maysblog

Gig ‘Em, Class of 2009

Well, this will be my last blog for Mays. Unfortunately, this does not mean I’m done with finals or, as yet, with my senior year, like so many of my friends back home. All over Facebook, status reports inform me that my friends have sailed through the last of their finals and are preparing for graduation this weekend. I didn’t think I would be so sad to miss out on all this, but I must admit that a big part of me is indeed missing it. (more…)

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One Lap of Four…Finish Line: Graduation

So I’ve finished the first of my four finals, and I have to say, my first final at the University of Edinburgh was…ROUGH. As I explained in my last blog, my international law final exam was worth 70% of my course mark and was testing me over an entire year’s worth of material. I was given 6 essay questions and needed to answer 4 of them in 3 hours. It was brutal! (more…)

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Final Push Towards Finals…

First of all, my mother is fine! If you read my last post, I was going through a bit of a rough patch, worrying about my mom from thousands of miles away. She was in the hospital for bronchitis and they discovered some heart problems, but she’s completely fine! Arteries clear, no surgery needed. I don’t think I need to tell you too much how relieved I was to have that weight off my mind. I’m still worried about her, but it’s nice to know things are on the mend. (more…)

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Study Abroad Blues

When I left home in the fall of 2005, I went through the typical feelings associated with leaving home. At first, I was so excited and only felt elation at growing up. After a few weeks, I started to miss home and the constant comfort of my parents, and then finally got used to living on my own. Three years pass, and I have trouble going home for any length of time, as it invariably ends in fights between my parents and me. Still, though, I was always able to go home on the spot if I needed to—the drive was only three hours from College Station. (more…)

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From Aggie to Wegie

As you all know, I am the loudest, proudest member of the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Class of 2009: A-Whoop! But wait, it’s 2009 this year…doesn’t that mean I’m supposed to graduate and…sniffle…leave the safety of being an undergraduate Aggie?? As in, make a decision about my future?

Over the past few months, as I’m sure most other seniors have been, I’ve been stressing out about what I’d be doing after graduation. Because I’m studying abroad during the spring semester of my senior year, the credits won’t be applied to my A&M degree in time for a May graduation, meaning I’ll be done in August. To make the general unease about graduating more intense, I also had to worry about whether or not I was staying in the United Kingdom or flying home in August to graduate and staying in Texas, as well as coordinate all my graduation from across the Atlantic. (more…)

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Ceilidhs, Midnight Bagpiping, and ShimShammying up Mountains

In the past two weeks, I’ve had an interesting run of dancing. I’ve had a black eye from a night of Scottish folk dancing, an international blues event that ended at 3:00 in the morning with actual bagpiping, and jaunts across Edinburgh doing the Shim Sham about 20 times for a video project.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Scottish culture, a ceilidh (the Gaelic word for visit, and pronounced Kay-Lee) is a huge party involving a ceilidh band, traditional dancing, and usually more than a few pints. The best way I heard a ceilidh described was by one of my fellow Texans studying in Glasgow, who put it as “like country western dancing but with the intensity of a rock concert.” Basically, the ceilidh band plays traditional Scottish folk music and calls out folk dancing, like the Gay Gordon, the Virginia Reel, the Dashing White Sergeant, and Strip the Willow. This particular ceilidh was actually a Diabetes UK fundraiser, put on by the good friends of the President of the Edinburgh University Swing Dance Society who passed away last semester due to complications from the disease. I actually was djing the night when the ceilidh band (my flatmate’s band, actually) wasn’t playing. (more…)

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What do bagels and HRD have in common?–Me!

Okay, now that the combination of jet lag and epic dancing has worn off, have I got a story for you, Ags!

Last Thursday, I made my ninth cross-Atlantic flight from Edinburgh to Washington, D.C. As amazing as it would have been just to fly to our nation’s capital, I actually was flying with a purpose. Over a year ago, I started doing some research with Dr. Roemer Visser and Dr. Lesley Tomaszewski, examining whether or not gender based differences in peer performance appraisals existed. After a TON of work, we submitted a research abstract to the Academy of Human Resource Development for their 2009 International Research Conference in The Americas, and it was accepted! We had submitted our work before I left for Scotland, so I had no idea what would happen if our work was positively reviewed, but I was fortunate enough to be sponsored to fly all the way from Scotland to help present our work to other human resource development professors, graduate students, and professionals.

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The Big 22…Really?

Remember when you turned 16? For me, it was a magical number—all the Disney princesses were 16—plus, I could finally legally drive. 18 rolled around, the official age of adulthood, when I could legally sign myself in and out of school, sign release forms, or whatever else. 21…we all remember 21, the last big birthday of our youth, where all the strict guidelines of what we can and can’t legally do are lifted and we’re able to fully participate in all of society’s rules. Then comes 22.

I just turned 22, and for the first birthday ever, I didn’t feel any different on my birthday. (more…)

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Super Bowl Sadness

There are things, events, that are typically American. Holidays, traditions, ceremonies, that are specifically meaningful to those who belong to the United States. This past year, I’ve spent Thanksgiving in Europe. I spent the presidential election, race, campaign, and night itself, in Scotland. Martin Luther King Day was spent in the United Kingdom, and all the Aggie football games I normally follow religiously, in person at Kyle field, were seen not in the student section of that familiar football stadium, but on my computer screen. All of these I managed to still celebrate, still managed to feel like I was a part of, but the American event that I felt strangest not being in the United States was…the Super Bowl.

That’s right. More than turkey and cranberry sauce, more than electing the 44^th President of the United States, I miss the Super Bowl. (more…)

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Back to the Grindstone

Okay, so I know I’ve been away for awhile, but I’m back! Back in Scotland, back on blogging, and back to school! Yes, yes, I have been away from the wonderful world of blogging, but I have been one busy almost 22 year old, let me tell you!

My very last final at the University of Edinburgh wasn’t until December 19—far later than I’ve ever been at school. Usually, I go home to see my folks around December 8^th, but not this year. I took my final in Gaelic, jumped on a plane after a hectic swing dancing weekend, and didn’t get home to Texas until the 22^nd—THREE DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS. In addition to the craziness that Christmas brings to everyone, I had to be fitted for my maid of honor dress for a wedding on January 3^rd. In order to get it all done in time, I actually tried on my dress in the bathroom of Abuelo’s in Dallas on my way home from the airport. But there’s more! I got into Texas on that Monday, and Saturday I was throwing my best friend (the same one I was the maid of honor for) a bachelorette party. It was far more difficult getting used to Texas again to begin with, but with the combination of Christmas and maid of honor duties, it was darn near impossible. I think I didn’t let myself start to relax until after January 3, once Daniel and Michelle were safely away on their honeymoon.

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