India

The past few weeks have been absolutely insane busy.

Well I guess not last week, I was on Spring Break...in Disney World.
I will get to that at another point. If I get started on Disney I turn into a five year old and start going 'And then we did this, and then I saw this, and then this, and then this, and then....'

School is absolutely a horror. The work load is absolutely unbelievable. I guess I was this stressed last year too, but my exams were 5 in one week and then I had a month off. This semester I have had an exam every week (or two, sometimes three) for the last 5 weeks. I still have another 3 weeks that I have 4 exams to deal with. I have a few days off during Easter Break holiday, and then right back to my last exam. I just cannot wait for Friday May 8th comes rolling around. It has been a good semester, I love my classes and what not, just really stressful.

I think you get the point. I am currently trying to let my brain dethaw before I start the last section for my test tomorrow in Forensic Sciences. So I thought it was a great time to announce my summer plans.

I mentioned awhile ago that I applied for an FBI Internship. Well, I found out in December that they cut funding by 75% and there was almost half as less students that would be able to participate. The program being open to only upper under-graduates and all graduate students became even more competitive. The Wisconsin FBI informed me that they only selected 1 student instead of the 3-4 that they were planning. That 1 was not me. I am fine with the decision. I have a feeling I would not have been ready by this summer. I still have so much more to learn before I would feel comfortable putting my foot in the door over there. And I am still so proud of myself for being in the top 12 of Wisconsin.

I decided if I did not get the internship, I would instead apply to study abroad for the summer in India. I spent all January preparing my recommendation letters, application, and essay. It was loads of work, but it finally was finished. And on Monday I received notification that I was accepted into the program!

The program is through University of North Carolina at Raleigh. The program is not based in one city of India. We will spend two weeks in New Delhi and the rest of the 6 weeks will be spent in one of the following cities: Western Uttar Pradesh (Agra, Aligarh), Rajasthan, Jaipur, and Haridwar-Rishikesh. Where one city will be the location of a one week homestay with a family. We will be taking two classes a Hindi-Urdu language course and an Indian literature class. I am beyond excited and it sounds like all the other students are too. I have talked with three so far and I am so excited to meet them in a few weeks at our training.

I would love to keep a weekly blog update of my visit, but I will most likely not be bringing either of my laptops. But! I am thinking about writing out a blog and then sharing that with you all when I get back.

But that is all. I am just so excited that I finally get to see India. A country that I have dreamed of experiencing since I was a little girl. When I was much younger I wanted my honeymoon to be in India. I am in love with their culture, languages, history, philosophy, art, religions, and every teeny bit.

Now that I have put a smile back on my face it is appropriate to learn about Forensic Document Examination...

Have a good rest of the week!