Living the Doogie Howser Dream

Hello all!

So after many musings and throwing around the idea of starting a blog to properly archive and share the (mis)adventures I'm about to embark on...I've done it! I've started a blog. Living the Doogie Howser dream!!! Yes! For those of you who don't know me too well...I'm leaving on January 16th 2007 to begin a 2 year stint at the University of Pretoria in South Africa as a Rotary Foundation Ambassador of Peace and Goodwill. I've been called many things in my days, but Ambassador of Peace and Goodwill is by far the best. I hope I am what you expected...and more :) Many many thanks to the Urbana Rotary club and District 6490 for seeing fit to invest in my education and future...couldn't do it without you!!!!

You can check out Urbana Rotary at:

http://urbana.rotary6490.org/index.html

You can check out the Rotary club as a whole at:

www.rotary.org

Basically, my understanding of the Rotary club is that they are a worldwide service organization made up of business professionals. They focus on community development at home and abroad in everything from business to health to the environment. They also heavily focus on networking locally and internationally. I consider them the ultimate grassroots organization because although they work within a larger structure followed by all clubs worldwide, clubs are able to locally decide what they want to do. For example a club in Urbana, IL can come together with a club in Lilongwe, Malawi to work on projects or just to have a fellowship with one another. Rotary is non-denominational and non-political as a rule...which is probably why they have been as successful as they have been. There's probably more I'm leaving out...but that's my understanding in a nutshell. Honestly when I read over the philosophies of the organization at the time I applied for the scholarship I was really excited because they seemed to be right up my alley with what I'm after in this life. This is going to be a beautiful partnership!

I will be studying veterinary medicine at the University of Pretoria in Pretoria, South Africa. You might be thinking "Why the heck is she going to South Africa for vet school? Aren't there plenty of great vet schools in the USA?" Yeah there are, but I'm after something more. Something it would take longer to explain than the pixels available to me. The short answer is that I'm interested in wildlife/conservation medicine as well as working in a more international context. I figured the best way to test my plan is to just go to school in another country. And, really, what better country is there to study conservation/wildlife than South Africa? If you think of a better one, let me know. My degree program is actually 6 years long, but right now I have funding for just 2 years. I figure I've got about 2 years to find more scholarship money because I definitely can't pay for it all myself. Seriously...if you know of anyone that wants to sponsor me or have any hot tips on scholarships...PLEASE email me! I hope I can continue after 2 years, but even if I can't I know that failure in the sense of degree-earning will still be a victory for me. I'm sure that doors will open in a 2 year span...if opportunities don't arise then please check your thermometers cos hell may have frozen over ;)

You can see a map of where Pretoria is if you click on the link below:

http://www.suncape.com/maps.php?ln=en

On the map, Pretoria is just W of the pink country (Swaziland). It's about 45 minutes NE of Johannesburg, if that helps out. The Rotary district I will be hosted by includes all of Botswana, the SW portion of Mozambique, and the NE portion of South Africa. Man am I going to enjoy travelling around and meeting folks in that geographic area!!! What a great responsibility :) Networking rocks!!!

I wish I could give you more details, but at the moment the future is unwritten. A blessing and a curse indeed. It hasn't been easy to get all my affairs together in the last few months (some of you can certainly attest to how crazy I've been...sorry Mom!!) but ultimately I know that it's just part of the trials one must face. When you want more...you will be tested. Heck if all this stress was too much I could easily choose to relieve the pressure by just pulling out, but then where would I be? Sitting on the couch waiting for the next day of work and the next weekend relief. I choose more. I choose life.

Please stay posted to my blog! I'll try to update it with photos and what not as the days go by. And for all you friends and fam out there fiending for my (ir)regular email updates...stay tuned. I'll have one out soon. I'll just post it up here and then your email box won't be cluttered with all my words. Machewe...you finally can save on those gallons and gallons of ink that you tease me about.

Hope you had a happy holiday and all the best in 2007. I have a feeling it's going to be a good one!!!

Love Lynsee