making the program.

as promised, heres is a brief rundown of how i made it to now. the process.

PART ONE: GETTING IN.
1. applying. the first step. the application is pretty average: why you want to go, grades, interests, strengths etc. it was
bland enough to make me nervous... how could i make it unique so they remembered me? thats something that cant be
controlled. However spelling, grammar, and neatness can be so i made sure to double check all of those.

2. interview. if there are no glaring problems with your application ((like being an axe-murderer or having a .04 grade point average)) the next step is the interview. oklahoma christian heads up the study abroad programs- they have an entire office dedicated to it- so they typically send a representative up to do the interviewing. this is the scariest part of the entire process! but there was nothing to worry about. just being myself, smiling, and not talking too fast were the three things i focused on. im not sure im allowed to talk about what they asked so i wont reveal any "top secret" questions.

3. the wait/ the letter. i take back what i said earlier. this is the scariest part! everything that you can do to earn yourself a place on the team is done and now you have to wait the week or two for your letter to come. lots of praying. and then it comes. i left campus to open mine. sometimes you have to be alone to be courageous. and i made it!

PART TWO: GETTING COMFORTABLE.
4. orientation. we flew to oklahoma christian university at the end of january and met with the rest of the people going with us to vienna. went out to a conference house about an hour out of oklahoma city. five girls from cascade traveled together- three who were going to vienna ((we lost one group member)) and two who were participating in the latin america program. we shared a room that felt like a camp, two bunkbeds stuck at weird angles with yellow light bulbs. it was lovely. drank fanta and ate munchies and listened to vienna fall 2006 students talk about their trip.

5. spring class. to help get us ready to journal consistently in vienna a journal is required during spring semester. the requirements are journaling at least twice a week and documenting six experiences: an art gallery, a museum, a musical performance, an interview with a foreign student, eating at a foreign restuarant, and watching a foreign movie. some of these were a little tricky but it was great fun. in getting ready to explore vienna we got to explore portand! my favorite was going to see the flying dutchman which is an opera preformed in german. it was my first brush with the language ( excluding clips of hitler from the history channel) and it was interesting. maybe the next time i see the opera ill be able to understand what they are saying!

PART THREE: GETTING KNOWLEDGEABLE.
6. summer class. the summer coursework is actually fall semester work. because we wont be at an actual school with all the resources that come as a part of that much of our coursework is done this summer. so i have a couple books to read, lots of tests to take and a couple papers with matching presentations to craft before september. its hard, but most things that are worth doing are hard. and the classes are all related to europe so its applicable, hands on learning. after reading a chapter on baroque architecture we can go out and visit ten churches designed in that style. it makes it easier to spend hours studying in the summer.