Daily Newsie

It’s a perfectly good Saturday afternoon and I’m sitting in the library. I like to torture myself by taking the computer in front of the window so I can look out over campus and see what people who aren’t stuck in the library are up to. I had a long conversation with a local barista this morning after she handed over my honeysuckle and cinnamon latte (SO delicious) about the fact that I haven’t the foggiest idea what I’m going to do with my graduate degree, but that, for some unexplainable reason, I want to get my PhD as well. Why? I can’t rattle off theories like some of my classmates can (one of them mentioned a theory the other day that I’ve never even heard of) and I still don’t know what “heuristic” means, yet I feel like putting myself through another two years of debt and reading — so much reading — for what? Could I be a college professor? Do I have any idea what I’m getting myself into?

In other news, I just killed an entire forest by printing out twenty-some articles for my final paper in Family Communication class. This paper is particularly important because it (or some variation thereof) will eventually become the literature review for my thesis, which I’m due to begin in the fall. My Family Comm professor agreed to lead my thesis (which is good, because I like him despite a not-so-stellar midterm grade that I used as an excuse to go into high-calorie mourning for a week) and my Qualitative Methods professor agreed to sit on the committee, so all I need to do is pick one more professor and get cracking. I can’t believe I’m writing a thesis. I may need a drink. Or several.

Right. It’s time to slink off to one of the study tables and start reading about family communication and illness. I may be missing in action for the next few weeks, but rest assured I will certainly emerge before my 27th birthday on May 16 to make sure you all remember it. I may be approaching 30, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still enjoy a good fuss. (Bring beer!)