Jake and Brenna: WE'RE Going Back to School!

Jake is going back to school in a few weeks to start his Ph.D., and I'm going with him! I have been accepted to a master's program in Apparel, Textiles, and Merchandising at Eastern Michigan University. (Yes, they shorten that to EMU -- funny.) I just got the official word that I have been offered a Graduate Assistant (GA) position, which is basically just a campus job, but receiving one means that the school will cover my tuition and pay me a stipend each semester!

I was accepted a couple of months ago, but I didn't know if I would be going because the non-resident tuition is out of control. I missed the scholarship application deadlines back in February before I even knew EMU existed. So my only chance at a free degree was to get a GA position. Most of them are taken by now, so there was only one that I was qualified for, and I got it!

I will be assisting a professor in the School of Technology Studies. I don't know a ton about the responsibilities yet, but it will mostly be administrative. Oh, and they give me a free parking pass! Awesome!

EMU was founded as Michigan State Normal School. What a funny name! It makes you wonder why it needed that qualifier - normal. Anyway, I haven't explored much on campus, but the buildings I've been to are pretty. I did get a tour of my program's facilities, and they have a lot of cool equipment for studying textiles. Here are some pictures from Wikipedia.

Roosevelt Hall: My advisors office and most of my classes are here.

Starkweather Hall: The oldest building on campus.

Boone Hall: An administrative building.

Pierce Hall: This administrative building has an elevator with windows (the three big ones on the left). It's fun, but the window is always covered in hand and face prints that are taller than you might guess.

I took some of my own photos of the UofM campus when Jake's parents were helping us move. Jake showed us around the north sector of campus where his classes and work will be. Then we went to the central campus where many of the other departments are housed. Jake hates waiting for me to take pictures, but I really like some of the ones that I was able to take below.

This is the Wave Field. It was designed by Maya Lin, the artist who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in DC.

The pictures below are of the law school. It is a very cool building, like something out of Harry Potter. This atrium area lets light into some study areas of the law library.