Wherever shall I rest my weary head?

I just got offered a third internship position (with stipend!) with the National Museum of the American Indian which would involve setting-up an exhibit about the Inka road and managing a bilingual database. I, obviously, had to turn it down though, seeing as it takes place from March to May. It was nice to be given the offer (sans interview) none the less. My applications were apparently pretty successful, if I do say so myself.

Concerning my actual internship though, I'm pretty ready to go, minus the fact that I still haven't signed a lease on an apartment. Minor details, right? But not to worry, I'm going down to D.C. on Saturday with the parents to look at about six options that I've gather from craigslist, my dad's friend from college's fellowship mailing list, and my sister's sorority sister's mass emailing tactics. All seem to be pretty viable options scatter throughout the city and surrounding suburbs, so I'm not too worried about finally securing a location for habitation. Plus, worst case scenario a couple of couches have been offered for short stays if it takes me a little longer to find a place. Again though, I'm not too worried, and I really do think I'll have a place to move into by the 8th or so.

Other than all that, not too much going on here. Just prepping to take the GRE (again), looking for field options for this summer, and rounding out my business casual wardrobe (guess who finally gave in and bought a suit?). It's nice to have time to do all this stuff, but on the other hand, I'm ready to get working. All this vacation time is making me antsy!!!

X-MAS WISHES!

Merry Christmas, Loves!
(:from Delaware. I got back from school last Saturday after driving through the blizzard!)

Well, more accurately, tonight I just got back from CT with the grandparents and cousins after celebrating the good ol' fashioned German way on Christmas Eve. Great food, great company, great times! But, the immediate family likes being home for the "day of," so we sped back to sleep in our own beds and wake-up to a white Christmas en la casa de DE. I'm certainly looking forward to spending all day today in my PJs, sipping hot tea and playing board games by the tree! Tis tradition (almost) at this point, and nothing puts me in much more of a holiday spirit. Mmmm, lazy christmas lounging with the fam!

Anyway, hope you're all having a great holiday full of cheer! Enjoy your time with your family and friends and may your season be bright.

Peace and Good Will!
-Kat

Yay!

GOOD NEWS:

1) I AM DONE WITH COLLEGE! No more classes; no more papers; no more exams; no more BU!!!! I am offically an alumni (well, sorta. I actually offically am free of BU on January 25th when they release my diploma.)

2)I ACCEPTED THE JOB WITH THE BLM! I start mid-January, which means, D.C., here I come!

*Doing a happy dance*

BLM Internship Interview (aka Why I'm moving to D.C. this January)

So yesterday I received an email from the Bureau of Land Management requesting an interview for today concerning a paid internship in their heritage department. Overly ecstatic that they hadn't overlooked my application, I accepted an afternoon interview time with the national curator/NAGPRA coordinator of the BLM. This internship was my number one choice when I applied to the NCPE/NPS internship program back in October, and I seriously thought they weren't interested in me because I hadn't heard back from them. But, surprise! They actually had selected my application as major candidate for the position.

So, as I'm getting ready for that interview this morning, by writing out questions about the program and general logistics concerning the office, I get another email from the NPS NAGPRA department asking if I can chat at some point today about the database-focused internship I interviewed for a few weeks ago. Come 1pm, I get a call from the NPS letting me know that I've been selected for the internship position starting January 12th! I'm flabbergasted that I was their strongest candidate and completely flattered to be given the opportunity to work on such an important project. But, I still needed to see what the BLM had to offer!!! Unfortunately, I don't think they were expecting me to ask if I could delay my acceptance of the position until the end of the week. The BML hadn't been in the picture or mentioned in our discussions before, because I hadn't known about it until yesterday. Eeek. So, now I'm feeling super stressed, because I feel like I'm starting out on shaky footing with NPS, and I have no idea how serious BLM is going to be about potentially hiring me.

