Monday, February 16, 2009

Free trip to Hawai'i, baby!

Congratulations, you've just won a FREE trip to the beautiful island of O'ahu in Hawai'i!

So I mentioned back in the fall that I was working on applications for grad schools. I ended up applying to three oceanography Ph.D. programs for next fall: MIT-WHOI, University of Maryland (MEES), and University of Hawaii. I haven't heard anything yet from the first two, but I just got a letter (an email, really) inviting me to visit the University of Hawaii next month--on the university's dime--to meet faculty and grad students, to learn about their program, and to be "[introduced] to life on the island"--i.e., they want to bribe me to attend their school with their gorgeous beaches and perfect weather and the friendly island atmosphere and... and waves on the shore... sun... warm breeze... flowers in my hair... aloha spirit... ahhh...

Sorry, I drifted off for a bit there. Hawai'i is amazing. As I mentioned in a post last summer, my grandparents live in Honolulu (my mom spent the second half of her childhood there), so I've visited a number of times, and it is a beautiful, special place. My grandparents would be thrilled to have me out there (all of their children live on the East Coast), especially since I would be there for grad school (bragging rights at the retirement home). But let's not get ahead of ourselves; I still have to hear back from the other schools, and I'll have to visit the ones that want me and see how I like them. But the exciting news of the day is that they are paying to send me to Hawai'i! Aloha, tropical paradise, here I come!


Picture from my last trip to Hawaii

3 comments:

TOPolk said...

I couldn't think of a better way to spend two (or more) years of your life. Sure, MIT is a great school but have you ever been to Massachusetts? :-)

Eleni said...

Actually, I'm from Massachusetts... Just what were you implying? :-)

Still, it would be hard for me to argue that it's a nicer place than Hawaii, though I do happen to enjoy the fall foliage and snow in the winter.

TOPolk said...

Ha! Open foot insert mouth.

And I can agree with you on the foilage, but the snow? No thanks.