On my own

It is Friday and I have survived the whole week of "math camp!" Sitting in a freezing classroom for hours on end every day, relearning math stuff I forgot a hundred years ago or never learned in the first place, is just about as terrible as I expected.

However, I've quickly come to realize that I'm at a pretty legit university. There's a lot of work ahead of me, but I'm ready to embrace it! It's another extremely different culture for me.

Another bright note is that I'm meeting a lot of great people from my program! I've gotten to know some interesting fellow students. People are from all over the country, so I don't stick out as that awkward Kansan. At least a couple dozen of them have recently returned from the Peace Corps or stints overseas. One of my new friends just returned from serving in the Peace Corps in Morocco for 2 years. Another girl also just returned from teaching in China. Another worked with refugee resettlement, and another was in the Air Force. Another already has two master's degrees.

Some of them have tattoos; a lot of them ride their bikes to class; many are my age or older; a lot of them are vegan; a good amount of them don't wear make-up; most of them like to hike; the majority of them would probably identify themselves as "liberal"... And they all are incredibly bright and interesting! I'm excited to get to know them better.

I've also been getting to know this small, compact city better. Bloomington has a super high concentration of artists, so there is cool artwork all over the place. And I just can't get over the amount of people biking and taking the extremely convenient public transportation. I feel like I'm slowly becoming a part of this very new, strange culture. It's just a little strange to live by myself; I've never lived alone!

Overall, I'm just incredibly thankful to be here right now. Although I've only been here a week, I can tell that Bloomington is by far the most progressive, nicest town I've ever lived in. Everyone is so friendly, the place is so diverse, and the weather is awesome. It may get old after awhile, especially once I really put my nose to the grindstone, or whatever that saying is, but I'm enjoying it now.


Campus.


The gates to the school.


Little grad student.


Andrea, my guide.


Middle of campus.


Student union.


My bedroom/office area.


Bulletin board.


Kitchen.


My living room.


Andrea tied ribbon to my panda pictures.


At a nature park with Andrea.


In the wetlands.