inside Rhodes

Sorry to leave you in such a state of anxiety over the results of the Cross Country race.  I’m sure you’ve been checking daily, hoping that I would succeed, making it your personal goal to fund a parade through the streets of Memphis to celebrate the impending  Rhodes victory!!

But, in all likelihood, I’m sure you didn’t.  Parades are expensive afterall.  But the Cross Country teams did very well at our meet in Sewanee.  It’s the first meet of the year, and so we don’t put too much weight towards it, because it doesn’t matter how well you start a season, NCAA Regionals and Nationals are at the end.

But the men did a fantastic job of just holding their own and going for it.  We have a lot of work to get to the top, but we knew that already.  The women did a fantastic job of being aggressive on an individual level, losing the pack in order to run a faster time.  So it wasn’t the “ideal” race for either team, it was far from a failure, and we walked away from it pretty confident, but assured of the work needed.

But this week has brought it on!  Mondays (my first official one was this week) requests that I be in class, work, and running from 10 am to 6 pm straight – no breaks.  So it’s like being back in high school.  Except my classes are harder, I have a great job, and I’m running faster and longer than I ever did.  hahaha.  So it’s getting trying already, but it’s just the daily grind.

But I’ve attempted to settle on ideas as to how my “future” will go.  So the idea at this point is to study abroad next semester in Tartu, Estonia on my dream program.  Then I’ll work a summer internship either in Estonia or return to Novgorod, Russia.  I’m also slightly considering Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan because of its relevance to my area of interest.  But I’m just doing some digging as to what exists in all the areas.  I’ll probably end up working with abused children networks, archaeological digs, or community development projects.  All sound amazing, so there’s not a bad option in sight.

But after meeting with Professor Kostina today, I am no longer worried if the program in Estonia does not accept me (and it better…).  There’s a fantastic opportunity for me to study abroad in Novgorod next semester if it falls through, and my Russian would be certain to improve significantly.  And I’m still tossing around if I want the Novgorod opportunity to overshadow the Estonia option, but I don’t know…  hahaha.  Options!!!!!

And I’m battling to obtain a research opportunity with Dr. Sciubba on U.S. National Security strategies, so I’m trying really hard to secure this opportunity.  It’d be an amazing look into life as an academic/policy person, which is an option on the table for me.  We’ll see how that turns out…

In the mean time, I have to keep running, keep from getting sick, and try to finish the Russian that I’m currently procrastinating on.  If you are fluent in the difference between the imperfective, perfective, and how they function in the future/present, PLEASE let me absorb your knowledge via osmosis.

Which would you choose to study abroad for a semester?

Tartu, Estonia

OR

Novgorod, Russia

That’s why I want to study in Tartu, then intern in Novgorod.  Look at them!!!!

~Colin