I'm finally back after having graduated from Mary Washington (whooo!) and now that I'm your typical semi-unemployed college student, I'm finally able to take up writing again. (As if I didn't do enough of that during my undergrad...)
You might recall that I mentioned Wales a lot in my previous posts. And specifically a Bangor University to which I had applied and was planning on attending for my postgraduate degree in September. Well, I finally got my final answer: I was accepted to Bangor's postgrad Creative Writing program!
And then I made another big (and a very hard decision) to defer a year before entering grad school. In many ways, it was a necessary decision. My parents and I had agreed that any further education after completing my undergraduate would be on me financially, and as of a few weeks ago I had not raised enough for the year.
In retrospect, however, I feel that it was the best decision. I had a very long, serious conversation with my boyfriend when I first began to question my decision to go to Bangor in the fall, and the big question he asked me was what I wanted in five, ten years. (The conversation is a few weeks old, so my paraphrasing is probably quite off; sorry, David.)
"I want to be a writer by then. Maybe it won't happen in five years, but I can see myself there in ten."
"Do you think that graduate school is going to help you get there?"
"Well, what I really see in graduate school is the opportunity to become a professor in the future. I need an MA for that."
"Is teaching something you're really passionate about?"
I didn't have a good answer for him then, but I now realize that it is truly something I want. My opportunity to assist my adviser last semester with the Beatles seminar proved that. But I'm just out of school. I have a couple years to make that decision to attend grad school. And right now what I'm looking for is some stability. It didn't matter so much as an undergrad student. I didn't worry about a job then, despite the fact that I was working part time (and loving every minute of it; Simpson, will you take me back?) and taking courses which would make me more marketable in the future.
But lately I've been feeling more concerned about being financially stable in the future. A lot of it stems from graduating and having student loans staring me in the face. And partly due to dreams for the future (that's another blog post, maybe ;) ).
So, you're probably looking at my new name (Tia Travels the World; I think it has a nice sound to it) and wondering why I've chosen to go under the alias of a world traveler as I step back from my Wales adventure. I'm trying to take on a more optimistic attitude, and I honestly think that just because I'm putting Wales on hold for a while it doesn't mean I'm putting adventure on hold. Maybe I'll have to content myself by being a mental traveler (nod to Karen Blixen, author of Out of Africa; if you haven't read it do so NOW) until next year, or whenever. Perhaps the adventure is about to happen in the next few weeks, or days or even hours (I'm being optimistic here). Honestly, I questioned whether I should be changing the name now, but why not? I could be in London a month from today and not even know it (probably not, but hey! who knows?)
And looking back on my first month since graduation, it's been exciting. I've been up in NOVA and DC to visit my boyfriend which resulted in a Basilica tour and finding the church where my Irish Monsignor met Robert Kennedy (yes, that happened). I'm currently applying for job opportunities in the DC area, specifically in writing and editorial positions. Until that pans out I'm working for family friends in their winery/tasting room, Ox Eye - if you're ever passing through Staunton stop by and say hi!
And (drum roll...) a few weeks ago I won tickets to see this Irish group at Madison Square Gardens for their iNNOCENCE tour. Maybe you've heard of them; U2? Yep!!!! I'm just a little bit excited....
Until next week,
Victoria
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