I'm going to grad school!

Originally published March 3, 2009



Yesterday I received an email from the University of Washington Bothell informing me that I have been accepted to the Master of Arts in Cultural Studies (MACS) program starting in the fall! I'm going to grad school! It is such a relief to know that I have a plan for the next couple of years. Maybe now I can relax and stop planning so much... if only for a little while. I have already decided that I will eventually be getting my PhD, and it's just nice to know that I really am on track.

This week in my Latin American Studies seminar we are focusing on issues at the border and the immigrant experience. This is a topic I am already very familiar with, as I have made immigration advocacy and reform a key part of my undergraduate academic research. Today we had a guest speaker who came to present to our class about her experiences conducting research about immigrants from other countries in Central America at Mexico's southern border, or la otra frontera. It really opened my eyes about the complexity of border politics. People who come from Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala all have to cross into Mexico before they can get to the United States, and the dangers they encounter there are far more hazardous and violent than those that await them at the U.S.-Mexico border, if you can believe that. It's like there is no end to the level of monstrosity that human beings are able to achieve.

Tomorrow I have a test in my Portuguese class. I am shocked that the final exam is one week from Friday, and then the quarter is over! I'll be on a plane headed south in less than three weeks. Ok, I should get busy. I already feel the anxiety pains creeping up from my gut...