#PhDorBust Amazement

WOW! the universe is definitely conspiring toward my greatness (except in the eyebrow department, but anyways). my new #phd program is absolutely amazing & the faculty is all very excited to work with me. i may not even have to seek out my dissertation committee; they seem to all be coming to me!

the diverse & multidisciplinary research interests of the faculty members at this school created the number one driving force behind my decision to apply to this program.  unlike the other two programs i applied to (great in their own right – i don’t do bullshit), my program – *MY* PROGRAM!!! – has a plethora of faculty whose research interests and thought processes connect with mine.  that last bit about the thought processes is probably the most important.  there were a couple of professors at my second choice school whose work touched upon my interests, but they couldn’t (or wouldn’t) see the connection.  but i’m not mad; this is definitely the place in which i should be.

i gotta confess: i’ve been fighting back tears & urges to run around the building in squeals of giggles all damned day.  not to mention that i finally got to meet @patrickdshaffer – #heFAHN! – & the chicago network is beginning to form.  (we won’t talk about how my talkative zombie was in full effect after 12 hours comprised of a draining internship, work errands, & traveling halfway across the country.)

i’m still here for another day or two… or three & i still haven’t decided the living situation.  there are great arguments for both sides.  i *have*, however, decided to bring my car.  CTA ain’t about that life…  zipcar might still be an option if the financials are suspect.

and yeah, i dunno where in the hell i got the idea that i would have to take 5 classes + field placement my first year.  i will say this:

it turns out i’ll have 2-3 classes + field placement for the first year to get the core & elective work out of the way for my master’s degree.  in fact, i’ll never have to take any more than 2-3 classes in one term.  and classes meet once/week for 3 hours (none of that crazy 4.5 hour class shit).  this makes the phd life sound much more reasonable.

my cohort of other prospectives (at the moment, i seem to be the only person who is definitely coming here) has a great variety of interests.  there’s lots of opportunity for collaboration within the group and this one classmate totally taught me & another chick about lacan’s theory of the four discourses in a matter of about 5 minutes.  oh nerds, how i’ve missed thee!

i could go on & on, but i’ll have the next 5 years to do that. i’m s’posed to meet up with a couple of the other girls at 8:30 so we can walk over to breakfast.  yeah, that’s the other thing: they’re all about feeding us. i can’t be mad at that.

and this is certainly a great touch:

::blows kisses to lake michigan::