University of York!

As most of you know I have been chasing after a few dreams of mine for the last few years. The first of which being my dream to experience life in Europe. I have had a fascination with Europe, England in particular, for as long as I can remember. In 2005, I visited my brother when he was studying in France and absolutely fell in love - not so much with Paris, but with London during my short stay there before heading to Paris. From the moment I arrived in London, I just felt different. I do not know how to better describe it - London instantly felt like a place I needed to be and never wanted to leave.

The second dream I have been chasing is that of my PhD. Psychology has been my passion since my first day of undergraduate studies at the University of Texas. After receiving my B.A. I applied to numerous PhD and M.A. programs and ended up studying at Santa Clara University. I graduated with my M.A. in Counseling earlier last year - however I had still not attained that elusive PhD. After graduating I set my sights on graduate programs and naturally my sights were set on England.

Initially I was interested in studying at Cambridge. I began browsing the faulty sites looking for a potential supervisor. I needed to find someone whose research I found interesting who would in turn find my research ideas interesting. It did not take long for me to find the perfect candidate. I e-mailed the professor and waited to hear back. The response was sort of bittersweet. He was interested in my proposed research (Yay!) however he was not teaching at Cambridge anymore - he was now a professor at the University of York.

Knowing nothing about this university except that it was in England and my potential supervisor was located there, I began my research. Lo and behold the University of York is recognized as one of the top research schools in the world - just what I was looking for! My heart has always been with the research side of psychology and to have the opportunity to be at an establishment with world class researchers is something most people in my field could only dream of. In my mind getting accepted to such a prestigious university was a long shot - but hey, I had to try. The professor was interested in my research (which is really hard to find), it is a university globally recognized for its excellence in research, and it is a rather small university that really seems more like a community (verses one of those places where you feel you could easily lost in the mix). Every new thing I learned about the University made me more and more drawn to it. So I sent in my application and waited to hear back.

A few weeks later I received word that I was chosen for a telephone interview. I was absolutely excited and terrifyingly nervous. I knew that this was my moment. A collision of two dreams hinged on the outcome of one telephone interview. Getting accepted into a PhD program is difficult on its own, let alone having the chance to interview with your number one choice!

The interview came and I was able to remain calm and answer all of their questions to the best of my ability. With all honesty, after the interview I felt really good. I knew that I had done the best that I could and even if I was not accepted I could feel satisfied with my responses.

Shortly after the interview I got the e-mail saying I had been accepted! I have never felt such pure happiness in my life as I did when I read that e-mail. I could not contain myself at that point - I start crying like a baby. They were tears of happiness and relief. Everything I have worked for and everything I have hoped for have finally come to fruition in a way better than I could have ever dreamed for myself.

This is my moment - it is finally here. These next few years will change my life forever and I feel incredibly blessed to be one of the few people in the world who get to actually live out their dreams.

All there is left to do is secure my funding so I can let out a sigh of relief and finally realize that I am not dreaming (my acceptance was contingent upon funding). I need to prove that I can pay for my education before they will give me a full acceptance which I need so I can proceed with my visa application. I have applied for all the loans and all the scholarships I can find...so the waiting game begins again.