Hey everyone, guess what?!?!?!?

I RECEIVED MY MASTERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH!!!!!!!

This is definitely a big change for me. As you all know, changes are hard. Even a minor change like taking an alternate route to work can take a toll on you.

Well, for me, my graduation marks the biggest change of my life, and it just happens to have the most difficult transitions too.

Here are some of them:

1. Graduating with a Master of Public Health, which means that I will be out of school for the first time since Kindergarten.
2. My work contract with UMD ended, which marks the first time I don’t have a regular job in 10 years. I feel so aloof and free.
3. I have been accepted to serve in the Peace Corps in Cambodia, which I will leave for on July 14th once/if I get my medical clearance. Leaving itself is hard because the service in Cambodia will be 27 months. I will also be in rural parts of Cambodia so life sure will be different from my first world experiences in Maryland. There are also differences in time zone, language, culture, weather, food, and so much more! Most of all, I will be away from everyone I love.
4. My family and I moved to a new house this month right around the time of finals and graduation. This has been extra exhausting because we have family from Myanmar visiting and staying with us for my graduation and a few weeks following it. We finished installing carpets on the day of their arrival, put door knobs on doors two days into their stay, and so on.
5. I am constantly dealing with my diabetes and hypertension. Due to the stress of finals, graduation, finishing up my job, and renovating and moving to the new house, I haven’t been able to focus on exercise and food control for the past 2 weeks (finals week + week after graduation) and my weight gain has been apparent (thanks to unfortunate genes)! This is bad for my diabetes and hypertension. This is also bad for my medical clearance for the Peace Corps!

Becoming a post-grad is like leaving a comfortable nest. It’s definitely an exciting and nerve-wrecking time in my life, but I see it as an adventure. Makes life more interesting that way, I suppose.

I don’t feel ready to become a full time “adult”, but I guess we all feel this way when we are done with school. I don’t think any of us are truly prepared to go into “the real world” once we graduate, but I guess that’s part of growing up!

To those who are about to start their new jobs after college, congratulations!

To those who are still on a job search or waiting on that grad school acceptance, best of luck!

To those who are in an “aloof” state like me, hang in there! Things will fall into place in time. 🙂

Proud to be a staff member of the UMD School of Public Health for the past 4 years