I always held to the belief that monsters waited until Halloween to show up, but I was wrong: as it turns out, horror is more of an everyday occurance than I thought. Yes, that's right, I'm applying for graduate school. Anyone who knows me knows that I hate applying for things, mostly because I harbor a deep belief that I should just be accepted based on some innate ability that will become painfully obvious to those assigned to discover how incredible I am, both as a human being and student. Most of that is a lie, all except the belief in immediate acceptance, that is.

Don't get me wrong, I respect the idea of an application process (there has to be some vetting, even if it is theoretical), but after spending four years in college and four days with the Fulbright crowd in Berlin, I have to say that, well.....you've all talked to people at college parties, you know what I mean. But maybe I'm just being unreasonable. I mean, who doesn't like trying to fit 1) My formal and informal experience with the German language, including visitations and time abroad, 2) Reasons for wanting to study said language, 3) How I heard of the program, 4) And my career plans in two hundred words. For you word processor neophytes out there, that's less than a page. Happy hyper-concise writing time! And it wouldn't be all that bad if my word processor HAD A WORD COUNT FEATURE! Good times.

But the pain will all be over soon, and then, hopefully, I'll be in grad school, waiting for my next application opportunity to come around. Ah, the rhythms of an early 21st century nerd. Take that solar calender!