Boston University

I have officially been accepted into the Boston University Master of Public Health program with a concentration in International Health, and my hope would be to focus on Sex, Sexulaity, Gender, and Health. A mouth full, but exactly the focus I want. I also was very fortunate to receive a merit scholarship, which helps make the decision a little bit easier, but I’m still not 100% sure if I’m going to go.

Why you ask? Well, that’s a complicated question.

While I know this is the program I want to do, it’s more of a question of do I want to do it right now? Or should I wait until next fall?

As most of you know, my plan was to head to Africa, not take a causal year off before grad school. While it wasn’t what I had intended, having time off was kind of a blessing in disguise. It allowed me to take a month in Europe, visit friends in DC multiple times, go to Arizona for two weeks, and just generally lead a pretty low key existence.

I got my acceptance email and I panicked. Do I want to do this yet? If I took another year I could visit Natalie in Panama, or Lauren in California, or go back to Europe and explore some more with Hannah. I could take more time to travel and volunteer, all without having the ridiculous amount of student loan payments that grad school will add to my plate.

Then there is the questioning of financing. While BU is a great program, it isn’t cheap. I know as a grad student I won't have any problem finding someone to give me a loan, but how will I ever pay them back? Should I work full time and go to school part time to try to spread out the payments? What if I just took the loans, hammered school out in 3 semesters and then started paying? What if I took a year off to save some more? The last thought is just laughable because if I’m not in school, I’m going to be travelling, not saving.

As you can see, I have a lot to think about and mull over. I’m stressing myself in circles, which really isn’t much of a surprise. I’m waiting for my financial aid packet, and for the accepted students day on campus at the end of April before I make any official decisions.