I need a goal, and I have chosen the goal: To get a PhD in Linguistics.
Let’s back up a bit. I’ve been riding the wave of depression for the last few months. Lack of sleep, lack of things to do, and lots and lots of rain contributed to its flare up. Hormones compounded it. I was a mess. I still kind of am. My poor husband. He’s so stressed out, and my depression is not helping him feel any better. (I know it’s not about him, but we’re in a partnership and his happiness is my happiness, and vice versa.)
The last week or so I have been spending a lot of time pondering and weighing my career options. I know for sure that I don’t want to be an office drone for the rest of my life. I want an actual career that matters to me, that I enjoy going to and being a part of. I thought about microbiology, which I have zero background in and would have to start from the very beginning. I thought about computational linguistics, which would require a lot of effort on my part to get up to par with the computer side of it. Finally I looked more closely at the university’s linguistics department’s page and came to the conclusion that if I work really hard for the next two years, I can definitely get into its doctoral program.
Two years.
The first year would be spent reacquainting myself with linguistics. When I was studying for my bachelor’s degree, I stumbled upon linguistics right near the end of my program. I probably would have switched majors had the school had a linguistics major, but it just had a few classes here and there. I loved the ones I took. But that was several years ago… gosh, six to be exact.
I found out which textbook the university uses in their introduction class and purchased it used. I still have the books I used from my alma mater, but I want to make sure I get the same information that the university is uses with their undergraduates.
I also need to study and take the GRE.
I’m hoping to accomplish this by the December 15, 2018 application deadline.
The second year would be spent keeping up with the knowledge I’m gaining and preparing to enter the doctoral program for Fall 2019.
I need to keep myself motivated, involved, engaged, and actively working toward this program. I think I can do it. I know I can do it. And I plan to use this blog to do just that.
Saffron Coelho 