Major life decisions made easy.

I finally heard back from Duke and I did not get in there either. That sure makes my decision easy! UT it is. Especially because they have decided to give me some money. I'm excited. I think of all the programs to which I applied, with the possible exception of UCLA, UT has the best program for what I want to do.

Here are some fun little facts about how far away from home I am going:

Distance between Austin, Texas and Reno, Nevada
2251.115 kilometers; 1398.778 miles

Distance between Austin, Texas and Havana, Cuba
1718.924 kilometers; 1068.090 miles

Distance between Austin, Texas and Tegucigalpa, Honduras
2084.967 kilometers; 1295.539 miles

I have never lived outside of the greater Reno area, with the possible exception of the study abroad trip to Ireland, but I don't think I was technically living there. This is exciting! Also, scary. Of all the states I thought I would ever move to, Texas was certainly not among them.

Also, I just found out I'm getting the Dean's Award for Outstanding Graduate for the School of the Arts. Pretty neat. All this sudden recognition is pretty cool, but it's honestly making me a little uncomfortable.

Good news, part 2.

I have more good news! In the last letter I received from UT, it said that I had been accepted to the musicology program. Today I got a letter saying that I have been accepted to the graduate school. I had already been celebrating the fact that I'd gotten it, but I was still a teeny bit concerned. Not anymore, though! Although I don't know what my other options are yet, I'm still leaning pretty strongly toward Texas right now.

I also got a letter from my university saying that I'm the top graduating senior in the College of Liberal Arts and that I get some kind of award for that. I'm so surprised! Maybe it's just a lean year for liberal arts graduates. Nevertheless, I am very surprised because I spent so much of college not really trying that hard. There is some kind of function that I must attend now. I'm supposed to invite the faculty member who has been most influential on me. I think I'll ask Louis, but I feel like I should maybe ask Christy. It's hard because I'm so close with both of them. I'm also supposed to "say a few words" upon receiving this award. What the heck am I going to say? Anyway, I'm very excited about this because the College of Liberal Arts is rather huge so I must be better than a lot of people, and not all of them can be total losers.

yesssss

Good news, everyone!

I accepted to the musicology program at the University of Texas! Although I am wary of moving to Texas, I don't think Austin actually qualifies as a part of Texas. I told my musicology professor yesterday and I think he was even more excited than I am. Though I still have yet to hear from Duke or the University of Michigan, Louis says that he would pick UT over either of them. He also said that UT is pretty good about giving TA positions, so hopefully I can snag me one o' them. They want my response by mid-March which seems ridiculous, but I have until mid-April if I take that long to decide. My concern is that doesn't really give me time to go check out the school (especially because I already have plans to go to Olympia for spring break) so I might end up going to a school I've never a seen in a town I've never been to in a state I've never been to.

I had not really expected to get into UT because not only was I not certain that they had received my reference letters and GRE scores, but I really threw my personal statement together and sent in my supplemental materials after the deadline. Nevertheless, they still accepted me, and I am quite delighted.

Baby skull update:
I talked to my sister who is in med school here and she tells me that the creepy baby skull and the collection of forceps are now in the anatomy lab. I'm glad they found a new home, even if I no longer get to see them every day when I come to work.