A Chance at the Irish

My "personal statement" to go abroad was due on Monday. For prosperity, and in the event of another hard drive failure, I'm posting it here as well. I should note that I am fairly sure I won't be getting in; my gpa isn't that low, but the downward trend isn't exactly helping things. As per usual, the below is full of pretentious bullshit and does not reflect my current mood or thoughts.

My golly gee gosh, isn't it fun to act positive?

Two years ago I gazed over the concourse of Logan Airport, still weary from a day’s travel from my home in California. As my eyes caught the “welcome to Boston” banner, I felt my fists tighten caused by a mix of giddy apprehension and nervous exhaustion. “This is it”, I wrote. “This is where I take the first step towards defining who I am”. Since then I’ve grown academically, intellectually, and emotionally from my travels here in Boston. I view a possible semester in Dublin not just as a new adventure to embark on but as a continuation of my own day-to-day journey to live up to the goals that I have set out to accomplish.

I’ve had an odd affection for United States history for as long as I can remember and learning, analyzing, and experiencing other cultures is my way to try and understand myself and my heritage by exploring outward. Whereas many of my International Relations peers see selected classes as the next object on their How to Get a Successful Career checklist, I enrolled in International Relations classes simply to broaden my admittedly limited horizons.

Last semester at Boston University my classes left me academically exhausted and intellectually numb. As my once burning desire to devour knowledge became a lackadaisical routine my grades sloped downward ever so slightly. Near the end of the semester, my Intro to Creative Writing professor took me aside and told me to simply sit down with a pen and notebook, and start writing. “Don’t even think,” he told me. “Just let it all flow in one massive pool of emotion and expression”. After filling several notebook pages with scrawled thoughts, it was as if a switch had been flipped. I spent the summer sharpening my craft and I’ve started work on what I hope will one day be my first published novel. I feel reinvigorated and energized again, and I feel that I would excel in a smaller, focused program like the one Dublin offers. A semester abroad in Ireland’s cultural center will only assist me further in igniting my love for the written word.

An internship in which I could somehow gain both a greater understanding of world politics and the craft of writing would be ideal. Hopefully, I could marry my interest in International Relations as an area of study with my desire to write coherently and passionately. When I spent a semester as a journalism student I wrote with far too great vigor and belief to simply report the news as a spectator. However, an internship with some sort of Opinion or Editorial magazine would be a perfect taste of a career that I could easily see myself enjoying and excelling in.

After I graduate I hope to further pursue my interests wherever my career will take me. I’ve begun looking into Creative Writing M.F.A. programs in Boston and back home in California but I’m also interested in exploring Ireland and all of Europe as a home once I have graduated. As always, Dublin represents more than a semester abroad. It is a chance to truly find myself academically and spiritually.