I end up going into the BLM interview hella nervous at this point, because I have no idea what's taken so long for them to contact me and if I just "looked a gift-horse in the mouth," so to speak, with the NPS internship. Things start off really well though, with my interviewer letting me know how strong my personal essay was and how well I seem to fit for the position. She fills me in about what exactly the BLM does and how they handle heritage management, including the fact that she works in a mostly policy based department with the museums around the country doing most of the hands on work with artifacts and cultural materials (which is perfectly fine with me, because I was looking for a policy based internship). I'm then given a chance to ask questions including how the office interacts on a daily basis, what type projects I'll be expected to do, and more topics along those lines. And, the more my questions get answered, the more I fall in love with the internship! There are all these opportunities to take field trips around D.C. to government agencies, museums, and tribal representatives. I also would get to have direct contact with museum curators and other important personnel, meaning a more social internship than I was expecting. They'd also potentially be willing to pay me during my already scheduled trip to the SAA's this April (in St. Louis!) and there's a good chance that there would be an opportunity to take a training trip later in the internship. Literally at this point, I'm salivating with anticipation for this internship, so when she starts throwing some serious interview questions at me (like "describe a difficult situation you've been in and how you handled it" or "tell me about a time you conducted research: what was your hypothesis, design, implementation, and result"), I'm ready to pounce and show them who's boss! I also was clearly impressive, because she offered me the position ON THE SPOT at the end of her questioning!!!

So now, I have decide which internship I'm going to take. I don't think it's that difficult a decission based solely on the fact the BLM is offering me twice as long an internship. But, I do want to think about it for at least another day before I send in my acceptance and rejection (aka non-acceptance) of the offers. On the other hand, I really don't want to burn bridges with the NPS, so the faster I voice my decision, the better off I'll be. In a way, I'm a bit upset I got both offers, because either way I go, I have to turn an AMAZING opportunity down. At the same time though, this has been a HUGE confidence booster in how my resume and credentials come off to future employers (and grad schools!); apparently I am a qualified job applicant after these past 3.5yrs of undergraduate education. Who knew?!?! I mean, I was the top choice for BOTH of the NAGPRA internships offered by NCPE this spring. That's some serious 'ish there!

So, kids! Two job offers in one day!!! I'm so freakin' excited, and to top it all off, I'm going to be in D.C. allllllll spring, working right by the white house!!! Can anyone say cherry blossoms? Or free Smithsonian museums? Or spring lunches by the reflecting pool?

Bye-bye, College; I'm moving on to bigger and better things!

Busy Streets

Quick note: I'm walking around campus tryin to find a place to write a paper and the place is buzzing w/ activity... not a single chair in a single coffee shop from west to east campus. It's crazy how finals bring people out & about!

Last Day of Classes

So, had a bit of a break down last night about my GIS project. There was screaming and crying and some general feelings of hopelessness; I even started drinking about 6hrs in, because I couldn't handle the plethora of error messages anymore! And, as we all know, I'm not a real big drinker in the 1st place. But, this morning things have certainly turned around! I think I finally figured out my problem with my friction maps (I couldn't reclassify my null values to zero in my viewshed using the interactive menu, thus I had to find the r.null program to fix the issue... which it did). And for all of you who have no idea what that means, don't worry about it; you're the lucky ones! Just be aware that this project might actually get done by Saturday morning when it's due, and I might even have time to write my Theory paper too!!! Yeeha!

Other good news is that I AM OFFICALLY DONE WITH ALL OF MY UNDERGRADUATE CLASSES!!!! No more lectures for me (at least for the next year), and I don't ever have to do another BU teacher evaluation sheet ever again. The funny part about this is that I didn't even realize I was in my last class until about 10 minutes before we were let out! And, since I still have a lot of work to do in the next week, I'm not exactly relieved yet. Ask me again on the 18th how I feel.

As for my job interview from last week, I still haven't heard anything other than a nice email from my interviewer letting me know that I'll be informed of the department's decision by early next week. I'm quickly realizing that I actually am really looking forward to possibly moving to Washington D.C. It seems like a city I would enjoy exploring for the next few months; close enough to the Boston feel, but still new and fresh. Plus, how can a nerd like me not be excited about being so close to the Smithsonian and National Zoo which, by the way, are completely free to the public. LOVE IT. Plus, I've been looking for apartments on Craig's list and it seems like I have a good amount of potential housing options down there. Keep your fingers crossed for me, kiddos!

That's all for now pretty much. Game plan for the next week includes:
GIS PROJECT due Saturday, Dec. 12
AR 450 PAPER due Saturday, Dec. 12
Boston Pops Concert (with WILL!) on Sunday, Dec. 13
Roomies' Last Dinner on Tuesday, Dec. 15
REVISED ETHICS PAPER due Friday, Dec. 18
ETHICS TAKE-HOME FINAL due Friday, Dec. 18
AN 337 FINAL on Friday, Dec. 18
Move out on Saturday, Dec. 19 (same day as Cam)

I'm so close to complete freedom!!!

