pelf-ism is contagious

I will be leaving for US… I’m not very sure how I’m feeling at the moment — it must be a mix between excited, scared and I don’t know, perhaps worried..??

I am excited about my entire US trip because this is the first time I am traveling out of the country by myself. Yeah, I know I’m 27 and all that jazz. I am excited at the prospect of meeting a lot of turtle researchers, and I am excited to actually “see” US for the first time. But of course, I am also excited at the opportunity to visit so many places — Chicago, Tennessee, southern California, New Jersey and Florida — in one trip. Plus, I am also excited at the possibility of meeting a turtle scientist in Nova Scotia, Canada

But at the same time, I am also feeling a little scared because this is the first time I will be away from home for such a long time. This is the first time I will be arriving at a country where nobody knows me. This is the first time I will be taking care of myself and all my belongings..

I am worried about my Mum. And my cutie pie sister because she is graduating in a couple of months, and I won’t be able to make it to her convocation I should have been around to guide her upon graduation, you know, to help her find jobs, to give her suggestions and recommendations on how to get things done and other stuff that an elder sister is expected to do. Instead, I would be in another country 12 hours away

I am truly grateful to be given such a golden opportunity, and I would like to record my heartfelt thanks to the Asian Scholarship Program for in-situ Chelonian Conservation, to all my sponsors (I hope I get to know who you are and thank you personally), and to William, the Program Director. Thank you for answering my non-stop questions, and thank you also for getting me my air tickets and co-ordinating my trip and for everything in between. Thank you for making this possible for me

To my blog readers and visitors, thank you for the continuous encouragement and support. You guys are my biggest inspiration I will continue to post updates here whenever possible, so do keep in touch yea?

Remember I said I was going to the USA? Now, here’s the story:

I have been awarded a scholarship to undergo a turtle conservation training in the USA by the Asian Scholarship Program for in situ Chelonian Conservation. The scholarship is only awarded to two participants from the Asian countries every year, since the inception in 2000. I am the first participant to represent Malaysia, and the other participant is a male Laotian student who is doing his Master’s.

It is a 4-month scholarship, and involves professional training in the conservation of turtles (including sea turtles, freshwater turtles and tortoises, I presume). The flow of the program has yet to be finalized but according to the Director of the Program, we (the Laotian Cambodian student and I) would be spending one month visiting turtle scientists and turtle research centers in New Jersey, Tennessee, Florida and maybe California.

And the remaining 3 months would be spent at the Wetlands Institute at Stone Harbor, New Jersey. The training will be conducted at the Wetlands Institute, together with other local participants.

I am not sure how the program is going to be like, so I really can’t be making plans to meet anybody in the US. Plus, I would be under the care of the Director of the Program, so it might not be a very good idea to “go out and meet friends I’ve never met”, if you know what I mean But if it’s convenient for you to come and see me, I am sure it wouldn’t be too much a problem (directions to the Wetlands Institute)

But I need a favour from you guys..

I have applied for a US Visa online, and my interview at the US Embassy has been scheduled for next week. Have you applied for a US Visa recently? How did the interview go? What were the questions that were asked? Was it tough?

Please share with me your interview stories!

I passed my viva this morning, but of course, with minor corrections here and there The defense went on pretty smoothly and I am truly glad that my Supervisors and External Examiner could see, and believed, that I had put in a lot of work into my research and the thesis.

A BIG THANK YOU to those who send their good luck wishes and loves, I got them all!

And tonight, we’re off to video-tape the river terrapins lay eggs! How exciting!

*woot*