I remember when I first started this blog. The purpose was to serve as a means to chronicle my life in graduate school. I thought that journey would end after two years at Yale. Yet, here I am, sitting in my apartment in Atlanta, Georgia, just days away from starting a PhD program. Um, wait…….what???
Today, at orientation, we had to watch a video in which the lives of doctoral students were chronicled over a period of about a year or so. In this time, all of the trials, tribulations, failures, and frustrations that PhD students experience were showcased. None of this was news to me. I know the path that lies ahead of me. I know I am going to have to work ridiculously long hours for very, very, very little money. I know that I may spend 4 years working on something, only to have someone else beat me to the punch and publish similar work to mine before I do. I know that I will have to give up being close to my family and my friends for a really long time in order to complete my research. All of this I knew before deciding to come here. However, sitting in that room today, it suddenly became real. This is it. I am here. I am really going to do this. I must admit that on more than one occasion, I have questioned if I made the right decision. Then I think about what I want to do when I graduate. I think about why I started this graduate school process to begin with, and I realize that I ABSOLUTELY made the right decision. This isn’t going to be easy. The next 4-5-6 years (God, I hope it’s not 6) are going to be filled with a lot of frustrating moments, and a lot of tears. But what are 4-5-6 (God, I hope it’s not 6) years of hard work compared to a lifetime of doing what I love?
I have no idea what lies in store for me. I just have to have faith that if I pursue my degree with passion, then everything will work out in the end and the next 4-5-6 years will all be worth it (God, I REALLY hope it is not 6).
