May 2, 2012

one of the important ones

The hundred times I've written this post in my head, it has been very, very, very long. I framed the news I'm about to share as a series of endings and beginnings, which take much explanation. Which it is, a series of beginnings and endings. But I simultaneously framed it as a mid-point also - everything leads up to this point and it will lead to so much. Which it is, a mid point, too. I've realized that I don't need to summerize the past or explain what I hope for in the future. I already have. (It's all here, in this blog's archives.) And I will continue to do so. So here's the news:

I am beginning a PhD program in Criminal Justice in the fall. I'm leaving my job and Washington DC to move to CT for a brief time and then ultimately NYC. The program is in New York City and it is full time. I'll be focusing my work on juvenile justice - research and evaluation of rural delinquency prevention and diversion programs, to be exact.

Most of my desire to write a lot more than those few sentences comes from the fact that I feel a little crazy going back to school. I already have a masters degree and a law degree. But as I've worked through this decision over the past year and a half, I've realized that I don't think I'm crazy at all. Neither do the people who know me best. In fact, I think it is the best decision I have made since I decided to go to William Smith for college (a decision I made 10 years ago).

I am over-the-top excited. I am jump-up-and-down-squealing excited. I'm smile-while-I'm-alone-at-my-desk excited. I'm let's-start-researching-now excited.

This decision has been years in the making. It has been a major focus of my thoughts for months and months and months. I've talked about it here in the abstract, but mostly I've kept very quiet here. Which I did for a variety of reasons. Primarily because it wasn't public knowledge until now. Partly because I try to talk about "work" in terms of finding "the right fit" so it's meaningful and not just the nitty-gritty daily details. And partly because I set out a few years ago to define myself in terms other than a profession and a job.

I'm in a better head-space now, and I want to talk about everything. I want to tell you about the stats class I'm taking and the lit review that feels like it will never end. I want to tell you about the long commute to school and the applications I fill out for research positions. This space won't turn into an "industry" blog, but I want to be able to tell you that I'm looking for something more and taking a risk and turning my life upside down and pushing send on this PhD application. I wanted so badly to tell you that months ago. And from now on, I'm going to tell you all that.

Beginning today.

4 comments:

  1. Congratulations, Emily! That's awesome that you're going for what you want, and I love how excited you are about it! Good luck, and I can't wait to hear about how it's going for you :)
    <3 Kiersten

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Kiersten! I'm excited for the semester to start and I'm also excited to be able to (finally!) talk about it here.

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  2. Good for you! And good luck!

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