its complicated being a wizard
YO! LJ, what up? The past two days have been NUTS. Lemme explain:
So I last left off on Wednesday night, after the frightening community outreach meeting I attended in the Valley. Well, I stayed up til 1 that night studying for my history quiz the next morning. This whole lack of sleep thing is really bumming me out! I can't believe I haven't gotten sick...
Pretty sure I aced my quiz (Robert Gould Shaw and Volunteer Army, what up). After classes I went to work, where I did more playing on the computer than reading. Whoops. Clocked out 15 minutes early so I could rush to the free sneak of Shutter Island--there was guest list drama, and it was first come first serve. Timur got there an hour early, but apparently that wasn't early enough to get one of the 6(!?) wristbands given out. Unfortunately, I was told we were denied right as I was getting off the elevator. The whole situation was pretty annoying, mostly because when I told people, they kept saying "but you're on films staff." But whatever, it wasn't worth it to hang around in hopes of getting in, so I walked home with Timur and Robby instead. Robby came over after dinner for a music swapping party. I finally got to bed at a proper time that night, 11:45.
I woke up at 6:45, to my cell phone alarm. After groping for the snooze button, I heard my phone beep four times, meaning I had received four e-mails while I was asleep. 6:48, 6:50, 6:53...more snoozes. After I finally opened my eyes and checked my e-mail, I was shocked to alertness by a message with the subject line "UCLA Graduate Application Decision." OH SHIT, it was my first graduate school notification!! My heart started beating faster and I jumped out of bed, fully awake and powered by adrenaline. I turned my laptop on in the bathroom, where I sat on the ground as I waited for it to boot up. This whole time, I was convinced that I wasn't going to get in--it was the middle of February, it was way too early for a decision. I assumed I had been rejected, because they didn't need my file anymore, and therefore were able to notify me early of this failure.
I logged into the system with my e-mail address, clicked a link, entered a password, and clicked two more links before the decision letter loaded...I couldn't believe it as I read On behalf of UCLA, I'm extending an official offer of admission to the Graduate Division. I had done it! After two and a half years working towards this single goal, it was finally all over. It felt like a dream--in fact, it still doesn't feel real. I simultaneously tweeted and woke my parents up with a phone call; it was wonderful to share the news with them, they were so very happy for me. I was sad that no one else was awake to talk to...so I settled for making a facebook status about the whole thing. If I couldn't celebrate with people in real life, I might as well do it via the power of the intrawebz.
Sadly, the whole thing was very anticlimactic! Within five minutes of reading the letter, I was in the shower, because I had to get to my 9 AM discussion. There was no one to share the news with until I got downtown to my internship at 11:30 (everyone there was very happy for me, of course). During the afternoon, with the help of Matt and Twitter, I made last-minute plans for a celebratory dinner. I figured I'd just end up reading at home, so I was very, very happy that the plans worked out. It was a very nice group of friends: Claire, Matt, Kevin, Charles, Megan, Christina, Alex, Conor, and George. We ate at India's Grill, just past Beverly Hills. I think Indian food might be my new favorite food. I have enough leftovers to feed myself for three meals, I swear! After dinner we drove to Milk for some ice cream (they had thai tea flavor!). It was a perfect way to celebrate, and I'm so glad that everything worked out and so many people came out.
Now I'm home, just relaxing--the first time I haven't been on the move all day. Its weird...I'll forget I got in, and then remember, and have a hard time believing its real. I guess its kind of like, okay, what next? Since sophomore year I knew this was what I wanted, and now I have it, so what do I do? Of course its not over--I still have 6 other schools to hear back from. Though UCLA is and has always been my top choice, I'm certainly going to consider the others as well! I owe it to myself and the other programs to actually visit them, experience the atmosphere, interact with the students, et cetera. Financial aid will also be a major consideration; I have no idea what sort of aid package UCLA gave me. Could I really choose to go there over another school that was considerably cheaper? I guess only time will tell!
What's funny is that yesterday, I ran into Luis, a friend of mine from Geneva who is a grad student in the planning program here. Whenever I've seen him this quarter all we've talked about is my application, so of course this time was no different. After hearing that I had applied by the December deadline, he told me my application was processed already, and that when they were ready to notify us, I would receive an e-mail at midnight. I was glad to hear it was an e-mail, and not a letter...and midnight seemed like an appropriate time. The funny thing is that I went to bed at 11:45 last night, and the email was sent out at 11:59. 14 more minutes and I would have known then and there! But its a good thing I went to sleep though, because I definitely wouldn't have been able to after reading that letter. Its so weird that Luis told me about the e-mail time the day they sent it out, but he says he had no idea! Crazzzyyy
So I last left off on Wednesday night, after the frightening community outreach meeting I attended in the Valley. Well, I stayed up til 1 that night studying for my history quiz the next morning. This whole lack of sleep thing is really bumming me out! I can't believe I haven't gotten sick...
