A brief(ish) introduction

I'm Diana and this is my first semester at Eastern.  I grew up on the South side of Chicago and moved to Japan after graduating high school in 2004.  I spent the bulk of the years since traveling Asia, as well as the US, for my job.  During some of that time I completed my first few years of microbiology prerequisites through correspondance while trying to figure out which direction of science or medecine to pursue as a career.  In July of last year, my boyfriend and I made a big move from Shanghai to Ann Arbor when he was accepted to one of UMich's graduate programs.  I had been wanting to return to school for some time so I seized the opportunity when it presented itself and wound up here.  Although I started school with aspirations of becoming a clinical microbiologist, I have ultimately decided that career wise I want to be involved with a more hands-on practice.  Viruses and bacteria will forever remain my nerdy obsessions, but I have chosen to pursue occupational therapy.  I give myself no other option that to get into UIC's OT graduate program next year so I dedicate nearly every waking second to schoolwork and my volunteer hours.

In the spare time that I have increasingly less of, I travel- small trips, big trips, anywhere and everywhere!  I am absolutely fascinated by languages, cultures, cuisines, and experiencing life outside of the one I was born into.  I also enjoy writing (though I hope most of it never sees the light of day), reading (mostly fiction), learning new words, baking things to stress eat later, yoga, and spending time with my boyfriend Marc and our cats B and Cricket.   :)