Saturday, April 11, 2009

Keep Austin Weird, Civil Disobedience, and Other Updates In My Life

This fall, I will be attending the University of Texas at Austin on a fellowship to study transportation engineering. The fellowship will cover my (out of state) tuition. I will also receive a stipend to be a research assistant. I made this decision last Monday.

I am still in somewhat of a shock at this turn of events. I certainly was not expecting to get a fellowship. Quite honestly, I saw myself staying at USC, living in downtown LA, spending the next year and a half studying for a master's in environmental quality management (they make good pay). But when I got the email telling me about the fellowship, I knew that I could not pass on such an opportunity. It is quite satisfying to know that I will no longer depend on my parents for money or financial assistance. And this way I will be able to live in a completely new city, which apparently is THE city for young, single professionals

Also, last week I went to Hawaii with other civil engineering students for a CE conference. My technical paper placed second. I got to paddle a canoe, which was pretty fun.