"I call myself the world's oldest living Civil War conscript." -Carol Sheriff
This weekend I went further south than I had ever been on this side of the Mississippi River. My mother and I made the trip down to Williamsburg, VA to check out William & Mary. It is truly spring down there already and, despite the scattered rainstorms, it was great to be outside in the warmer weather. We walked around Colonial Williamsburg in the early morning. (Mr. Merrell said, "that's when I always went, too. It looked more real without the tourists. It's not actually historically accurate though -- much too clean.")
Meeting with the History Department was overwhelming. The students are like, adults. Some of them were only a bit older than a I am, but seemed older. Two of the girls that would be in my cohort are already married. I think that I am equally prepared, though, and from first impressions better prepared in terms of research experience than some of the others. A few things didn't seem right, but yesterday I had a long e-mail relay with the Director of Graduate Studies, who I will be taking a class with in the fall and who will almost certainly be on my M.A. thesis committee, and sorted things out. So it's decided: I am going to William & Mary.
I will be down there from August 4 of this year to around the same time next year. Will have three weeks working with the Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture (a job I will keep throughout the school year), 2 semesters of courses, another month working full-time for the Institute, and will hopefully spend most of June and July next year working with NIAHD (a history summer camp at CW for high school kids). Over the course of the year I would be working on the M.A. thesis, finishing perhaps by May but as late as the beginning of August if necessary. SO EXCITED!
Moving six states away is kind of scary, but I think I'm ready. I'd get to come home in October, December/January, March, and May, much less than I do at Vassar but enough. Allie has invited me to spend Thanksgiving with her in Richmond, since making the drive to CT just for the weekend would be a bit much (and I really want to see Richmond!). Mel will be down in D.C. until mid-late August, so we will also visit each other during that month. And next May Rebecca said they would come down and visit with Ben!
Did I mention that they have TWO Thomas Jefferson statues? :)
In worse news, I have a thesis chapter due tomorrow and haven't started writing it yet. Uh oh!
Meeting with the History Department was overwhelming. The students are like, adults. Some of them were only a bit older than a I am, but seemed older. Two of the girls that would be in my cohort are already married. I think that I am equally prepared, though, and from first impressions better prepared in terms of research experience than some of the others. A few things didn't seem right, but yesterday I had a long e-mail relay with the Director of Graduate Studies, who I will be taking a class with in the fall and who will almost certainly be on my M.A. thesis committee, and sorted things out. So it's decided: I am going to William & Mary.
I will be down there from August 4 of this year to around the same time next year. Will have three weeks working with the Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture (a job I will keep throughout the school year), 2 semesters of courses, another month working full-time for the Institute, and will hopefully spend most of June and July next year working with NIAHD (a history summer camp at CW for high school kids). Over the course of the year I would be working on the M.A. thesis, finishing perhaps by May but as late as the beginning of August if necessary. SO EXCITED!
Moving six states away is kind of scary, but I think I'm ready. I'd get to come home in October, December/January, March, and May, much less than I do at Vassar but enough. Allie has invited me to spend Thanksgiving with her in Richmond, since making the drive to CT just for the weekend would be a bit much (and I really want to see Richmond!). Mel will be down in D.C. until mid-late August, so we will also visit each other during that month. And next May Rebecca said they would come down and visit with Ben!
Did I mention that they have TWO Thomas Jefferson statues? :)
In worse news, I have a thesis chapter due tomorrow and haven't started writing it yet. Uh oh!