FOUR DAYS AND A MESS

Whiteness is a project, not a skin tone

I'M sitting in my dad's office writing my third entry. In FOUR days I will be boarding a plane and heading to Nicaragua. There are several things I have to get done before leaving and procrastination is my nemesis. My mind is filled with a scattered to-do list. I have yet to pack, some forms that will allow me to graduate on time still have to be signed by two chairs in Roosevelt, I have to get some mosquito net, how am I going to apply to a graduate program when deadlines are in Dec. and early Jan/Feb, I have yet to take the GRE, what will my independent research project be for my studies abroad, how am I going to manage financially until I get my refund money, my books have yet to arrive, my backpackers backpack better not be too small (although I am pretty sure I can adjust it) I better be getting it Monday.. and so on.

What if I take a year off... Wouldn't I have to be paying back my loans.. I would love to join the peace corps for a bit but how will that work with my studies and loans. I am not trying to run away from my debt either. If I were to take a year off I would work for several months and save up enough to make a trip to Central America before returning to my studies.

I have been looking into graduate programs and the most interesting Universities are UCLA, University of Chicago, UIC, and NYU. It would probably be best to stay close to home and not have to pay rent. Or worry so much of finding a low cost place somewhere far away... so I am leaning more towards University of Chicago and UIC. Sorry Roosevelt I am leaving you. Oh, U of C has a partnership with an institution in Cuba!!

Since I am running on time and in a few days I will be doing nothing but concentration in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Central America I will not worry on applying to a graduate program until I am a week from coming back and have finalized and sealed my ISP. Okay, I lie I will be planning. As of now my main thoughts on my ISP is to extend a course I took over the Spring semester: Whiteness in a Global Context, and  make a case study on Nicaragua. I want to take a closer look at Afro- Latin America, race relations, white supremacy and neoliberalism in Central America.

The link above refers to a book I have yet to read but ran into it as I browsed the internet.