Hey there! I'm Joshua Wickerham, an incoming MPIA candidate. I grew in rural Michigan, a mile from a village so small it hardly even appears as a distinguishable pixel on Google Earth. I'll be in the 2008 class of Master of Pacific and International Affairs students, studying international development and non-profit management in China.

After graduating from the University of Michigan in 2002 with a BA in history and American culture, I took a job teaching English in Qingdao, China. I've been traveling and working abroad ever since, except for a couple of summers gardening in Ann Arbor. I've kept a record of most of my travels, volunteer experiences, and other activities on my personal blog, A Backpack and a Keyboard. I have also made a hobby of studying Chinese and playing the Chinese zither, or guqin. I've got the audio of my first ever performance on my myspace page. Oh, the distractions we'll be cutting back on or giving up once school starts, right? I'm talking about myspace, not my qin, which I hope to share with you all in the spring talent show.

I just finished a summer internship (I know, a year earlier than we're required to intern) with the Jane Goodall Institute in Shanghai doing environmental education. I felt privileged to work under the name of one of my all-time heroes in what was until this summer the only foreign-affiliated non profit to be recognized by the Chinese government. Nothing like fishbowl living! Transparency, right?

IR/PS saves the day, or, my eye

I had to fly back to the States two weeks early because of a vision-threatening bout of keratitis, which is all but healed, and completely under control. Before I hopped on a plane in Shanghai, I emailed folks from IR/PS. IR/PS director of recruitment and admissions, Dan Chatham, and ICGC Research Director Susan Shirk (who happened to be in Beijing for the summer studying Chinese) both gave me great advice. Marina Baesa from the IR/PS admissions office gave me a ride and helped me get settled into a dorm on campus while my eye was still critical and I was going to see doctors every other day. The staff at UCSD's Shiley Eye Center were also great, and most accommodating of little old me with no health insurance.

I also lost my laptop hard drive on that emergency flight back to the States. IR/PS again helped out by loaning me a computer.

Off-campus living

I just moved into an apartment in Hillcrest, which is about a 20 minute bus ride south and east of campus. On my first night, my housemate's night-blooming cereus opened one of its fragrant blossoms. Our place is near Balboa Park, and all the museums, and the zoo, so I can go running without dodging traffic. I like living in Hillcrest because it's a walkable neighborhood with lots of convenient shops and restaurants, not that it sounds like we IR/PS students are really going to have the time to go to these places, but at least buying groceries is easy. I don't have a car, so I just ride my bike 10 minutes to the shuttle at the UCSD hospital about 15 blocks away. There's a bike rack on the front. It's super convenient. I also like renting my room without signing a lease because it means I don't have to pay rent in the summer or find a subletter.

QM prep

We just took our exams in quantitative methods prep today. I am not going to lie and say I enjoyed this exercise, but I do think the 4.5 hours of math a day was worthwhile, even if none of my friends understand what in the world I'm doing here. For someone who avoided math as an undergrad, the material has been hard, but I'm confident this was a necessary and helpful prelude to future classes, all of which will give us a better understanding of how large portions of our world work, ie, econ, stats, finance, etc. Our TAs were all highly skilled and helped us digest our math guru's lessons. Being in class, more than the math specifically, has been a great way to get reacclimated to student life, and given me the chance to learn about what campus has to offer, and make new friends.

Tomorrow we start economics prep. I look forward to again getting ahead of the game and being better prepared for the start of the quarter. Rumor has it that students who attend prep do better overall than those who don't.

Let me know if I can be of service. And if you're interested in Chinese cinema, I'm starting the Chinese Language Film Society, so get in touch about what sort of films you'd like to see.

jwickerh [at] ucsd, 858 699 5185.