Life?! What is this life you speak of?

[mis_creation]

I blame you, Ryan, for egging me on. Not that I hadn't thought about it, but now I'm actively researching it.

But how exactly does one go about moving to a whole new place where one has no family?

Moving to the UP was easy; I had my aunt, uncle and cousins up there, built-in support network.

But I'm looking at the information for UW-Madison, and I've gotta say I like their programs, and I like the sound of Madison.

Applications for their Fall 2010 session begin this month. I need three letters of recommendation, transcripts, a personal statement, my resume and the application forms. I actually don't think the letters of recommendation are going to be that hard (it hasn't been that long since I was at NMU and a couple of my profs should remember me, I think..., and one of the reference librarians I'm pretty sure would write me a letter), the resume is pathetic, aside from my library job.

And there's two options, really. University of Wisconsin is starting a distance education for its library/information science program, so I could apply for that. Which would mean I don't have to give up the job I love. But on the other hand, moving to another place might be what I need to kick my life into gear.

Going back to school in a year might be doable. But if I can move and start all over, it might be even better...

Anyone on my flist have stories about this? Just going and starting over?

Comments

[darksylvia.livejournal.com]

I just did it. It wasn't so bad. And it would be even easier if you were going to a school, because you'd have a built-in way to meet new people!

[mis-creation.livejournal.com]

But how? I'm worried about the logistics. I have almost nothing in savings, though I imagine I could get more...

Did you get a job there before you went? If so, how do you do that and how did employers react to someone out-of-area applying?

What about housing? Did you know people in the area? Did you just go and figure it out when you got there?

Sorry for the barrage...

[darksylvia.livejournal.com]

I did have some savings, but it was mostly just from my last paycheck when I didn't have to pay rent because I'd ended my lease.

I didn't have a job, I just looked for one the minute I got here. I did try to apply beforehand, but nothing I applied for responded until I was actually here, hah.

I was prepared to just go apartment hunting, but a friend of mine in Seattle said "Hey, one of my friends just lost her roommate, you should go meet her." We got along, and I could afford the rent, so I moved in.

I didn't really know anyone here. My uncle lives two hours away, but I didn't know anybody nearby. It took about four months for me to make actual friends, though.

[dukerevolution.livejournal.com]

Part of going somewhere to start over is just throwing SOME caution to the wind and just going. I know it's hard for rational people like you and me to accept, but it's how I ended up at Northern in the first place. I didn't budget for it, I saved just enough for the first semester, and then I was going to rely on the winds of fate. And as it turned out, I only graduated with $11,000 in student loans to repay, so it worked out well.

My only job to speak of was donating plasma, and I usually just spent that money on beer. They do say, though, that people who work while they go to school end up doing better. Something about time management or something...

I gotta say, though, that Mad-Town is one big hippie village from what I've heard. Kinda rowdy. Just a fair warning.

[mis-creation.livejournal.com]

Hey, that's almost exactly what I had in student loans!

The one semester I had a job it was more a pain in the ass than anything else. It added an extra 20 minutes on my daily walking time, though...

Yeah, I know that about Madison. But I figure I can just hang out in the library or other geek-friendly place. Or be a total recluse and just exist online. Oh, wait...

I don't know that I'll actually do it, but if I do I want something at least half resembling a plan...Other than the school thing. I couldn't live in a dorm because of Nefret.

[ayla-britestar.livejournal.com]

While I don't think I have any relevant life experiences/advice to give you, I will say that I think you are an incredibly smart, capable woman who can deal and in fact thrive should you decide to relocate and start over elsewhere. I don't think you'll have any trouble making friends wherever you go, so best of luck with whatever you decide!

[midnightsmagic.livejournal.com]

Hi, it's me again. Saw this entry and felt like reassuring you about grad school at Madison some more. :P

I moved to Madison from Minnesota, knowing absolutely no one here. And I was actually at school in Illinois during the checking out the school, deciding to attend, and finding a place to live parts of the process. Not gonna lie, it was pretty stressful. But it ended up working well. I'm still semi-friendless, but I've only been here three weeks and classes just started and I'm just a generally shy person, so I'm not real worried about that. There are abundant social opportunities through both SLIS and the graduate school as a whole which I fully intend to take advantage of.

For housing I looked mostly at craigslist ads, then planned a weekend trip up to check out several places. But a whole bunch of my classmates either rented places sight unseen or just showed up and did apartment hunting when they got here. Some of the new SLIS students roomed together (facilitated by the Student Services Coordinator), which I think would have been a pretty sweet deal.

My resume seemed pretty pathetic to me--my work experience had consisted of my undergrad library job, working as a temp in my mom's office, and some random summer temp jobs over the years. The trick, I think, is to play up your library experience and include your library-related skills (Library of Congress and/or Dewey Decimal Classification systems? Familiarity with a content management system like Voyager or Horizon or whatever the heck your library uses to catalog and circulate materials? Ability to calmly answer crazy questions from unstable patrons?).

I applied for a few jobs before moving, then moved a few weeks before the start of classes so I'd have an opportunity to interview and do more intensive job hunting. The real flurry of job openings and deadlines seemed to happen right in mid August, so that strategy worked out well.

I'd heard that Madison was full of rowdy undergrads, and I'm sure that's true to an extent, but it's really not that hard to avoid them. There are more than enough people who aren't out drinking until they throw up every weekend to sort of negate the effect of the ones who do. There are plenty of homebody nerds here. I am one of them. Many of my fellow library students seem similarly inclined. Just don't rent an apartment downtown, especially anything that seems to imply that the nearness of State Street is a perk.

Now I'm going to stop writing treatises on what life as a Madison SLIS student is like and go to bed.

I'm pleased to make your acquaintance. :P

[mis-creation.livejournal.com]

By all means, reassure away! Goodness knows, I'm so wishy-washy I could use all the assurance I can get!

Ability to calmly answer crazy questions from unstable patrons?

Made me laugh. We do get some characters in our profession, don't we? I'm glad I've got something of a leg-up on others entering the program, though, if a lot of people apply without any previous library work.

I'm not too worried about avoiding the drunk people, since I don't drink at all and am disinclined to go places where people are drinking.

Actually, at this point it's looking more likely I'll end up entering the distance education masters they're offering starting in 2010, since it'd be cheaper and I could continue in my current job. And I usually take the easy way out since I am essentially a chicken...

Still, I quite appreciate the information and advice you've given me. Thank you so much for all of it, and I look forward to hearing more about your time in Madison!

PS Love the Ford quote.