reality

I'm going to take a little break from writing about my internship to discuss something somewhat related.

I've been working two jobs this semester, and I worked over the summer. The point of adding these hours of work is to build enough capital that I can present the New Zealand government with bank statements that prove I have the capability to support myself when I come overseas. From talking to the embassy, I was given the impression I would need about 4,200 dollars.

Four weeks into the semester, I'm actually on track to be close. Luckily for me, my birthday is in late November, I'm graduating in December, and I have a very large, fairly generous family, which means that I'll be getting one last big monetary push. All of this amounts to the fact that I think I can actually accomplish the impossible, which is to build enough money to go overseas.

I think until now, telling everyone I'm moving back to New Zealand was more of just a case of telling people something enough times that I actually started to believe it too. But it seemed like there were so any obstacles that, if I took the time to really think about it, I didn't honestly believe it. Here I am now, though, set to graduate, with a real opportunity to go, and enough money to do it. Which means I actually have to make a choice.

I could stay in Columbia, which would mean I wouldn't have to find a subleaser for the spring semester. I could continue working the TA lab, and get about 20 hours a week, plus work one or two other jobs. My parents would continue paying for the apartment until the end of that semester, and I could continue my internship for another semester. And on paper, that probably looks like the better way to go.

But on the other hand, I could go now. I could go, and I could really reach for the stars. If everything works out, then I make my parents spend less money, and I get to the end goal faster than before. But that course of action has a far greater risk, which is that i don't get a permanent job, I get shipped back tothe US, and I'm stuck here.

So what do I do, take the safe route, or really shoot for the moon...