Reflections (Year One)

Next week I return ‘home’ for ‘the summer.’ This means that year one of graduate school is done, over, finished, etc. And what a year it has been. In reality, it has been about 10 months since I left the comfort of Bel Air and truly moved out on my own, it’s been 13 months since graduation at Maryland, and it’s been a full year since Erin and I returned from our graduation road trip. Man, time really flies.

Even though I never felt it while it was happening, as I am sitting here thinking about the year that has gone by, I guess I can conclude that A LOT has happened and that I actually have learned A LOT. A few of my thoughts:
• I finally started taking school really seriously and realized that I wouldn’t be able to just ‘slide’ through anymore schooling. Not to say that I didn’t work really, really hard (at times) in High School and College, but this was the first time I felt that I actually had to put a lot of effort, thought and consideration into school to even pass the classes. In High School, it was a question of getting an A or a B, or maybe a high A compared to a low A. At the same time, I finally felt a lot more compelled to actually learn and understand the material rather than just pass the class.

• I learned I can’t do everything and that sometimes the pressures of life mean that you have to slow down or even fail at times. Also, I learned that some of the small failures are okay “as long as you win the war.” In the end, who cares that I had to a drop a class, or that I chose to postpone taking an elective, and therefore will be completing my degree approximately 6 months later than originally planned?

• I eat way too much ketchup. Way, way too much. I think it might be a problem.

• Even thought the weather generally sucks in Denmark, there are a few things that (almost) make up for it: (1) the longest day of the year means that the sun rises at 4:39 and goes down at 22:04, meaning I almost forgot about how sucky/dark/cold the winter was (8:40/15:30). Going to bed when it is light out and waking up when it is light out is amazing. As is going out to a bar and it being light out (again) on your way home. (2) The Danes are great at going outside and proclaiming “summer” as soon as the sun peaks out behind a few clouds or as soon as the temperature rises above 15C (65-70ish F). Something about appreciating the sun and heat more when you don’t have so much of it.

• Along those same lines, I have never been more excited to go to the BA this summer. It really is a great place, even if it is slightly boring, out of the way, and typical suburbia. Who knew?

See you soon!

Fall Internship

I am so happy to be able to say that I scored a great internship at Danfoss for the fall of 2010. Without spilling entirely too many details, I will be in a Marketing Communication and Research department at Danfoss HQ in Nordborg. This means that come August, I will be moving south for a few months. The internship ends December 15th, which also leaves time to prepare and possibly travel for the holidays.

I am super excited to get out of the classroom and actually try to test my skills. Also feeling a bit nervous about whether I actually have any skills, or if all of my skills are based on writing research papers and memorizing facts for multiple choice tests. After having spent the last 18 years in school, the end is coming up quickly, and it is nice to be able to see the end.

Of course, it is going to be a bit of a culture shock to have to work all day, every day... Just kidding, I am really excited!