Steps Toward a Goal

For the past couple of weeks I have taken some steps toward an educational goal that I have had for a very long time. I have decided to apply for entrance into the PhD program at Southwestern. My focus area will be Childhood Education with a minor in Psychology and Counseling and I would expect that I will take the full seven years to complete it (I will be going very slowly...) I had already done some of the preliminary testing and so all I have had to do to complete the application is write a 25-30 page paper. I started writing it this weekend and I hope to finish within the next week and a half.

At this point, it has felt really good to be working toward a goal. I am actually headed in a direction....with a goal in sight....and I have enjoyed the learning process that has gone along with writing the paper. It feels good to be stretching myself and learning new things. I didn't realize how much of a couch potato learner I had become. I need an avenue to grow professionally...and I think I am ready to consider such a challenge.

I have no idea if I will be able to balance my work, my family, and school....but, I'd like to give it a try....and trying it doesn't mean that I will get accepted...it just means I am putting myself out there....trying to reach for a new dream....and life will certainly go on if this isn't meant to be...and it really doesn't even matter to me if I don't get to finish it....I am simply wanting to put my toes in the water and see how it feels....and if my work or family begins to suffer I will have to back off for a while...but at least I will have tried...

Regardless of what happens, it just feels so good to WANT to take on a new challenge...

The downside is that I am not all that fond of the administration at Southwestern....if it weren't so convenient and if I didn't know several of the professors I would go somewhere else....but I am trying not to let the people at the top keep me from even trying....but it does turn my stomach when I think too much about the administration and the direction they seem to be headed....maybe the pendulum will swing back towards the middle soon...it certainly can't go any further to the extreme than it has gone now...ah, I digress....

Again, it just feels good to have a dream of my own...and it feels good to be taking steps toward it...