...and then came June

Don't get me wrong, my six months of happiness did not fade, and my life didn't suddenly start to suck or anything...but it's been a long week.

June 1 I started my new Evaluation/Research Graduate Assistantship position. For anyone who was at all involved in Student Affairs in Missouri, I'm the GRA for Partners in Prevention--you know, the group that tries to get college kids to not act like idiots (yes, there's a state-wide group for that). We send out the pamphlets in the Summer Welcome program packet, give out free things on campus, and attempt to raise awareness of risky behaviors (and many, many, MANY other things). It's completely grant-funded (which is awesome), is paying for my tuition (also awesome) and health insurance starting in August (doubly awesome). Not to mention, it will be similar to what I think I want to do once I graduate--work with evaluation/research of non-profits/programs/agencies/public policies--so that's a plus.

So far, it's not going to bad. I'm a little overwhelmed in that I'm nervous that I'm slow, but I have to keep reminding myself that everyone I'm working with has been there longer than I am, and actually knows the information off the top of their head because they've been working with it longer than two weeks. But I'm competitive, and don't like to not be excellent at things, so it's taking some getting used to...

Last week was a roller coaster of life--most of which cannot yet be told to the great wide world (sorry, stay tuned). But there were definite dips and highs, and I hope that the next few months contain more highs than lows--but I guess that's all you can really ask for out of life anyway. I also spent 4.5 days of my life laying on the couch/in bed with the deathly summer cold (it was miserable!) which was a low also because my older brother (that I get to see once a year) was in town from Arizona--and I was sick the whole time. Our "hanging out" consisted of the family dinner the first night, him sitting and watching TV with me for a bit the next, and a quick drive by to say goodbye on his last day. It's just disappointing to be looking forward to his visit, only to be too miserable to leave the house...

But again, if I can have more positives than negatives in the next little bit, I won't complain too much. Especially if the bf and I get to make it out to visit him soon--or visit Vegas with the whole family...