Sometimes, it sucks to be me...

I've been patiently waiting for three months to hear whether or not I was successful in my scholarship application: I wasn't. The letter I received didn't explain why except to say, "There were a lot of applicants for relatively few scholarships." The italics are mine. How many is "relatively few"? Two? Seven hundred thirty-seven? This "relatively few" is in stark contrast to the bright, shiny, happy web page for scholarship prospects, published by the university, that gives the impression there is a money printing press owned by the university and virtually everybody who applies will be successful. I guess I'm not really surprised, but still. It's going to make things next year more financially difficult than I anticipated, but it won't be the first time in my life I've had to hustle to survive.

I mentioned in an earlier entry that I planned to move to Newcastle next year. That was dependant on getting a scholarship AND a bit of part-time work tutoring at the university. Now, unless I can wangle a full-time position, I'll stay put where I am and continue as an external student. It's a long-shot, but I have a meeting later today with my PhD supervisor and will discuss all of this with him. He has some influence there, but how much influence remains to be seen.

On a brighter note, only two more sleeps until my birthday. I'll be forty-five for the first time in my life! Yay! Numerologically, it's a 9 - a revolutionary number. Nine planets; nine Beethoven symphonies. In math number theory, 9 is a lucky number. So yeah, despite the setback, I'm looking forward to next year. Bring it on, baybee!