It's Official Rebecca Good, MPH

I got an e-mail today saying that I had completed all of my coursework and that my MPH degree would be conferred on Aug 6th, and I should expect to receive my degree that day.

I can't believe it. I have a Masters degree. Something I have always wanted.

I was NOT the best student in high school or undergrad. I didn't make the honor roll, or graduate with honors. I got a lot of C's and some B's. It was rare that I got an A. I got F's about as often as I got A's. That is to say neither was a common occurrence but it happened occasionally.

I just didn't apply myself and I had some pretty bad study anxiety. It took me a long time to figure this out. Everyone has heard of test anxiety, and I knew that wasn't my problem. What I came to realize is that I would get so nervous about an exam that I just wouldn't study. I would get overwhelmed because I didn't know where to start, so I wouldn't.
Distance from school and a lot of soul searching allowed me to realize that I just had to start somewhere. Just do something, it might turn out to be the wrong info, but most likely it won't. I also learned the value of homework and just doing a little bit at a time.

With this new info I was ready to tackle grad school. I followed my strategy and learned a bit more on the way. (I read and comprehend better on my own, but study better with a partner), and here I am.

It's ok if you call me Master Becca. I won't mind.

All this free time and no Longhorn Lucy Updates?

This is the message I got from my sister the other day. She is correct, we have been back from Costa Rica for 5 days, and I have had a lot of free time.Hmmm so Costa Rica. Sometime I have trouble expressing what a trip was like. Traveling out of the country is such a refreshing experience for me each time I do it. I can say that the place in beautiful. It's so green. There are times when consciously I knew I was looking at like a 1000 different species of green, but it just blurs together into this amazing green pallet. We saw some amazing wildlife as well. In the wild alone, we saw, a baby Camen, crocodiles, monkey's, a whale momma and baby, dolphins, an iguana, a basilisk, and more crab and bird species then I could count.

Here are a few of my favorite picturesSwinging through the trees on our zipline tourThe man walking over a suspension bridge, I wish it showed better how high up it was.
Our beach front "villa"

And finally the beach!!

We celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary while we were on our trip. Here's hoping every wedding anniversary can incorporate the beach in one way or another.

To see the subset of pics Jake put on the web, click here

To see all 400 pictures we took, just ask us, we'd love to tell you about each and every one!!