Friday, May 20, 2011

This week has been so totally I don't know

It has been a relaxing but emotionally draining week. With my advisor out of town, I spent the week "working at home", taking the time to think about what my Plan is for grad school. Laying out all the facts, all my doubts, all my certainties, and looking at my position rationally, I concluded that the best thing for me to do at this point is to pursue a master's degree. Once that's done I can choose where to go from there, be it a PhD, oceanographic work, or something else entirely. But it still doesn't leave me feeling great. Sometimes there is no wonderful, happy choice. And I give no promises--I could still change my mind at any minute.

Thanks for everyone who offered me advice and support this past week. It's been interesting to see what I can do with this blog that I can't do in real life. First, without people here who know me in person, I feel unburdened by expectation and more free to say whatever I feel like saying. And second, I get to put everything down in writing and organize my thoughts without anyone cutting in, in a way that is difficult to do in person, where everything is verbal, improvised, with real-time feedback. Well, it's an interesting study in blogs and online relations, at least.

Sorry it's been a bit of a heavy week here on my blog. Next week, I have some lighter posts planned, all about the happier side of my experience here in grad school. Yes, I'll finally share photos from my research cruise. It's hard to believe it was over 3 months ago, but I haven't forgotten my promise to post about it. Make sure to check out next Thursday's photos of Moloka'i. I was stunned by the beauty of the island's northern coast. And if you like sunsets and/or sunrises, I'll have a post on Friday in which the sunrises and sunsets I saw on the cruise will face off against each other.

Have a nice weekend!

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