Yesterday I said the next time you saw me I would probably be in my new location and I am!
To recap, I started a Masters program in Public Health (MPH) last fall at ECU, which is a good hour and a half from my house (and not an online program). I spent this past year commuting to school, staying with family and friends while I was there during the week. After a while, all of the driving, not having my own space, missing out on important events in my program, AND being away from Nick and the dogs were really starting to get to me. I was exhausted and stressed all the time, and my health was affected because I wasn’t sleeping well, eating too much fast food, and not getting enough exercise from being on the road all the time. Luckily, over the summer I was offered a position as a graduate assistant to one of my favorite professors, which provides enough income to pay for a small apartment… so that’s what I did. I moved into a studio apartment last week and the best part is I get to bring my furbabies! Once I’m all settled in, I’ll share some photos.
I wore this outfit yesterday to an event welcoming the new cohort to the program. I had planned to wear my chambray wedges, but I had to do a lot of walking so I changed into these at the last minute. They’re teal and the cargidan is green, so the wedges probably would have looked better but this worked well enough.
At our event, we had food and drinks and along with meeting new students, we reconnected with current students that we hadn’t seen all summer as they were off doing their own internships all over the place. It was a fun time!
I apologize for the quality of these photos; I know they’re not great but I will play around with the lighting. And when Nick is here, we’ll get some good shots of campus, so I’m really excited about that!
Top: miami via Francesca’s
Cardigan and Jeans: Old Navy
Shoes: Gap
Necklaec: bridesmaid gift from my BFF
Bracelets and Earrings: Old Navy
You look so sweet, Nikki! I totally can relate to your hectic lifestyle right now. For my second year of my grad program last year, I had to do a year long internship. Both of my internship sites were an hour+ from my house, plus I worked and was taking 12 credits. I wound up sleeping at my parent’s house when I was at my internship, but Kevin and I were effectively in a long-distance relationship, which totally sucked. I’m glad you were able to work something out that will lessen your stress!!
Lovely outfit! x
Thank you, Ting!
At least in that lighting your shoes look fine with the cardigan!
I have a friend who used to commute 1.5 hours each way to work. Granted, much of it was on the train but I thought it was a ridiculous commute. Now she works from home about 75% of the time so she doesn’t have to do it as often, but still! I’d want to move to closer to work!
Thanks, Erin! I agree that 1.5 hours is a ridiculous commute. I guess I didn’t quite comprehend what I was getting myself into when I enrolled because I was just so excited about getting back to school. I graduate in May so I think these next 8-9 months will go by really quickly because I’ll be super busy, especially since I’m getting started on my thesis. When I’m finished, I’m definitely going to look for jobs at home!