Into the Wild...Let the Hunt Begin #16

Keeping Busy.

Many of my classmates are still going through their interview processes and it feels weird to have a job lined up because part of me wishes I could participate in the stress and frenzy that they are going through right now, but the other part of my is relieved that I have things settled. I do get to keep myself busy in other ways though.

Now that I have this job, I have begin the reality. This includes relocating all of my things and building a new life in a new place. Trying to find a place to live in another state while still going to graduate school full time and working a 20-hour assistantship and a 10-hour internship is quite difficult. I feel like I'm on craigslist during all my free time. When I'm not at work or doing homework for school, I'm perusing the site for viable (and affordable) living options. I have craigslist and googlemaps set as my homepages on Firefox because I still need to learn the area and the towns/city that surround my institution. It's so very confusing. I also feel like I've emailed about so many listings that it's hard to keep track of everything. Even more difficult is setting up appointments to visit the place. Because of my work/school schedule right now, I really cannot afford to make a trip down there to look at apartments until the weekend of May 7th, if I'm being realistic. If I really want to push myself, I can try for the weekend of April 30th, but it'd be pretty tight. Many of the places I've inquired about are asking me to call just a few days before I arrive, whenever that will be, because they cannot guarantee that what I'm looking at will be available when I can come visit. Apparently, real estate down there moves pretty quickly.

For those of you who are accepting job offers and will not be provided on-campus housing, take a tip from me and do your research! I was lucky enough to get a listing of areas from a current employee so I could narrow down my options to the safer and nicer areas to live in near the school. This really helped me in my search, and I was able to find what types of businesses are around these towns. Think about everything: laundry, gym, parks, grocery stores, shopping malls, restaurants, bars, entertainment, etc. I'm finding that there are a few places that stick out to me and fit with my living style, and I'm excited to make a trip down there to see these potential places. It's stressful, but fingers crossed that I will get my very own apartment very soon!