Change is in the air

The day after the Annual Research Seminar closed, I awoke at dawn to find myself covered in goosebumps. The monsoon season ended as suddenly as it began and we are now entering an Indian Fall.

Instead of waking sweaty and stuffy, I now feel the crispness of morning fog rolling in through my window. There is a lake below and beyond my room and now that the mornings are fresh, I often greet the sun watching cormorants and kingfishers sweep the glassy surface for their morning feast of water skeeters and dragonflies. The days continue to be hot, but as the sun sinks low in the sky I give thanks for the coolness of the changing season, which offers relief from the sweltering heat and pouring rain that made Dehradun a sauna during the monsoon.

Transition is in the air. I have only one more month at the Wildlife Institute of India and I am rushing to finish the list of objectives I made for myself seven months ago. I am mid-way through completing a report for WII on my study, and once that is done I will hopefully write a popular article for the public about my field experiences.

My graduate school applications are also under way. I will be applying to nine schools throughout the US. Transcripts, GRE score reports, letters of recommendation, statements of purpose...I had forgotten how time consuming applications can be, and so I am juggling multiple responsibilities while struggling to stay present and make the most of my last few weeks in India.

Finally, I was just offered a job to work as a research assistant at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum with a senior researcher who studies squirrels, so it appears as though I will be heading back to Washington, D.C. after the holidays. I will be searching for an apartment, and if you or anyone you know is seeking an apartment-mate in the central DC area beginning in January, please contact me.

What a wild world we live in! On my graduation day from CMC, I never would have predicted I'd have seen and done all that I have over this past year, and it seems as though the universe is continuing to smile down and take me forward. May we all feel this alive and remember to recall these fruitful moments throughout the seasons of our lives.