cellini's Diaryland Diary

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I am applying to be a Harvard Fellow

Today I decided to look more specifically for short-term assignments for the next few months while I wait for this stupid college speaking tour to start. And I came across a fellowship for journalists at Harvard.

I read the description and it seems to suit me perfectly. The years of experience, the background doing investigative journalism. And the fact that I am a journalist from Ch@rlottesville who has been investigating white suprem@cists and government responses to them for the last seven months should get their attention. Before that, I have a solid track record as a science journalist writing for audiences of millions of people. The W@shington Post, Smithsonian, the NYT.

So I spent about eight hours today working on my application to Harvard. And I bet that they accept me.

I would like to be a Harvard fellow. Technically I am a high school drop-out. I left early to start college and never got a GED or anything like that. Then I never graduated from college. All of the credits were in order, but I lost some in transferring and ran out of money. Receiving a fellowship at Harvard would be one hell of a thing after all of that.

The scary thing would be spending two semesters in Cambridge when I have two kids here in Virginia. But this is the one city where both my kids would be all over it. Right across the river from Fenway Park. Ida should probably stay in Charlottesville, what with her extracurriculars and budding theater career. But Harry would thrive in a year in Boston. Starting 6th grade in Boston, as a gregarious kid, a hard-core catcher, someone everyone likes immediately, he would do just fine.

Harry fits in everywhere immediately. Ten years old, eleven next month. A boy raised by men. I can take him to a party, leave him by the cheese and hummus, and 20 minutes later he is deep in conversation with a group of total strangers about the nuances of Brexit details or the merits of available relief pitchers in the American League. He has followers at school who hang on his every word about primitive skills and starting a fire with a piece of chert and a pocket knife. He'd do just fine starting 6th grade in Boston. An exotic curiosity from down south who followed me around as my photographer in the weeks and months after August 12th.

Yeah, he would do just fine with me at Harvard.

So now I just need a 'yes' from Harvard. I'm pretty sure that my address will get my application some close consideration. And man, the wages look pretty good. $70k for nine months, and I realize that living expenses are way high in Boston. But I'm used to scraping by on less than $25k a year as a freelancer.

Man, what a thing it would be to be accepted to this program. I sure do want it. Two semesters of taking any classes I want at Harvard, plus lectures and dinners for follows in my program. Every day I miss writing for Smithsonian, but this would be the best possible sequel to that I could imagine.

3:27 a.m. - 2018-01-29

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