. I should probably never try ski jumping, because I am quite sure I would end up flat on my face and very injured

at the base

view from the top

side angle

looking straight down

side view!

After that we went to the sculpture park were we saw the statue "The angry boy"!

There were plenty of other great statues and amazing sights. It was such a pretty day outside, so many people were sitting in the park and enjoy themselves! That night we had a BBQ and had a lovely time with the whole family!

Monday was the museum day. We spent time at the folk museum which was awesome! it had a bunch of houses and farms and such from different centuries and time periods. It also had a really old church that was beautiful on the outside!

After that museum we got to head over to the viking museum. This is where I get to brag about some of my ancestors. Although I cannot trace them back to the vikings, we are quite sure that we have viking blood in our family genes. Now the vikings traveled the world on these boats (see below). I think it is incredible that they traveled so far on these boats. It is amazing! 

(we also have reindeer herders and royalty in my genes, ya, i am a little odd!)

So on tuesday we traveled to some of the coastal towns in norway. I had great fun with this because i loved seeing the smaller towns, especially the ones on the water. My great grandfather was a fisherman (ironic because i don't eat fish) and although he worked in the United States it was still good seeing the lives of people who live on the coasts! The towns were very cute and cozy! 

Today, we went and explored Oslo. We started on the top of the Opera building and made our way on the street towards the palace and then moved to the harbor. It was great fun! The city is really pretty and a great place to walk around it! I loved being able to stroll through the area!

And tonight i got to watch a really pretty sunset! I have been blessed with some awesome weather here in norway because it has been sunny and in the 60s the ENTIRE time! (which is rare in april, apparently it is summer weather!)

But here are some facts i didn't know about Norway until I came here:
1. Did you know it was once called Christiania? I didn't!
2. Trolls are a big deal. There are lots of trolls, I find that kinda cool
3. Norway is really (well i did know that, but I felt like I needed another fact)

I leave Norway tomorrow morning to head back to London and then on Saturday I head back to the US. I am not going to lie, I am SO excited about the next couple of day! It will be so much fun being in London for the royal wedding and then heading back to the states to see some family and some friends! I am thrilled, but I am going to be sad leaving Norway. I want to come back and visit again, and travel to Bergen where more family lives hopefully make it up to Andoya one day and see more of my family history!

Next stope, the Royal Wedding so stay tuned!!