Pack Snacks, Make Tracks, Chase the Future

It looks like I will be Seattle-bound come autumn! I got into the PhD program that I applied for, and I couldn't be more excited! I've looked up the locations of the Trader Joe's in Seattle, and the Anthropologies, and everyone I've talked to has said the weather isn't so bad and there are lots of coffee shops. And that's good, since I'll be reading a lot. Even the rain will probably be good; it will give me motivation to stay in and read. My future is taking shape, finally, after months of uncertainty. This program feels like divine providence; the perfect program for me, and I was lucky enough to have the qualifications and to have found it in time to apply. It makes me think that these two years were really part of the overall plan, even if I couldn't see it at the time-- without an MA you can't apply to this specific PhD program. And, probably without my thesis topic, I would never have stumbled upon this program.

I got a phone call yesterday from the man who runs the program to tell me that I had been accepted, that he hoped I would come because this program just feels like the perfect fit, and that I get funding!!! I'm so excited! Plus-- scary thought-- I'm going to be teaching a class! First year as a TA, and then before you know it a real 200-level class. At first I thought, "What?! Why would anyone let me teach a class?" Then I realized... I will have a masters. And I'm in my mid-twenties. Holy. Crap. How did this happen? I feel like a real person all of a sudden. I feel like I'm at the beginning of something really big. I have a place that I'm going to live for at least four years, a place to call home, a place where I have a purpose again and where I'm working towards my career goals at last, at last.

So, it's all coming together now. Lots to do in the next seven months, and lots of changes in that time, which can be really scary. But right now, I think I'm mostly excited.