"Tick tock, tick tock"

"Tick tock, this is a clock." - Katniss

Time is ticking away as the date to submit my application for EAP (education abroad program) draws nearer. I have decided UNSW is my number 1, and UQ is number 2. I have learned that I am allowed by the College of Letters & Sciences (at UCSB), and EAP (should the host uni give the OK) to extend from the spring semester (Feb-June) to the year program (Feb-Nov), and that financial aid would extend, even though I will have been at UCSB for 2 years and a quarter (extending to fall 13, after I would normally graduate Spring 13). Apparently as a transfer student, I can get aid for 9 quarters, and that would top me out at 8. However, I'm only applying for the spring semester, and have a form signed saying I'm allowed to extend should the opportunity arise, and I decide I want to. I haven't made up my mind yet. Its a long time to be gone, but it would be awesome.

Also, getting anxious about my impending trip to Costa Rica!! It seems very unorganized as far as communicating with participants, but I've been nagging the contact/leader guy, so I hope he's not sick of me yet.

news.bbc.co.uk

Speaking of Costa Rica... I'm writing my term paper for History of Mammals on sloth locomotion. Sloths are so freaking cool. Slow... yes. The max out at about 0.47 m/s (that's about 1 mph!!), and can go as slow as 0.02 m/s. Also, the two extant lineages of sloths are NOT closely related. They share a common ancestor about 30 million years ago!

 Left: Choloepus spp. - Two-toed sloth (smallmammalchannel.com)


Below: Bradypus spp. - Three-toed sloth (worldwildlife.org)

I haven't seen you for yonks!

Here's the current standing for top 2 schools I would like to attend in Australia (in no particular order):

University of New South Wales (near Sydney), and University of Queensland (Near Brisbane).

Recently had a meeting with the Australia EAP advisor and some other students who plan to go abroad as well. There were two returning students who had studied in Sydney and Melbourne who came to talk to us and share their experiences. Some of the things they said made me change a few things around in my decisions. For instance, when the girl likened University of Sydney to Harvard and Duke, and that she hadn't even considered any other school there, she had ended up wishing she'd applied to UNSW (which is about 20 min away by car) as far as the aspect of friends, academics and college experience. I also realized that UQ has a ton of bio classes that would be interesting to take. And really it doesn't matter where I end up geographically, I will be having a great time regardless.

Applications are due May 16, so I've been cracking on that. I have to apply to my top 2 schools, but also rank up to 6. Fortunately, Spring is less impacted than Fall, so I should be able to get one of the top 2.

Thats all for now!

If you think its a side-ache... its not a side-ache...

Saturday & Sunday: Side-ache?
As the title implies, I thought the pain I was experiencing in my chest this weekend was from a side-ache from walking uphill. It didn't go away. In fact, it got worse. So bad that I couldn't sleep because there was no way I could position myself as to be comfortable. Worst part is that I felt the pain more with each breath, but only on the left side (centralized pain: left lower rib area).

Monday, 02:00pm: Urgent Care
So, after both my lectures on Monday, I went to go see my friendly physicians at UCSB Student Health's Urgent Care. The doctor who saw me ordered chest X-rays, and couldn't determine much from them. She noticed there was a little blip that could be seen around my diaphragm on the left side, but it was only visible in one view, so she wasn't convinced. To be sure it wasn't something like a blood clot causing all the pain, she told me I should take a special blood test that they don't administer at Student Health, so she sent me over to the Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital Emergency Room.

03:30-04:00pm: Emergency Room
So much fun. I took the bus from school to the ER, and then they hooked me up to all kinds of tubes and monitors (IV, heart rate, blood pressure, 3 little sticker-guys on my chest and abdomen...). They took the blood samples directly through the IV in my arm (it was kind of a lot of blood... and the nurse was a little sloppy......*shudders*). After waiting for hours for them to analyze all my tests, they came back saying I had the potential for a blood clot due to some high levels of something or other, and they wanted to do a CT scan to have a closer look, and to see if there were actual blood clots present.

06:40pm: CT Scan
Boy was THAT an exciting experience. Before they took me away, they gave me an anti-anxiety pill, because I was starting to freak out a little. Then they wheeled me off to radiology, and injected me with iodine through the IV so that when the did the CT scan they would be able to see things better with the dye in place. The dyes plus the CT scan made me feel really weird. Strange heated sensations from head to toe, with a lingering warm-metallic taste in my mouth. Bleh.

06:50pm: Waiting
By the time I returned to my little bed-space (I'd call it a room, but it really wasn't), Richard had arrived. Good thing too because the anti-anxiety plus all that other stuff was making me loopy (and sleepy! Nice to have a ride home!).  Thankfully, didn't have to wait too much longer for them to check the results of the CT scan, so they came back with their diagnosis...

07:15pm: Results
Walking Pneumonia! To be specific, "Left lower lobe pneumonia with pleurisy". So YAY! I have an infection in my lung which makes it hurt to breathe! But they started me on antibiotics, and let's just hope its bacterial, and not viral.

07:30-09:00pm: Home
Off to find food and go home. I was so delirious, I don't remember eating dinner, and apparently I was singing songs about my cat (according to Richard). Slept really well though!

