I am glowing.  So much so that I bet you could see it from another country—like the US.  That’s right, I’m abroad again and re-kindling my intentions to maintain this blog.  I should really be saying that I am “abroad” because my move to Toronto at the beginning of the month is not quite the same as having an ocean of distance away from the world I know.

But, why am I glowing?  Because life is unbelievably good—and it has been for months.  I cannot explain why so many wonderful things have happened to me, but for once in my life, I am not going to question it.  Just when I think things couldn’t be more wonderful, another opportunity or beautiful, little moment meets me and all I can do is glow.

I graduated from Penn with a bang.  Academically, this year was my strongest of my undergraduate career and I made the Dean’s List (3.7 or higher, over both semesters) for my very first time.  After a rocky start my freshman and sophomore years, I set the goal of graduating Cum Laude–which I achieved.  I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with Spanish language certification and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Computer and Cognitive Science with a minor in Mathematics.  As you know, I even managed to study abroad and be active in a bunch of fun, extracurricular activities.  Getting into all my top graduate schools with generous funding packages was a huge surprise, as I wasn’t even sure I would get accepted to a program at application submission time.

Deciding which school to attend was a very difficult process for me, but I am pleased to report that I am will be attending the University of Toronto in the fall.  Despite having to follow-through on all my commitments as a second-semester senior at Penn, my mind has been focused on graduate school and Toronto for months.  I was so excited to start that within two weeks of graduation, I moved to Toronto to begin research and discovering the city of Toronto.

With this momentum, I set extremely high expectations for Toronto and my new life here as a computer science (well, to be more specific, “human-computer interaction”) graduate  student.    As a grad student, I am looking forward to research, teaching and mentoring, collaborations and international travel (yes, that does not mean just to the US).   I love that I am becoming a member of community of people who share the same passions as I do (i.e. the study of people and applications of technology for our daily, personal health needs).  For years I have been searching for an outlet to do this kind of work, but not until a few months ago did I know this community even existed!

And, even after such a short period of time, I am thrilled to report that all my expectations have been met, if not exceeded.  I love the food/restaurant scene, the Canadian mentality and lifestyle, the bustling cultural diversity (more than 50% of the city is not Canadian, compared to ~30% of NYC), my advisor and academic colleagues, and even relishing Canadian accents.  Public transit, curling, museums, funky stores, specialty shops, Broadway shows and concerts abound.  Sure, I have to deal with the Canadian obsession with hockey and the blurbs of French on all the labels, as well as the annoying logistics of securing a bank account and credit card, student visa, new cell phone plan and the annoyance of dealing with two currencies.  But it’s all worth it to me, so far.  Being a quick train ride away from home is a luxury I will certainly take advantage of.  I do love it here so much.

I lose myself in every moment.  I rarely look at my watch; time flies.  I feel like I am living a dream—but this is better because it’s real.  Can you sense my glow across the border yet?