From #254-Kenya Diaries To Now Hello-From-#Cornell-Ithaca Diaries

~~~~~

I have not had a chance to mention that we have moved to Ithaca, New York!

And here is what, while this was a process that started all the way back last year (2013) after I got an admission to Cornell University, it didn’t eventually become a reality until about a week or two before our move.

First I had to defer my admission because I did not secure funding to cover for the program costs.

Second, I applied to three scholarships and got a decline on all of them (first time ever).

Third, we had to try and apply for an education financing loan something I had always dreaded as I was always wary of being tied down paying back a loan especially while being in a foreign country.

Well, it did eventually boil down to either taking the loan or losing out on the opportunity to join graduate school this year.

While I am naturally a very optimistic person and would take it in stride if I lost out on an opportunity I was pursuing, this time I was not looking forward to going through the disappointment. It so happens about seven years ago, I had applied to about four schools whose programs are highly ranked in the US, invested so much time and energy working on essays, working with a mentor to improve on the essays, following up on recommendations, pursuing scholarships to cover for the cost and so on. When I was not successful in joining any of them, I think a part of me was crushed. And while I had known I wanted to get back on it, I was yet to master the energy to go through the process again.

This time round, I only applied to one school and even then it was starting to look like I would not make it in. Again, not because I did not have an admission but more because I had no funding confirmed and that posed a challenge in as far as acquiring a visa was concerned. Plus it would have been too much of a risk for us to move from one state to another with nothing confirmed and with a one year old in tow. But in more honesty, after a couple of declines on funding following each other, it did seem like joining graduate school this year was becoming quite a grim possibility.

While I held onto hope, there was also the looming possibility of not being able to make it this year. I remember a couple of times Charles (le-hubby) wondered “isn’t there a point where we get to and we decide its not working, let’s move to plan B?”. And I would be thinking (and would say it in so many varied ways) “nope… not until we got to the very end, until we had tried every possible option and all did not work”. While I am usually the queen of plan B’s, I can be quite biased when it is something that I am determined to get and focused on. In such a case, the plan B’s only work on that particular focus.

Long story short, two weeks before our move is when we got key confirmations. Charles had to make snap arrangements for housing and to u-haul our stuff a week before we arrived. That meant packing up and making the six hour ride from Hagerstown, Maryland to Ithaca, New york.  I got my visa and purchased my ticket six days before we (Miss N and I) traveled from Kenya. The most expensive one way ticket I have ever purchased!

I think the key thing was to stay ready, to prepare as though it was going to work whether it did or not. To borrow a leaf from the farmer, who tills their land, sows their seed and does everything possible not sure if at all it would rain or if the locusts (or other pests) would invade or if at all the labor put in would yield. That’s what we did, did everything possible, pursued every possible avenue and then waited… and well, here we are!

And so officially, we have a new diary… It is now “greetings from Ithaca, New York!” We are surrounded by gorges and lakes and beautiful views all around. We look forward to exploring it all. Plus, we are glad to be part of the Cornell community! The fact that it has been rated as among the top ten best college towns to live in should compensate for the possible drop in temperatures we are likely to experience?!

You are welcome to follow and can hang with us on this journey :-) !