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Looking for the correct path
I began researching graduate studies for a Ph.D. last night, and was disheartened to see many sites doing all they could to discourage a student from going that path. The general consensus was a 5-8 year plan to finish, thereby leaving me around 50 years old before I finished. Is that an appropriate age to begin a new career? But they also gave you a lot of other things to think about: Why do you want a Ph.D? Do you have a purpose for it or do you want it "just because"? Questions such as that. And my answers were always: Because I want to teach at a University, and I need the Ph.D. to do that. Which is the correct answer to continue. I try to imagine myself teaching community college and always knowing in my head that I didn't go that extra step to do what I really wanted. I think it would haunt me forever. If you're going to go to school to do what you want, you should finish school to do what you want. Why do any of the work if you're going to settle? So even though I was less enthusiastic than I was previously, I continued my research today. I narrowed my choices of schools to Berkeley, Stanford and UC Santa Cruz. I don't really want to go to Stanford even though it's the closest at 30 miles away. I was really leaning towards Berkeley. But at 50 miles away, it would make life a bit more difficult and probably put an end to my relationship with Scott. That relationship has suffered enough, and I need to decide if it will survive a doctoral candidacy. Of course, with the kids gone, I could move in with Scott or at least in town - my plan anyway - and attend UCSC. So I looked closer at their program. And actually, it sounds like exactly what I would like. True to UCSC reputation, it gives you a lot of freedom, and pushes you to study in related fields also. There is a great deal of freedom in choosing your exact field of study, and with focuses such as "queer studies", "feminism", "race in America" etc., this is probably my dream school over any Yale or Harvard. They only accept about 15 students a year for candidacy, so I will have to work hard, and getting all A's through my Bachelors will probably be necessary. Necessary and perfectly possible. Knowing ahead of time what I want will make it easier, as the Professors at SJSU are anxious to help students through to that path. So now I am really happy and excited, and even more looking forward to my studies at SJSU. I know I just got out of community college last month, and haven't taken my first class at SJSU yet, but it's my way to look 15 steps ahead of the game. But it seems to me that that's the path to success, knowing what you want and having that goal in mind. And who knows, maybe I'll be the first to write a doctoral thesis on online journal writing, haha. Who knows? Posted by Pischina at July 1, 2006 5:59 PMComments
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