I want to apologize for the lack of updates lately, but I promise I’ve got a good excuse. In just over six weeks, I will be taking the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) and have been hunkering down to study. I am going to do my best to continue to add new content from now until then, but it will probably be less frequent than usual.
Since I’m on the subject and it will make me feel better, I am going to rant a little about the GRE.
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| Seriously, he signed my diploma. |
For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, the GRE is a standardized test everyone must take to apply to most graduate programs in the United States. It tests advanced English vocabulary, reading comprehension, mathematical skills and writing ability.
I have never been good at standardized tests; I am more of a reader and a writer and a doer than a filling-in-empty-bubbles-er. As I sit here studying, I cannot help but find it silly that 55 multiple-choice questions could very well decide the next chapter in my life.
When I graduated from college in 2009, I had the rest of my life in front of me but no idea what I wanted to do with it. Armed with little but my aspirations and a diploma bearing the Governator’s signature, I set aside my idealistic impulses to get a taste of corporate America. After spitting out that soufflé and scuttling off to South America, I now find myself considering my post-Colombia moves.
Although I’ve had graduate school on my mind since they day I graduated college, I wanted to hold off until I knew exactly what I wanted to do.
I believe I finally know what that is.
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| Me in Washington, D.C. |
They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder. After being away from my country for nearly half a year now, I can say that this is indeed true. But living abroad has also allowed me to see the United States from an outsider’s perspective, illuminating the blemishes that are often covered up by the mascara of patriotism.
After seeing the United States, in all its beauty and ugliness, I know that my love for my country is unconditional. But that doesn’t mean I think we can’t do better.
And I’ve decided to spend the rest of my life ensuring that we do.
Big ambitions, good luck!
ReplyDeleteI agree, that you start to look at American much differently after being abroad. I've been away for 4.5 years now and being around foreigners in that time has given me a new perspective. I admire you for wanting to go back and change things. I suppose I'm the opposite. I want to keep exploring what the rest of the world has to offer outside of that patriotic bubble instead :p