Brooklyn Rob Goes to College

and other developments since July

I won’t start this post with an apology for how long it’s been since I last blogged. You’re just gonna have to get used to it, Internet. Anyway, a lot has changed since I saw you last. Today makes six weeks in Brooklyn. It really hasn’t been near as difficult to adjust as I might have thought. Everything is different, for sure, but so far I haven’t encountered anything too tough to overcome.

By now I know everyone is dying for me to get on with it and address the one glaring question on their minds, and the answer is yes, I got a bike. A beautiful, light, new and shiny bike. If I knew how to post pictures on this thing, you could see her now.

Like right here.

But I don’t. It’s awesome though. I bought it in the boonies, way out east of Queens, at a place called Roberts Bicycles. I earned my stripes coming back, too. It was over ten miles from up there back down to the apartment, and I didn’t really know where I was going the whole time. That was pretty brutal. I probably got more exercise that day than in the entire last year. I made it safely back, though, and now I’ve been riding that puppy all over the city. I’ve even ridden to work a few times, which includes an incredible stint over the Brooklyn Bridge. When I ride over that bridge I probably feel more at home than anytime else, especially when there are a bunch of tourists I can yell at to get out of my way. Having a bike here seems comparable to having a car in other places. It’s really the best way to get around a lot of the time. I’m still searching for a way to transport Winston on bike so I can walk him through cool places.

I’ve done some cool free stuff, too, like seeing a Q&A with Maggie Gyllenhaal  and Emma Thompson at the Apple Store in SoHo. They were talking about Nanny McPhee Returns, of course, but Erin and I were on the third row and it was sweet. Erin and I also saw a taping of David Letterman last week. That was totally awesome. The guest was Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News, and it was a really interesting interview. They joked around, but also talked at length about many current issues. Oh we also saw Much Ado About Nothing in Central Park. That was fantastic. I’ve wandered around the city a good bit, too. It’s nice just riding around on the bike.

The big news, of course, is that within the last two days I have been accepted to, registered for classes at, and officially started my master’s program with Brooklyn College! It’s been pretty crazy stuff. Originally I had been planning to start this fall, but a few of my application materials never found their way to BC, so I kind of assumed I was too late and set my sights on spring or other options. Well, Wednesday night I was sitting alone at the apartment when my iPhone piped up to tell me I had a new email. I was pretty shocked when I looked and saw it was from Brooklyn College, and they were congratulating me on being accepted to start this fall. The email came at around six, and the Admissions Office was open until seven, so I hopped on my bike and headed down. They said I was totally cleared to register (except for a shot record, which would prove to be a near insurmountable technicality), and so yesterday I spent a good five hours on campus getting everything arranged. It might have taken even less time, but eventually, after calling every place imaginable, I had to give up and get a shot from the clinic because a certain Christian university, which I will respectfully leave here nameless, somehow misplaced my immunization record.

I’ll be pursuing an MA English Teacher in secondary education. The program is a great mix of what I’ve been looking for; I’ll be taking 18 hours of grad English courses, 24 hours of education courses, and spend a year student teaching in the mornings. If all goes according to plan, I’ll be certified and ready to teach in two years. The women in the education department were incredibly great, and with their help I was able to take care of all the essentials yesterday. I start this upcoming week, and will go to class Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings. It’s going to feel very strange starting class again after a more than three year break, but I can’t wait. 

There you have it, my city life thus far. Starting next week I should be pretty busy, but I’ll try to keep posting with my usual frequency (which is to say, with no frequency at all). Cheers.