In My Wildest Dreams

Moving to Santa Cruz

Okay... now that things are official and I'm not going to muck anything up (kiwi expression, 'kay?) by making an overly previous announcement, I can make this "public." I have been offered a Cota Robles Fellowship for my first two years of graduate study at the University of California in Santa Cruz. This will cover tuition and in-state fees plus a pretty decent living stipend. The UCSC Education Department will pay my out-of-state fees. I have also been offered a research assistantship for the summer of 2007 that will continue after my two-year fellowship expires. As a Research Assistant, I will be working with exactly the professor with whom I aspired to work.

So here's the story: During my visit in January, Dr. S tenatively offered me a pretty significant research assistantship for the duration of my doctoral program--working on a really exciting grant in which we would be implementing teacher-training programs specific to science education for ELL students, designing the program, monitoring the pre-service teachers during their student teaching experience, and then also during their first year of teaching. She had said that our interests and experiences were a really good fit--was so nice to hear because I felt the same way about her, obviously. She was still trying to find a way to pay my out-of-state fees, though, and so she recommended me for this fellowship. We were not sure about how realistic it was, but thought we would give it a go. Only 10 fellowships are awarded for the entire university. So, anyway, just found out today that I got the fellowship--which means I won't need the research assistantship for the first two years while I am on fellowship. Although I was looking forward to being a part of the research team for the science teacher ed program from start to finish, being on fellowship means I can focus entirely on my academic program the first two years of my doctoral studies. And so begins the next stage of my life...well, once I get back from New Zealand, that is! I will be moving sometime in August. Road trip, anyone?

Love,
Me

posted by Sara @ 8:19 PM