Only 2 More Weeks!!!

It seems it's time for another update. Life's getting crazy again, thus leaving me with interesting blogging material... or at least, non-repetitive blogging material.

I only have 2 weeks left in my undergraduate education with classes ending this Thursday (Dec. 10th). Of course I still have 25 pages of papers to write (minimum), a final exam, a computer project, and some last minute touch-ups to a cardboard sculpture of "sitting bull"/a Plains Indian chief (see below). It apparently would be waaaay too easy to let me finish up my last semester worry free, meaning my computer programs aren't cooperating, my papers are suffering from a month long case of writers block, and my Anthropology exam could very easily be my final demise. This feeling of stress and last minute scrambling seems to happen at the end of every semester though, so while I'm nervous about getting everything done in time, I'm not horribly worried. That sounds really contradictory, but I've been through this enough times to know that I'll get everything done, even if it means some serious sleep deprivation and spending the last days of my college education secluded from social contact. People who succeed in life tend to know that "you have to do, what you have to do" to get by (apparently these people are not very articulate though). Ha!

As for the job search, I had a phone interview with the NPS NAGPRA department last Friday about an internship organizing/creating a public database of culturally affiliated materials. I think it went well, but really who knows. We ended up talking for over an hour, despite the fact that the chat was only supposed to last 30 minutes. My interviewer even ignored a 10:30 appointment to keep talking with me. Plus, the jobs sounds like one that I'm very qualified for, and I think I'd be a good personality match with the lady who would be my boss. I find out next week if I got the job, at which point I'll start either looking for an apartment in D.C. (with help from my high school bestie, Jasey-Face) or start sending out more job/internship applications.

The only other points of interest are as follows:

1) I quit both my jobs last week in order to focus my attention on finishing the semester. It was sad to say good-bye to everyone, and I've enjoyed my experience at PAZZO and the T&R thoroughly over the past half year. But, now I'm on to bigger and better things, so I can't be too sad about a natural progression in my job experience.

2)I have to move out around the 19th, so it's time to pack-up again. I feel like I just moved in though!!! I'm going to miss the roomies and the StuVi experience*, but again, moving out is a natural progression. I can't live in cushy university-housing forever. Plus, I'm most likely going to be moving around a lot in the next year or so, thus this is most likely only the beginning of down-sizing the material possessions I deem necessary for daily survival.

3)Christmas is just around the corner!!! And I am 50% done my gift shopping. If only the men in my life were easy to buy for (but that would be much too easy). Yes, I'm pointing my fingers at YOU, father and Camden!

4)I'm excited to go home for the holidays, but sad to leave all my close friends from Boston. I'm going to miss so many people, most specifically Cam, Will, Ariane, Jess, Liz, Gibbs, my Archie buddies/teachers (to name a few: Christine, Amanda, Fransico!) and the roomies. All of them make my life very, very happy, and I've really never been a fan of good-byes (hence my avoidance of them with people like Alaina and so many others. Sorry, guys!!!). That being said, I'm sure I'll be visiting many of them on a regular basis in the future, so by no means are these relationships over! Also, some good news is that I get to return to being near some amazingly important old friends, who have stuck by me even when I moved a good distance away. I'm like an excited puppy who can't wait to hang out with Kathy, Andrew, A. Camp, Ruby, Bizzy, and Jase again... If I had a tail, it would be wagging just thinking about the fun that's ahead. Plus, I may very well have some free time in the next few months to go visit people who I've been away from for far too long, like Erin and Lauren. Finishing school is by no means "all bad" for my social life!

5)I starting to look into programs for this summer. How sexy is the idea of camping on the edge of the Grand Canyon for 6weeks?!?! Yeah, exactly. I'm also looking at a Bio-Archaeology program in Peru (though I'm conflicted over voluntarily digging up bodies), an advanced field school in Belize, a graduate student project on the Russian Steppes, and a bar bones, roughing-it project in Transylvania. I'll update you with more information on all of those when I have time to focus on something other than school!!!

Seriously, I made him out of nothing but cardboard and glue!!!

I'll upload a photo of the finished product next week.

(NOTE: Check out my teacher, Kitty Wales', website if you have chance!)

*Not my video, despite it being of my building.