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.

{new york, the city. manhattan, the borough. part i.}

Nicole, Alivia, and I spent the weekend in NYC.
It was wonderful.
Actually, wonderful doesn't cover how wonderful it was.
But I'm not going to grasp for the right words, because that nap never happened.

More, and more, and more to come,
but for now
this is how the weekend looked from my phone.

[And yes, amid NYC recaps, I still have some news I'll share.]