As the reality of my completed dissertation defense sinks in a bit more and more, it's accompanied by the reality that the next step is actually going to happen. As it turns out, all of those postdoc applications, written while I tried to ignore the gnawing fear that I wouldn't finish my dissertation and thus wouldn't be able to go on postdoc in the fall, weren't for nothing. The travel, the interviews, the memorized case presentations, the Skype chats... it all seemed to drag on forever, without any clear end in sight.
There were conversations between me and the hubs. Discussions about what next year would look like, where we would live, where he was applying to grad school and whether that matched up with my own applications. There was the acceptance that we were damn lucky to stay in DC together this past year.... and that next year might be a bit different.
It's really hard to make a decision about one area of your life when the rest of the parts are unknown or moving around. Knowing whether to accept an offer in Oregon when the hubs might be living in New York? Impossible. Knowing whether to hold out for a DC offer but risk that the hubs might be moving to Chicago? Also impossible.
So I leapt. I had to. I leapt at a fantastic opportunity that in so many ways is my dream position. Except dreams stay in the realm of fantasy, and next year is definitely real. It is going to happen, despite all of those fears and worries about not finishing in time.
It will mean being apart from the hubs for a year, but next year I will be completing a postdoctoral fellowship in Michigan. I will make Ann Arbor my home for a year, and then I'll come back to DC to be with the hubs and officially start my career. It's exciting and wonderful and scary and amazing, and I am so ready for it!
I am meant to have adventures. I am meant to be challenged so that I can thrive and grow and come back stronger than ever.
Just you wait. Michigan, look out!!
So I leapt. I had to. I leapt at a fantastic opportunity that in so many ways is my dream position. Except dreams stay in the realm of fantasy, and next year is definitely real. It is going to happen, despite all of those fears and worries about not finishing in time.
It will mean being apart from the hubs for a year, but next year I will be completing a postdoctoral fellowship in Michigan. I will make Ann Arbor my home for a year, and then I'll come back to DC to be with the hubs and officially start my career. It's exciting and wonderful and scary and amazing, and I am so ready for it!
I am meant to have adventures. I am meant to be challenged so that I can thrive and grow and come back stronger than ever.
Just you wait. Michigan, look out!!
