USC, HUC, Los Angeles, and Beyond!

Hey everyone,

I'm not sure who is still reading this anymore (you might want to comment so I know...haha!) but I am updating this blog anyway since it still is relevant to my return to the Holy Land. And much has happened since my arrival two weeks ago back in Sacramento... Acceptance to the Hebrew University, a trip to San Francisco, a trip to Los Angeles, and seemingly several hours of phone calls to various agencies.... yes, this blog entry will definitely be worth reading...!! All things considered, there are several new developments to life in general that might worth noting! And on top of that, two job interviews tomorrow in Los Angeles.

So there's a song my buddy Brandon played for me the morning I graduated from USC when he crashed with me called, "Go Getta..." by R. Kelly...and that would definitely summarize my two weeks back in the United States. Honestly, as of two days ago, I had ruled out completely the chance to end up back in the Holy Land for school, but a lovely little note that stated that I would be receiving a 75-percent donor tuition discount on my program was a definite cause for a re-ignited track to see just how best that I could return to the Holy Land...on a full ride.

I would love to be back there, all things considered, but there's a lot more work that needs to be done. AND to top it all off, the morning I was going to just randomly drive to Oakland, CA to try and find a financial person to speak with is when I got a call from Loui Dobin, URJ Greene Family Camp director... at 7am Pacific Time! I mentioned I was going over there that day; he mentioned a friend of his to speak with. That friend has been making it all happen! She has been making calls on my behalf to local federations, some in Sacramento, some as far as Los Angeles, to see who would be willing to donate funding for this. And long story short, it looks like as soon as next week, I might have a fully funded trip back to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem...not including the MASA grant that would be coming in! That is definitely good news!

In the meantime, I had the chance to take a trip back to Los Angeles to do some job interviews, tour graduate schools, have some job interview, and even attend the USC vs. UCLA football game! And it all was soooo much fun! The first night I was back, I stayed with my pal Megan in her apartment in Hollywood. It was great to see her and to go out with all the old friends the following night at Woodranch Grill by the Grove in LA. I also went out to the DTD TROY toga party and got the chance to hang out with my friend Laura from Sacramento, who is a fine arts student at USC. It was all good times. And I officially have two graduate programs that I will be applying to: One is a Joint Master's Program with the Hebrew Union College and USC in public administration and communal service, and the other is at UCLA (i know, it's ok though!) in their public policy/administration program. Both applications will be keeping me busy in the coming weeks.

This week has been getting all of the scholarship as mentioned above together. Tonight I'm driving back to Los Angeles for two job interviews, one at USC/HUC and another with Porter Novelli, Inc. in downtown LA. They're a PR firm that I used to work for in 2004, and they're offering a full-time PR intern/account staffing position. We'll see how it all goes!

Anyways, if you'd like to call and check in, I'll be on the road tonight, Dec. 9 and probably arrive late night from LA on Dec. 10. Keep checking back for new updates :) And of course, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and all that good stuff!

~Josh :)