"No, you're totally f-ing with me. There's no way."
That was my response last night when my friend Morgan told me that I won this prestigous fellowship from the National Science Foundation (NSF). I couldn't believe him. Me? Holy crap. I applied last year and wasn't even close in the running. Now this year I receive the award? haha, this is either a terrible joke or a total misunderstanding.
But yep, sure enough I checked it out for myself when I got home, and there was my name, listed amongst the other graduate students from across the country who also won the fellowship. About 1,000 students get it each year, and the competition is fierce. I believe they receive like 40,000 applications. The award is not only prestigous, but also provides generous monetary benefits: the stipend each year is about $3500 more than I get now, plus an additional $10,500 educational allowance (e.g. a new computer?).
I still can't believe it! YAY!!! Maybe I won't drop out of graduate school after all :) At least not for another 3 years (the duration of my funding).
But yep, sure enough I checked it out for myself when I got home, and there was my name, listed amongst the other graduate students from across the country who also won the fellowship. About 1,000 students get it each year, and the competition is fierce. I believe they receive like 40,000 applications. The award is not only prestigous, but also provides generous monetary benefits: the stipend each year is about $3500 more than I get now, plus an additional $10,500 educational allowance (e.g. a new computer?).
I still can't believe it! YAY!!! Maybe I won't drop out of graduate school after all :) At least not for another 3 years (the duration of my funding).