I found out yesterday via mail that I have been accepted into the Doctoral program at the University of Texas studying GeoPhysics.

I'm very happy and excited to tell you all. I've been waiting to hear back for some time, and finally it came through.

you can read a little about what I will be doing here
http://www.blog.crosscountryadventures.us/

I was also accepted to Texas A&M and the University of Missouri in St. Louis. Both would have been great choices for me, but this is more on par with what I wanted. Then last December I turned down A&M in a gamble hoping to be later accepted into UT. I had to wait nearly 4 months, but the gamble paid off. I'm ecstatic.

One other super benefit is that the school will pay all of my tuition and fees. So for the next 5 years I am guaranteed a paycheck and free school. The pay is not the main factor, but when you add that to the cost of a doctorate it looks really good on paper. Travel will be included in this job, and we expect to fly to New Zealand and then Antarctica twice during the 5 years. My research will be down there, and I'll probably spend most of their summer, our winter, standing on 3 miles thick of ice!



One day I'll be Dr. Crosscountry. I'm so excited!

__________________
"I will do my best to understand and explain the universe from big to small without invoking miracles, unrepeatable events, or divine intervention. In place of those things I will use observations, mathematics, and science."


-Cross
My travel blog

Some of my Astrophotography


Those that lack education have a hard time understanding its value. - Cross

Congratulations!

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Microsoft is over if you want it.

The bar has been lowered for the promotion of ATM ideas; the bar for the acceptance of ATM ideas must remain high.

Very cool. Congrats

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At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009
All moderation in purple

Sincere congratulations, Crosscountry. You'll have half a decade to decide which fast-food place to work at when you're done!

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If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers.

The scary part is just how much truth may be in those words these days...

UT Austin? Great school - I went there for four years.

Congrats!

Congrats! Hopefully you won't be adverse to sharing with us the knowledge you gain during and after your phd studies. And I look forward to reading about your adventures out in Antarctica!

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"It's over you head now. Time to get some professional help." - My fortune cookie from lunch

Ned Wright's Cosmology Tutorial

Usenet Physics FAQ

Though I think you could have an equally sucessful career as a writer, I give my best congradulations to you, Sir Crosscountry (as opposed, I guess, to my worst congradulations? *shrug*).

I hope you don't plan on touring the antarctic countryside on the back of your bike aswell.

__________________

I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.
"In order to increase awareness of the homeless, security have been given binoculars."

This is very good news. Congratulations!

Thanks everyone. I'm really proud to share this.






No Motorcycle, but we'll cover a lot of area by plane, and for my ground based needs they offer 4-wheelers


Speaking of writing, it's been a while, and I've got another story to tell. Maybe this weekend (I'm going to watch a concert tonight) I'll warm up the keyboard.

__________________
"I will do my best to understand and explain the universe from big to small without invoking miracles, unrepeatable events, or divine intervention. In place of those things I will use observations, mathematics, and science."


-Cross
My travel blog

Some of my Astrophotography


Those that lack education have a hard time understanding its value. - Cross

Hey, that's great news, cross country (we're going to have to start calling you cross continent soon.)

__________________
And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling [faces] lyin' to ye' everywhere ye' go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

I've crossed a couple on motorcycles. 5 more to go

__________________
"I will do my best to understand and explain the universe from big to small without invoking miracles, unrepeatable events, or divine intervention. In place of those things I will use observations, mathematics, and science."


-Cross
My travel blog

Some of my Astrophotography


Those that lack education have a hard time understanding its value. - Cross

Congratulations!
Still a long way to go. Enyoy it!

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Andre

"They did not know it was impossible, so they did it!"
Mark Twain

Looking forward to it.

I envy you your situation. The world is your oyster, as they say.

I declined an invite to Georgia Tech to get a graduate degree in geochemistry. I regret that somedays. Like today.

Congrats, Dr. Crosscountry! Too bad our usernames can't be edited.

__________________
I want to go back to the moon.
I don't care which rocket you use, whichever one you pick, I'll like it, I swear.
"If you think the LHC will create black holes, you might as well believe Hobbits are at the bottom of your garden."- Dr. Mike Inglis
Rovers forever! - ToSeek

I thought they could. If not, heb'09 has some 'splainin' to do.

I almost didn't apply. The insistence from my Master's adviser made me reconsider. I'm really glad he did now.

