rodzik@www

So I just realized it's been over two months since my last update. I knew I hadn't updated in a while but I guess I stopped caring, as really I've just been too lazy to update this lately. Senioritis has set in as much as it possibly can, although I was busy in the last few months with some fellowship applications and my grad school applications. My Georgia Tech application is now 100% finalized, so I'm waiting anxiously on hearing back from them. I've also got all 3 of my fellowship applications complete, along with references submitted, but I won't hear from any of them until mid-late March. I decided to return to the same office this summer as I was at last summer, even though 9 different offices offered me a position with them, as I really enjoyed my work last year and look forward to seeing what's been done with it.

I'm super pumped right now about graduation. I have a decent amount of work between now and then, but the really hard parts of this quarter (not that they were all too bad, what with 5 day weekends and all ) are over. This quarter has been a nice preparation for how I'll fill my time next quarter, as figuring out what to do with 5 days off was a bit tricky; next quarter I'll have true 7 day weekends, so maybe I'll actually get some of the work done for Pike and for my website that I was planning on doing this quarter.

I'm going on 3 spring breaks. It's going to be awesome. At the beginning of finals week Bander and I are driving down to Miami, and then a few days later our 7 day Carnival cruise departs Miami for a 7 day adventure to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Ocho Rios. It's going to be amazing. Then we'll head back up here, maybe after a few days hanging out at Miami, and I'll chill out here for a week just having fun until everyone else in the country goes on their spring break. Right now the plan is for me to head down to Daytona Beach with a group of DG's and some guys from ISU. Then back here for a week (March Madness!!!) and then it's off to spring break with the Pike crew on Rose's spring break. And then I just chill out here having a great time until Commencement.

I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit off course in terms of Commencement right now. I used to be dying to get out of here but right now the prospect of leaving (but I certainly won't miss this weather, HOLY CRAP it's -16 with wind chill outside right now) has me a bit concerned for a variety of reasons. But I'll get into that later...

Things like this give me hope that things can actually go the right way in this world. Mogadishu is certainly no picnic, yet a small group of troops has brought peace to at least some areas of the city in a chaotic country.