So after being convinced and convincing myself that I must be a one-trick pony only concerned with reproductive rights, it turns out that that is not the case. If you recall, I was deep in the 2nd year slump at the end of the winter quarter. I was questioning whether or not this was the right path for me and if I genuinely enjoyed doing research. I was so convinced that grad school was not for me. I wasn't considering leaving the program, but I was definitely having some doubts.
I talked about the slump with a lot of older grad students. They told me that they too had experienced the slump and that it is not uncommon to experience uncertainty and to question whether or not grad school was the right path. They reassured me that I would pull through it and that things would get better. At the time, I was not convinced. I seriously believed that I would get a Master's and look for a career in public policy. After talking to MP about non-academic career possibilities, he told me that having a Ph.D. would open up doors in the public policy world. So, I thought that I could stick it out and tolerate the research hurdles for a non-academic job.
It is the 7th week of the quarter, and I just realized that I can't remember the last time that I asked myself what I am doing in grad school. This is a good sign. Maybe the older grad students were right after all. The feedback on my qualifier has been positive and encouraging, I'm making steady progress, and I'm even starting to enjoy the process. I'm eager to get this paper signed off on so I can just be done, and so I can move on to my second one. In my classes, I've reached the point where I need to start working on my class papers. As I've been thinking about my next move, a surprising thing has occurred: I actually want to take a break from abortion politics and explore another research area. I mean, I have ideas for more projects having to do with abortion, but I'm ready to learn something new. Maybe I'm not the one-trick pony that I thought I was. So, I've been doing some reading on birthright citizenship, women and immigration, and sexuality. We'll see where this all takes me next.
I talked about the slump with a lot of older grad students. They told me that they too had experienced the slump and that it is not uncommon to experience uncertainty and to question whether or not grad school was the right path. They reassured me that I would pull through it and that things would get better. At the time, I was not convinced. I seriously believed that I would get a Master's and look for a career in public policy. After talking to MP about non-academic career possibilities, he told me that having a Ph.D. would open up doors in the public policy world. So, I thought that I could stick it out and tolerate the research hurdles for a non-academic job.
It is the 7th week of the quarter, and I just realized that I can't remember the last time that I asked myself what I am doing in grad school. This is a good sign. Maybe the older grad students were right after all. The feedback on my qualifier has been positive and encouraging, I'm making steady progress, and I'm even starting to enjoy the process. I'm eager to get this paper signed off on so I can just be done, and so I can move on to my second one. In my classes, I've reached the point where I need to start working on my class papers. As I've been thinking about my next move, a surprising thing has occurred: I actually want to take a break from abortion politics and explore another research area. I mean, I have ideas for more projects having to do with abortion, but I'm ready to learn something new. Maybe I'm not the one-trick pony that I thought I was. So, I've been doing some reading on birthright citizenship, women and immigration, and sexuality. We'll see where this all takes me next.
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