Unfortunately, this little adventure took up valuable time to write a paper that's due Wednesday. Thankfully, I talked to my professor and he gave me until Friday to finish it. So that's what I should be doing now.

G'day Mates!

University of California, Education Abroad Program: Australia
-Immersion program where you live and go to school with the locals, versus with a UC specific course set and housing.

Now, the biggest problem is figuring out what campus to go to....
I have at least 3 options:
1) University of Sydney
2) University of New South Wales
3) University of Western Australia
4) La Trobe University (Melbourne)

I've been looking at possible classes (they call them "units") I can take, since I need to have a total of 24-quarter units (4-6.0 semester classes). I've been looking at each campus, in various departments (they call them "faculties") and am having some trouble. I also have to make sure they are all UD, and that I meet any pre-requisites. Sometimes I just get lost....

1) U of Sydney: great location, but very cosmopolitan. Lots of International students and immigrants from Asia. This is also basically of THE biggest, most attractive cities in NSW, and a popular destination (Sydney Harbour Bridge, Opera House, etc). As far as a cultural aspect, I'd probably be getting less of the actual "locals". As far as classes go, they have a wide variety of units ("units" = "classes/courses"; "course" = "major") of interest spanning multiple faculties.

2) UNSW: again, great location, same basic qualms as Sydney, as Sydney is in NSW, and the campuses are not very far from each other. Despite all the cosmopolitan stuff, I do want to see and do a lot of things in this region, so being there for the program would make this easier. The units here are comparable to U of Syd, but lacking a few (as I need 24-qu).

3) UWA: Western Australia (Perth). Far from the cosmopolitan Sydney/NSW on the East coast. This is said to give one a more cultural, local experience, as its less of a "destination" like Sydney. I'm still looking into units here, but I've found a few good ones so far. Don't know too much about this region. Another thing, is this campus is less impacted because its less cosmopolitan and touristy/international hotspot, so getting into the university wouldn't be as much of an issue as with the previous two campuses. Can't remember how impacted La Trobe is.

4) La Trobe: Based in Melbourne, SE Aus in Victoria, still somewhat cosmopolitan, and is known to be "in competition" with Sydney... haha. Blogs argue which city is "better" (its kind of like comparing SB and San Diego). Anyway, a nice city, and near the campus there is a Wildlife Sanctuary where they let students volunteer. MAJOR PERK. The website says that have a Zoology degree, but the classes are seriously lacking (in my opinion). I have not found anything worthy of my time, that I haven't already taken the equivalent of at UCSB.

So yeah. I have lots of books on Sydney, because at one point I had planned on moving there for a year with a former friend (big flake, big mistake). So I have more knowledge of Sydney and the surrounding areas. The flights are also a little cheaper ;) I also have a great book called "Watching Wildlife Australia" that tells where to see all the cool wildlife, which is really what drew me to choose Australia for my term abroad (other options were limited, due to language restrictions, and I don't think I want to take biology classes in Spanish.... but how cool would that be!?). So, the wildlife is everywhere, and I want to travel. A lot of stuff seems to be on the East coast, but generally a good distance North of NSW.

Not sure there was a complete thought there, but basically I'm not 100% sure where I want to go.

'Ere blow the winds of change...

In regards to a previous post, vis à vis, "Kiwis attack!", I believe I have been able to resolve the majority of the issues preventing me from a semester abroad at the university of my choosing:
1) Paying rent. Since I have an "in" with the landlord, and we're not on a yearly lease (month-to-month) we could move out. Meaning, Richard would find another place (this was his idea) for the duration of my term abroad, and after I return, we merge again. This relieves the idea of my having to pay rent both in SB and abroad.
2) The UC fees are included in program cost estimates, and financial aid and scholarships are available and can apply directly to the program. As they say on the UC Education Abroad Program (EAP) website - you can take your financial aid with you!

So there. I just have to tell my parents. The term I intend to study abroad is the Spring semester for 2013. The timing might conflict with graduation, but I can push my graduation to the end of summer or something (this is on the list of things to talk to my counselor about). I plan on doing an immersion program, so I can get the most out of the country's culture and lifestyles, as opposed to just being around other UC students (which would prevent me from gaining as much cultural experience! Its like what the tourists would do vs what the locals do, and I want a local's perspective).

Basically, Richard and I had a long talk, and it came down to him reminding me that its something that I want to do, and that I would regret not doing it (for a while I was convinced it would not be possible, so I gave up). We agreed that it would be a great experience for me, and he wishes he had done it in his college years. So I'm applying this spring for next year. I'm working on planning out all my UD major courses to have those completed by the time the program starts (ie, be done with those in the fall quarter). I am also researching where I want to go, and what courses are available to me, that would count as (most likely) elective credit. I have lots of questions to take to my counselors.

I started my tax returns already, and started my FAFSA, but am waiting on the 1098-T form from school to make sure I'm not missing anything. Sadly, that's not ready yet, and I wanted to submit everything as early as possible to have the greatest chance of getting financial aid.

As for this quarter, I'm attempting to manage intro genetics, ethology and behavioral ecology, and an american institutions requirement, american art history from 1860-1920.

WOOT!