Been a while since I've really updated on my life. Honestly, I've mostly been posting while bored at work (productive?), so they haven't been too awesome. Whatever.
Anyway, life update. Where do I even begin? Basically, everything has changed once again. Yes, I've only been in Ridgecrest for about two months or so, but this town is not for me. At all. And working for the Defense Department? Not so much up my alley either (surprise, surprise, right?). So, what am I doing? Moving home, of course! Around Thanksgiving I'm going to be heading back to Bureau County. And in the fall, I'm going to be going to grad school. Not in France, but still! I'm pretty pumped. Turns out any "I'm sick of school" feelings were only end of the year stress, and after being out for two months, I cannot wait to get back to writing papers and doing research. I'm checking out programs primarily in Illinois, because I'm not feeling this whole not being a train ride away from my beloved people thing. My mom was laughing when I told her that -- "You can go to Africa and Paris and want to go to the Middle East, but you just HAVE to drive Main Street in Princeton. Gotta cruise through Walnut." It does sound ridiculous, but I'm still pretty young (22 for one month today) and I'm not ashamed of how connected I am with home. In fact, I'm kind of proud of it.
Anyway, back to the whole grad school thing. I'm kind of torn between doing a MA in Middle Eastern Studies or Political Science. U of I is an affiliate with the American Institute of Iranian Studies, an organization that provides grants and things to learn Farsi (YESPLEASE), and they have a program where I could write my dissertation and do research on Iranian politics and political identity. It seems like it will be harder to find a Poli Sci program that will allow me to focus that much on one country. I mean, I could always do a Middle Eastern Studies MA now, and if I want to I could do a second one in International Politics or something like that. And honestly, at this point, doing two Masters doesn't sound that intimidating to me. I love school; why not then? Besides, in the Poli Sci world, degrees are currency, so the more I can get under my belt while this wave of academia sweeps over me, the better.
Of course, this does mean Ben and I will be long distance again. It also mean postponing the wedding. I'm not focusing on that stuff, though, because what's important at this juncture in my life is doing what I need to do to fulfill my goals. We did long distance once, we can do it again. Besides, it seems like it will be better for us to be apart a while longer.
Other news? Well, I went shopping last weekend with Lisa. Ben and Steve came later on, which was cool. We went to Barnes & Noble, and I got a couple books. It's been a while since I bought any books, so I was definitely in need of new reading material. I picked up Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote, which I read in two days. It made me cry; awesome story. I also got A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway, which is about his time in Paris as a young man. According to Ben no one LIKES Hemingway, but I do. I also picked up a little collection of Anton Chekhov's short stories, which I'm excited to read. One thing about my reading habits that's really unfortunate is that my favorite fiction writers are all dead, making it frustrating when you finish reading someone's body of work. This happened with Fitzgerald way too quickly. When they put out And the Hippos were Boiled in their Tanks I was beyond excited, because I'm inching closer and closer to the end of Kerouac's writings (a sad, sad, sad fact). So I'm trying to branch out into my favorite writers' contemporaries, or similar genres. Hence the Hemingway. I haven't read many Russian novels before, but I do have a Dostoevsky and a couple books by Nabokov, all of which I love.
This was really long, and I plan on posting a survey (to kill more time) in a second. Sorry for all the chatter!
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You've gotta do what you've gotta do! It's best to do grad school while you've got the gumption. Mine's dragging out forever because I didn't finish before going into the so-called real world.
ReplyDeleteAlso... I just don't get Kerouac. I've tried - maybe I need to try harder. It's probably the literary equivalent of "I can't stand the Beatles", but I just don't find his writing that interesting.
There are definitely some of his books that speak to me more than others. His earlier works are more my thing, before he got really into Buddhism. Have you read The Vanity of Duluoz? It's about his experiences as a young adult, between going to Columbia Univ, joining the Merchant Marines, and trying to get published. I think his stories around that time, or even before, are the best.
ReplyDeleteI love the famous quote about Kerouac "This isn't writing, this is typing." I think he'll see a resurgence for our generation, of course. We are all a bit lost, but not in the Hemingway sense of "The lost generation."
ReplyDeleteI love that you're going back to get your MA. Making it in polisci is tough, you really have to commit to the time and research something awesome. The only other polisci grad student that I know well is doing a stupid topic (my opinion) so I'll look forward to your work.
Plus, learning Farsi is only going to help you get places. Do you think that you want to work for a thinktank or policy institution? I think it's pretty hard to get in at the Department of State, but only because of the bureaucracy.
PS, I just said this on my blog, but I love that youre taking your life into your own hands and making good changes instead of making your life miserable in a place you don't really love. (Ridgecrest)
Thanks for the encouragement! I'm thrilled to go back to school -- can't wait. I'm not sure what I'd like to do careerwise. I've thought about trying to get into analysis work, but I love the idea of non-profit type stuff. Since I want to do my research on the evolution of Iran's Islamic state/political identity, we'll have to see what kind of stuff I come across!
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