Pretty sure I aced my quiz (Robert Gould Shaw and Volunteer Army, what up). After classes I went to work, where I did more playing on the computer than reading. Whoops. Clocked out 15 minutes early so I could rush to the free sneak of Shutter Island--there was guest list drama, and it was first come first serve. Timur got there an hour early, but apparently that wasn't early enough to get one of the 6(!?) wristbands given out. Unfortunately, I was told we were denied right as I was getting off the elevator. The whole situation was pretty annoying, mostly because when I told people, they kept saying "but you're on films staff." But whatever, it wasn't worth it to hang around in hopes of getting in, so I walked home with Timur and Robby instead. Robby came over after dinner for a music swapping party. I finally got to bed at a proper time that night, 11:45.
I woke up at 6:45, to my cell phone alarm. After groping for the snooze button, I heard my phone beep four times, meaning I had received four e-mails while I was asleep. 6:48, 6:50, 6:53...more snoozes. After I finally opened my eyes and checked my e-mail, I was shocked to alertness by a message with the subject line "UCLA Graduate Application Decision." OH SHIT, it was my first graduate school notification!! My heart started beating faster and I jumped out of bed, fully awake and powered by adrenaline. I turned my laptop on in the bathroom, where I sat on the ground as I waited for it to boot up. This whole time, I was convinced that I wasn't going to get in--it was the middle of February, it was way too early for a decision. I assumed I had been rejected, because they didn't need my file anymore, and therefore were able to notify me early of this failure.
I logged into the system with my e-mail address, clicked a link, entered a password, and clicked two more links before the decision letter loaded...I couldn't believe it as I read On behalf of UCLA, I'm extending an official offer of admission to the Graduate Division. I had done it! After two and a half years working towards this single goal, it was finally all over. It felt like a dream--in fact, it still doesn't feel real. I simultaneously tweeted and woke my parents up with a phone call; it was wonderful to share the news with them, they were so very happy for me. I was sad that no one else was awake to talk to...so I settled for making a facebook status about the whole thing. If I couldn't celebrate with people in real life, I might as well do it via the power of the intrawebz.
Sadly, the whole thing was very anticlimactic! Within five minutes of reading the letter, I was in the shower, because I had to get to my 9 AM discussion. There was no one to share the news with until I got downtown to my internship at 11:30 (everyone there was very happy for me, of course). During the afternoon, with the help of Matt and Twitter, I made last-minute plans for a celebratory dinner. I figured I'd just end up reading at home, so I was very, very happy that the plans worked out. It was a very nice group of friends: Claire, Matt, Kevin, Charles, Megan, Christina, Alex, Conor, and George. We ate at India's Grill, just past Beverly Hills. I think Indian food might be my new favorite food. I have enough leftovers to feed myself for three meals, I swear! After dinner we drove to Milk for some ice cream (they had thai tea flavor!). It was a perfect way to celebrate, and I'm so glad that everything worked out and so many people came out.
Now I'm home, just relaxing--the first time I haven't been on the move all day. Its weird...I'll forget I got in, and then remember, and have a hard time believing its real. I guess its kind of like, okay, what next? Since sophomore year I knew this was what I wanted, and now I have it, so what do I do? Of course its not over--I still have 6 other schools to hear back from. Though UCLA is and has always been my top choice, I'm certainly going to consider the others as well! I owe it to myself and the other programs to actually visit them, experience the atmosphere, interact with the students, et cetera. Financial aid will also be a major consideration; I have no idea what sort of aid package UCLA gave me. Could I really choose to go there over another school that was considerably cheaper? I guess only time will tell!
What's funny is that yesterday, I ran into Luis, a friend of mine from Geneva who is a grad student in the planning program here. Whenever I've seen him this quarter all we've talked about is my application, so of course this time was no different. After hearing that I had applied by the December deadline, he told me my application was processed already, and that when they were ready to notify us, I would receive an e-mail at midnight. I was glad to hear it was an e-mail, and not a letter...and midnight seemed like an appropriate time. The funny thing is that I went to bed at 11:45 last night, and the email was sent out at 11:59. 14 more minutes and I would have known then and there! But its a good thing I went to sleep though, because I definitely wouldn't have been able to after reading that letter. Its so weird that Luis told me about the e-mail time the day they sent it out, but he says he had no idea! Crazzzyyy