I can finally talk about my great news: I’m going back to school this Fall! Everyone who knows me well knows how much I’ve wanted to be a Tar Heel! There is something about the University of North Carolina and Chapel Hill that makes me feel like this is where I belong. From the very first time I came here I fell in love with the place, people and places and I knew right there and then that one day I’d be calling it home some day.

In March of 2005 I made my first exploratory trip from New Jersey, setting up interviews with several departments to find out what would take for me to go back to school and pursue a higher education (I currently hold a BS in Biochemistry from Pace University). Had a great meeting with Dr. Blake (I blogged about it here) and started my plan to move my family to North Carolina. Back then there were only 3 of us…

Fast forward 3 years… Chapel Hill has been my home for almost 2 years now! In April I was approved into the Continuing Education program and once again set up a meeting with Dr. Blake. The same electricity was in the air! I convinced myself that I should start taking some classes to get back in the swing of things, and with Dr. Blake’s permission I signed up for a grad level class in database design. My entire family was very supportive and has rallied behind me to get me the money to pay for the class (3 credits). Today I finally got the green light from my job to work remotely twice a week so I can attend the class!

This is all very exciting to me and I am really looking forward to my first day in class and interacting with people who really enjoy technology! Sure I have worked with databases for most of my professional career but I got the feeling this class will help me become a better designer… and it will be my first step toward a bigger goal!