No Longer in Limbo.

It’s been a long, long time since I last posted. I’m sure none of you were hanging on the edge of your seats waiting for a post, but, if you were, sorry. The reason I have not posted is because I’ve been in a state of limbo for quite a while. I am no longer in a state of limbo, so now I can explain what was/what is going on with me.

About a month ago now, I went to register for my classes. You don’t have to register here before a semester starts or even before the end of the first week. People want you to register early, but, in reality, you can wait until a couple days before final exams. Nevertheless, I decided to go register and have it done with. I heard it could be a long process and things just seemed too up in the air without me being registered. Anyways, I went to the graduate studies room to register. They told me to go to another room to get a student number. With this number, I could pay and, after that, I could register. I went up to the room; they told me they didn’t have a number for me and sent me to another room. After about an hour and a half of being sent to numerous rooms (mostly back and forth), I was told I had no file. I asked what this meant because, after all, I have an acceptance letter. Since I had a letter, I assumed I had a file. They said, “No, it was lost.” Thus, I asked, “What does that mean?” The lady stood up, went to a file of papers, shuffled through the papers, pulled out a form, and handed it to me. It was the Application for Graduate Studies, the same exact form I filled out to apply. She said something like, “Fill this out with all the documents.” I said, “What about my acceptance letter?” “Oh, add that in with the application.” After this, I was pretty much awe-struck and told her I didn’t have the documents. She pretty much shrugged.

Ever since that day, I’ve been trying to figure out what to do. I have gone back to the University to ask people again. One day, I was told to "do them a favor and just reapply." Another day, I found some random documents of mine in a random room, but that was pretty much the extent of my success. I talked to Rotary International about what to do. I was given one more option (besides trying to push my re-application through) and one back-up plan if the other options failed. The back-up plan was an application to another university in the world. This way, if my other options failed, I’d have somewhere I could potentially go. I’ve spent many hours trying to figure out where that’d be, what the implications for that would be, and how I would even apply. My professors at Furman were extremely supportive and willing to rewrite me another recommendation letter. In the end, I was able to pull everything together that was needed for my back-up plan, except, of course, all the details if I’d actually have to carry it out.

However,(sorry to the professors who worked on those letters, but thanks again)the back-up plan will not be necessary. The second option I was given by Rotary International was to become a research scholar. Under this option, you’re still affiliated with the university, but you’re not in classes. Instead, as the title implies, you carry out academic research with supervisors. At first, I had no idea what I would research. However, after a couple of days, I thought of an idea from something that had really interested me in a few of my classes (which I was still attending despite being in limbo). After some quick research and talking to a few professors, I realized it had potential. Thus, I set on the task of finding supervisors. It took me a few weeks to find some supervisors. A few people liked the idea and were willing to work with me, but did not want to take on a supervisor status. Nevertheless, after a few strike-outs, I found a couple professors willing to work with me and help me carry out a research endeavor. After approval from my Rotary district (Thanks Dee!), I was granted research status by Rotary International officially on October 5, 2009. It feels good. And, I’m excited.

The anxiety over the situation is pretty much why I did not post for all this time. I was pretty much in limbo. In fact, I was downright freaking out at times. For much of the time, I was waiting for developments, and, at the same time, I really did not have any serious updates, except to say, “Hey, I’m in limbo.” Anyways, it’s all over now. It will be a good story later on. The fact that my file was “lost” is already humorous, except I still know about the anxiety it brought on. I can finally relax and focus, which is nice. There is no major weight on my shoulders. I have a focus, and, actually, I believe, the research could end up much better for me in the long run.