decision made

Well, today was one of those days where I didn't know whether to be encouraged or discouraged at various points, but it ended well.

Quiz Bowl practice was fun...I'm coaching the varsity team this weekend at a tournament at MSU. I think they're not going to do stupendously well, but they're quite excited about going, between getting to play Quiz Bowl, dress up (it's all girls, so we decided to go dressy as opposed to wearing the team shirts), and get ice cream at Coldstone Creamery (I suggested that they actually eat lunch as well, but they haven't sounded as excited about that).

Then I came home and called 41 different school districts about their summer migrant education programs. Two said that they'd send me applications for a paraprofessional position (thanks to No Child Left Behind, I'm not qualified for a teaching position due to lack of certification, even though I have teaching experience). Several more said that they don't know what their funding's going to look like for the summer, but I can call back in April. Quite a few more said that they either wouldn't have openings or didn't have a summer program. And I left a lot of phone messages for people. It was not an encouraging afternoon, except that I was able to cross a lot of options off my "Plans for Summer" list.

But then I checked my email and found out that I've officially been offered a research assistantship for MSU this fall, 10 hours a week for a professor who wants me to transcribe data in Ukrainian and 10 hours a week for another prof as of yet to be determined. It'll cover tuition, plus a stipend. So I finally made up my mind...I'm going to be a Spartan again! I'm excited; the pieces have really fallen into place here.