if you lived here, you'd be home now

days since getting sick: 23.

upon running into molly anixt on sunday at potbelly's, i learned that she had spent the summer at home, working for bay area rapid transit. although she commented that a lot of her job entailed bitch work, i still found myself jealous of her having been able to be involved in the applied concepts of city infrastructure and urban design. as many of you know, that field is what i am truly passionate about, but unfortunately, gw offers no related major. i can take relevant classes, but i can't actually get a degree in urban whatever until grad school (university of minnesota!!!!!).

that all being said, i've decided i really like my course of study. classes in the political science department feature a mish-mosh of learnings in history, geography, philosophy, sociology, international relations, even more ornate subjects like community development and organizational science. in fact, i'm even considering changing my major from public policy (a concentration within gw's political science department) to a broader major in general political science. that way, i can choose from a greater variety of courses in the department to take, rather than limit myself to ones geared toward the study of applied law/policy and toward those damn pre-law wannabes.

even so, i nonetheless find myself jealous of molly's job. while i do love working for league of conservation voters and think the things i've learned there have been invaluable - from the structure of the u.s. government to lessons in professionalism - i would really enjoy if my next internship were based more on urban development. however, i want to go home for next summer. truth be told, although i did have fun this summer (and, like i said, i learned a lot), i nevertheless wish i had gone back to california. i miss my friends and family, and i don't think i enjoy gw as much as i would have if i had gone home. of course, the question behind all this is: if i go home next summer, where would i work?? ventura county isn't exactly a bastion of transportation organizations and development-related non-profit organizations, you know (the latter being especially true, seeing as the area has adopted "slow growth" policies). i could apply to intern for los angeles metro, but their office is an hour and a half's commute away (think manassas to washington!), and my mom apparently had a lead at the city hall of thousand oaks, but i don't know too much beyond that. (i guess we can't all be lucky enough to be from the bay area!)

oh, well. i guess i've got some time to figure that all out, considering this is only the 5th week of the school year. nevertheless, i still think i want to come home to ventura county, at least for most of next summer. i've missed too much being away and i don't want to miss more... however, gw has some 6-week summer abroad programs that look pretty enticing. maybe i'll pursue one of those to complement my summer plans.

in the meantime, mom's coming into town TODAY and i can't wait to see her!!! she can't find this out because she's already in the air, but i'm going to surprise her at the airport terminal!!! :)
(this means missing sociology but i don't care, ha ha)

p.s. romeo and juliet was wicked AMAZING. the same theatre company is doing twelfth night in december and i am definitely going to that... if you wanna go with. :)