__________________
"I will do my best to understand and explain the universe from big to small without invoking miracles, unrepeatable events, or divine intervention. In place of those things I will use observations, mathematics, and science."


-Cross
My travel blog

Some of my Astrophotography


Those that lack education have a hard time understanding its value. - Cross

Simple! Every time he changed his screen name, his post count started over. Add 10 K or so to his current count and you'd be close.

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Any day you wake up on "the right side of the dirt" is a good day.

T. Anderson

congrats crosscountry

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If it's just us, it seems like an awful waste of space.
Contact Carl Sagan

http://davidsuniverse.wordpress.com/

Congratulation, Doctor of future.


sunil

Like CodeSlinger, I, too, look forward to reading about your further adventures. I'm almost jealous. At least I can live vicariously through you! Congratulations.

__________________
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein

Who else thinks that sounds totally cool?

__________________
I want to go back to the moon.
I don't care which rocket you use, whichever one you pick, I'll like it, I swear.
"If you think the LHC will create black holes, you might as well believe Hobbits are at the bottom of your garden."- Dr. Mike Inglis
Rovers forever! - ToSeek

bloody longhorns........



Did you check the geophysics at University of Houston?

Plus, if I remember right, UT dosent pay its grad students much, but dont quote me on that.

My family all lives in Austin, and I really like it here. Houston is lower on my places to live. And UT pays grads students much better than my Master's school did - quite well in fact!


Thanks again everyone, and I'll get right to writing some more.

__________________
"I will do my best to understand and explain the universe from big to small without invoking miracles, unrepeatable events, or divine intervention. In place of those things I will use observations, mathematics, and science."


-Cross
My travel blog

Some of my Astrophotography


Those that lack education have a hard time understanding its value. - Cross

So you'll be a Doctor of Martial Science!

When I started in the doctoral program at the University of North Carolina in geophysics, I enrolled in the freshman Intro to Geology course--the registrar almost through up their hands in disgust.More like 12K, but who's counting?

I'm auditing Geology 101 right now. It is so easy, I sleep in class nearly every day and maintain an A average. Meanwhile the median on these tests is 74 and people are worrying about failing. It helps being 7-9 years older than every other student and having a better understanding of science.

__________________
"I will do my best to understand and explain the universe from big to small without invoking miracles, unrepeatable events, or divine intervention. In place of those things I will use observations, mathematics, and science."


-Cross
My travel blog

Some of my Astrophotography


Those that lack education have a hard time understanding its value. - Cross

Try to make damn sure that course isn't giving you bad habits as they will get you when the courses reach your actual level.

__________________
‘To those who regard “crime fiction” as some sacred icon which must follow a rigid formula, I will always be the man who writes 18-syllable haiku.’Trying to make sense of computers, The Error Log.

good point. At the graduate level I pay much better attention and actually take notes. This class can be entirely learned from a book. I think the physics part of geophysics won't be a problem, but the geology part will cost me some hours of learning.

__________________
"I will do my best to understand and explain the universe from big to small without invoking miracles, unrepeatable events, or divine intervention. In place of those things I will use observations, mathematics, and science."


-Cross
My travel blog

Some of my Astrophotography


Those that lack education have a hard time understanding its value. - Cross

If it makes you feel better, I feel asleep in class almost every semester that I was a TA for Astro 101.
As for grad-level classes, that depend upon the teacher, my interest, and how much sleep I managed to get the previous night.

I had a class like that. Though it was a freshman Phsychology 101 course that I was retaking because I sorta skipped 60% of the class (including 2 out of 4 exams) as a freshman. The things women make us men do... but that's another story.

Anyway the second time arround, I actually went to class. But I didn't buy the book, nor did I study my notes (I took them in class, but I rarely read back over something). I was averaging mid-90's on the exams, while everyone else was stressing that they studied for hours every night and were going to fail.

Psych was one of those things I just "got" with very little effort. Probably should have majored in it, as it interests me greatly aswell...but I never had much ambition to pursue it as a career.

If only I had the money to learn things for no other reason than the sake of learning them, I'd be a lifetime student (So far my list of wants is physics, psych, and culinary arts and my list of "have learned" is animation, law enforcement, and insurance).

__________________

I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.
"In order to increase awareness of the homeless, security have been given binoculars."