Hello.

:)

I think I'm better of saying who I am at first, therefore my name is Kasia, I live in Lisburn and currently I'm a Foundation Degree in Science iMedia student. On top of that in August of this year (2013) I will be going to America for a year to study!
I know!I think that is the main reason why I decided to create this blog, usually I wouldn't bother myself with that, I prefer to read blogs! But... no, I think it's something I can look back in few years time.

So, how did I manage to get on SUSA (Study USA) programme?

Well let me get back in time, till about October of 2012, because that is when I firstly heard about SUSA while I was in my class and our tutor gave us a brief speech about this fantastic opportunity to study abroad. I thought to myself "Hmm I don't think I will manage/ get to go/ nooo it's definitely not for me". So I then have carried on with my daily routine of getting up at 6:30am in order to get ready and catch my train to Belfast, until I received an e-mail from my tutor saying:

"Study USA programme is open for all first year HE students this year and the first meeting is Thursday 18th October at 1.30pm in Lecture theatre."

So I thought to myself (I tend to do that a lot!) Why not? What if? I had to be stupid not to apply, because even if I did not get through, I would regret that I did not even try. Therefore I have decided to go to that meeting! Which eventually went smoothly and I was able to find out a little bit more about the programme and speak to some previous students who have went. I was really motivated at this point and decided to apply and hope for the best!

As I was on my way to college, on my usual Lisburn>Belfast train I have received an e-mail and as per usual I thought it was one of them spam messages but out of curiosity I still checked it. To my surprise it was an e-mail from SUSA team, saying:

"Thank you for your application to be considered for a place on the Study USA programme. Following the recent short-listing process, I am pleased to inform you that your application has been successful in progressing to the next stage of the selection process. We would now like to invite you to attend an interview."

My face lit up! I couldn't believe it! I smiled like crazy from one ear to another, random people on the train sitting beside me gave me some strange looks, but if they only knew what my e-mail said lol!

Interview

I was preparing hard for my interview, reviewing my application form, trying to remember everything I had to say. Unfortunately as soon as I walked into an interview room, my nerves decided to erase all the information from my brain, so I panicked a little.
I was interviewed by two lovely people and God! It felt like I was in there for hours! I left the room as soon and decided to go and cool down, think it though and hope for the best yet again- as I was still nervous even though my interview was over!

The days were going by and I was getting nervous about not receiving any e-mails. On the 10th of January I went to England on a 3 day residential to Warrington as a part of a extra qualification I was obtaining in Leadership in Peace programme, I didn't think that would be a place and time when I get to hear the best news ever in my life! In all honesty I still have my dairy entries from that day and following day, so here it goes:

Friday, 11th of January,2013.

"What a day it has been! Today I have found out that I will be going to America to study for a year!!!
I'm still in shock! Currently I'm in England, on a weekend residential for OCN Leadership in Peace, and I was calling my brother to see how are things at home and that is when he told me Here, you have an e-mail from SUSA while I was talking to him I was with my dear friend Mary, my face turned white, heart started pounding like mad and I was so nervous to hear what it said that I even think I was unable to breath for a while. So I've asked him to read it to me and the first words I've heard were Congratulations and at that point I automatically started screaming right at Mary's face, suddenly I had her screaming at mine and we just started jumping in one spot, dancing and laughing away!
I think I even got a little bit emotional. This is it! My new journey begins on this day forward."

Saturday, 12th of January, 2013.

I'm still in shock! I still cannot believe it! I think I've read yesterday's e-mail thousand times-just to make sure. I have million thoughts going though my head and numerous "well-done" and "Congrats" messages from all of my friends and family. This is by far my biggest and greatest achievement of my entire- yet short life.

Few days after, when I have finally got used to the thought of me going to America in August I have started looking up the colleges I would like to go to, because I have a matching interview coming up!

K.