Before I left for the Peace Corps, I had decided that I wanted to have access to the internet, but I didn't want to actually have it… then I got here and realized how much I value my support network back home (and how cheap it is for me to have internet in my apartment!).

The other day I got to talk to one of my CSM directors from my job in New York City, and it was so incredible. Noelle reminded me how awesome it was (and still is) to watch God orchestrate the entire journey that got me here to Bulgaria. My coworkers only knew me for about 3 months, but they watched as I wrestled with my desire to stay on with CSM or take an internship with another ministry in the City and give up on my dream of Peace Corps altogether, or hold my breath and trust that He had something even more incredible headed my way. Don't get me wrong, there are still days where I look back on the direction I was headed in the states and wonder if I chose the wrong path, but I do also know my heart is back in inner-city America, AND that it will be there ready for me in two years. J

It's so awesome to look back at how everything from my first day at Elon kind of morphed into what got me here to Samokov – from my freshman summer experience with Pre-Serve where I worked at the Boys and Girls Club for the first time, to my first service-learning course which lead to others, which lead to my job with LINCS, which ignited this passion to help my peers dig deeper in the service and see the true, and relatively often hidden at first, resonation of their service. All of that lead me to starting my application with Peace Corps, and a life-changing stop in New York City with CSM where yet again I got to create relationships that really pushed the envelope on reality and the need for SHOWING our love to people who need it the most.

And now here I am, dreaming about what's next.

I know I just started this journey (I'm really only a week in!!), but I've always been a dreamer (not to be confused with a planner J).

In my language proficiency interview, I was asked what I wanted to do after my two years in Peace Corps. The funny thing was that I didn't even know how to answer that question in English! I heard myself saying (in Bulgaria – how strange) that I was definitely going to travel some, and then probably head back to New York or Washington DC. Then I heard myself saying… "and maybe graduate school."

Really? Come on Katie…

That has always been I thought I've immediately removed from the thought sequence as soon as it enters.

And then I realized, that if I found an undergraduate program to meet my needs (you know, one that kept me out of the classroom as much as possible and into the field… haha), then there might just be graduate programs out there that do the same. I also know that there are tons of fellowships available for returned Peace Corps Volunteers.

Including… one at University of Maryland - Baltimore County working on inner city reform and youth development.

And oh yeah, they don't require GRE scores (taking the test is really enough to keep me out of grad school altogether… seriously.)

Cool. J

So here I am, sitting on my comfy little chair in my apartment in Bulgaria, dreaming about what's next.

I know, I know, PATIENCE KATIE.

Cause if He could orchestrate my journey thus far so incredibly, I am soooo excited about what comes next.

Doesn't hurt to dream a little, does it? J