No, not the pesticide kind (although we are trapping ants even as I type).
Big strides forward in funding and thus getting this doctorate DONE. I have won a departmental fellowship for next academic year, a language fellowship for summer, and a smaller summer grant to conduct research. With careful planning and diligent application, I hope to graduate by the end of next spring. I'm so grateful for the support, both financial and emotional: not having to worry about TA'ships and/or working and/or where I am on the funding list and such next year will be wonderful - and imagine two semesters of nothing-but-writing - it's like heaven!
But naturally, in my glass-is-half-empty way, I'm already thinking about the next step, which is going on the job market. I've been advised twice now to write a good dissertation and take the time to do it right, and then let the jobs thing fall into place the next year, which could leave me with a blank year. Post-doc? Some other sort of research endeavor? Part-time teaching? And what about those articles I'm currently NOT fixing for publication?
I spent all day translating Polish - and then class was cancelled. I felt I was really hitting my stride, and I actually enjoyed it (after avoiding it all week) so perhaps there is hope for me and Polish after all.
Posted by otto0114 at April 25, 2006 10:12 PM