Next Steps...

As some of you may know....I applied to Northwestern University back in late November. It's always been a dream of mine to attend a 'big' (okay, prestigious) university. While UCF is pretty big now....it wasn't when I attended, which as an undergraduate was a-okay. I didn't want to get lost in the crowd and actually chose UCF because it wasn't as big as other schools like UF. VSU is also growing but certainly wouldn't be considered big in the grand scheme of things. I'm attracted to a 'big' school for additional graduate study because of the research opportunities, the doors it will hopefully open, and the diversity of students and professors a bigger school tends to attract.

So....after reviewing all the different programs, I decided Northwestern University (in Evanston, Illinois right outside Chicago) offered the program most in line with my interests. While considered a Big 10 school (which I didn't know until after I applied), Northwestern actually has the smallest student population of all the other Big 10s. In 2009, Northwestern enrolled 8,497 undergraduate and 7,880 graduate and professional students (Wikipedia).

Anyways....I found out just last week that I was accepted to the Masters of Science in Learning and Organizational Change program (MSLOC)! Ironically, and this will make some of my Valdosta friends happy, I'll be a Wildcat. :) I'll head to Evanston at the beginning of September. The program will take 1.5-2 years to complete since I'll attend full time. I'm so excited about this next chapter, in not just my career, but in my life.

Many folks have asked what exactly I can do with my Masters once I'm finished. My goal is to start my own business working primarily with local governments to better incorporate their younger employees into their workforce. Many Baby Boomers will be retiring from local government over the next decade, I want to help ensure there are qualified young professionals to take their place. I plan to maintain my AICP (American Institute of Certified Planners) credentials since that will help open up doors for me as well. So I'll still be doing planning just focusing more on organizations rather than land use and development.

So, if you want to visit Montana, better do so in the next 8 months. Otherwise, make plans to visit Chicago! I can't wait to be surrounded by fabulous food, great art, public spaces, beautiful Lake Michigan and yes I know potentially cold winters and hot summers.

Thanks to everyone who prayed for and encouraged me during my application process. I really appreciate it!

Christmas and New Years Update....

Here's a quick update since my last post from Thanksgiving.

I was able to go home to Florida for Christmas. Leaving Montana in the winter is never easy and seldom without a bit of travel delay. This time, the lucky number was 6. 6 hours. Fortunately, the bulk of that time was spent in the Minneapolis Airport, a great place to be stuck actually. I enjoyed a fabulous lunch and yummy bloody mary, finished some Christmas shopping, and had time for a tasty Bailey's and Coffee before boarding my flight.

Although I arrived in Jacksonville at 12:15am rather than 5:45pm (God bless my sister for coming to get me), I came home to a welcome sight: no snow. While the MT snow is beautiful and I really do enjoy it, it was nice to have a bit of a break. My visit home included a quick trip up to Valdosta, GA for a super fun party with my fabulous friends. This trip home was much shorter than my last visit but it was filled with precious family time nonetheless. Fortunately, my return trip home was delay free.

I arrived back in Red Lodge just in time to celebrate the New Year. My celebration included working at the restaurant until 1:30am. Although it was certainly a long day on my feet, it was a fun party, especially since I didn't have to plan it or cook anything for it! In many ways it's hard to believe 2010 is over, it seemed to fly by and was full of big life changes. I'm looking forward to this new year and new decade. I know God has much in store for all us of us. Be blessed.