kate.
Last Tuesday, after I wrote my blog post, I started to get really, really tired... by the end of the day, I was having chills and KNEW I'd be terribly sick in the morning. I was. I was running a high fever for three days followed by another week of sinus and chest congestion. A real doozy. Only now am I starting to feel human again. I'm still waking up a few times a night with an awful cough-- but at least I can think again, and am not walking around in a Robitussin haze.
The timing couldn't have been worse! It was the end of the semester and I had three major papers to write as well as a presentation to prepare. These things are really hard to accomplish when one can barely keep oneself awake and is constantly in an altered state from (a) a high fever, (b) lack of sleep, (c) cough medication. In my many years of being a student, I have certainly had my fair share of colds- but never at such a crucial time in the semester. Did I mention it was awful???
Somehow, I survived- and even managed to get the papers done mostly on time. I can't attest to their quality, but sometimes 'done' is good enough. What's that quote: "don't let the great be the enemy of the good." I assured my teachers that, if they were awful, I'd rework them, and passed them in with much relief. Teachers at MSPP are so understanding and flexible about such things and it's nice to be treated like an adult and a professional.
Okay, whining done.
One good thing that came out of my being sick was a lovely interaction with my supervisor at my field placement. I was expected on site the day that I knew I'd be waking up sick, so I emailed her the night before and gave her fair warning that it was likely I'd have to call in sick. I offered a few suggestions in terms of taking time off for the week, e.g. showing up just for the important meetings, coming in for half a day, etc. I always feel guilty calling in sick and didn't want to shirk on my responsibilities- especially since I'd been away on vacation (and probably picked up the germs) the prior week!
Anyway, she wrote me back and essentially told me to relax and take the day off. It was such a relief! Even more relieving, though, was when I told her that I needed to take Thursday off as well. I was waiting with bated breath to get some kind of chastising message about being needed on site. Instead, she wrote me back and said take the rest of the week off. See you next Wednesday. Hallelujia! I promptly collapsed and don't think I woke up until Sunday. It was so nice to have her support and for her to actually actively encourage me to take time off when I wasn't feeling well. Too often, I push too hard and fear too much the judgments of others, only to wear myself even further down in the process. This was a really nice lesson in realistic appraisal of one's health, anti-workaholism, and asking for what I need. Whether my supervisor knew it or not, it was definitely a 'teaching moment'- having her model good self-care, and trust, meant a lot to me.
kate.
This morning, as I realized I was driving in for my last Tuesday of classes this semester, it really hit me that I'm at the end of the second year of my training already! Time has done strange things since I started grad school. On the one hand, it has gone very fast- it feels like just yesterday that I was starting my orientation in the summer before my first year. On the other hand, I feel so different from when I started that it sometimes feels like a lot more than two years have gone by. There have been some huge changes in my personal life but I think it's the whole 'developing professional self' thing that has really astounded me. To me, this has included (in no particular order)...
- Professional Confidence- this category is huge and encompasses new feelings of competence doing the in-the-trenches work of a psychologist, appreciation of what there is still to learn (and trusting that I'll figure it out when the time comes), a sense of professional identity and a loose understanding of long-term career aspirations.
- Personal Confidence- harder to articulate, but something feels different, more complete and secure. Perhaps it's just the sense of 'at last I've found the career I want,' and the attendant satisfaction and feelings of resolution, after so much time spent searching and preparing.
- Public speaking- always scary, but much less painful.
- How I think- In some really basic way, my thinking itself has shifted since I started my training. Some might say I "think like a psychologist," but I don't think that's entirely it. I think there is an enhanced critical thinking, curiosity and openness that people learn in all kinds of doctoral trainings- it's not exclusive to psychologists. That said, surely there is something about being trained as a psychologist that gives it a unique flavor- perhaps a mix of:
scientific rigor
healthy skepticism
tolerance for uncertainty, nuance, subtlety
listening skills
open-heartedness
respect for individual experience
enhanced self-understanding.
- Writing- I've always been reasonably confident as a writer, but even moreso now after doing so much of it in the last two years! It's weird, nobody officially re-sets the bar, rings a bell and tells you to start writing at the 'graduate level' (vs. the undergraduate level), but somehow it happens. I think, in part, it's from the required readings becoming more complex and sophisticated, and the natural tendency to mimic that voice when doing my own writing.
Just a few of the articulable changes over the last few years...
kate.
- Location:Back in Massachusetts
MSPP times its vacations to match the public schools in the area, which means we get a week off in February and in April. The April break is always a little weird, though- we only have one more week of classes when we get back! Thus, at least for me, the break becomes more of a 'reading week' where I'm scurrying to get lots of my final projects done.
This week, however, I'm on a LONG road trip helping my partner make a major move... my body is aching from packing a UHaul and my hamstrings, I swear, are atrophying from so much time sitting in a car!!!
First lesson learned: you may think you can get a lot of work done while sitting in a car for 12 hours a day, but such is not the case. It's similar with airplanes- it's almost impossible to be productive and you just have to kiss the time goodbye.
Second lesson learned: Montana is BEAUTIFUL! I'd never have gone there on purpose but I'm so glad I got to drive through it once in my life.
kate.
- Location:Somewhere in the Great American West
For more information (videos, references, etc.):
http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/dweck.sht
http://www-psych.stanford.edu/~dweck/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Dweck
Praise for Intelligence Can Undermine Children's Motivation and Performance (journal article)
kate.
The annual Follies were Friday night. This is a community 'open mic' style event that consists primarily of comedy skits about MSPP life performed by students and faculty. God, there are some very funny and very talented people at this school! Skits tend to revolve around campus events and changes (e.g., building expansion), doc project issues, 'in-jokes' about coursework, etc. Also, people can bring in paintings, photos, quilts, etc. to show in a gallery area. This year, I had fun directing and performing in a skit, and showing some photography and a painting.
It's always really fun (and funny!) and is a nice, informal coming-together for the school as a whole. There's also a warm, fuzzy belongingness that comes with 'getting' all the school-related jokes. A lot of people bring a partner, family or outside friend, only to quickly realize that they are not enjoying it nearly as much as those directly involved with the school! Some students choose not to go and I think it's really a missed opportunity- I look forward to it each year. It's nice to socialize with classmates and teachers outside of class and to see everyone's hidden talents.
kate.
Tips For Students Who Want To Go To Conferences...
1. Join the organization- the student membership is always cheaper than regular membership and there's always a reduced conference rate for members. Plus, as a member you'll get all the emails about extra networking events going on, tip-offs for where to find the free food (more on that later), access to student groups (who sometimes band together to share hotel costs), and all the cool periodicals that the organization puts out for a whole year.
2. Register early! Get the early-bird discount- often on top of an already-reduced student rate!
3. Buy your plane ticket early and start racking up frequent flyer miles.
4. Stay at Youth Hostels. If you're willing to stay in a group dorm, you'll often pay less than $30/night. Just for a frame of reference, for the ASA conference the hotels were $200/night (and that includes the reduced rate for conference attendees). Instead of that, I stayed in a women's dorm at a youth hostel for $125 for the whole trip! Plus I got to meet a lovely group of Australian students and explore the city a little more than I would have if I'd just holed up at the conference hotel.
5. Use Google Maps to plot your travel, public transit routes, and walking distances. Print street maps ahead of time. Call all relevant locations in advance and ask them which subway stop is closest. Use Google's street view to 'walk' the neighborhoods in advance and get used to all the landmarks.
6. Before the trip, go to the conference homepage online and start perusing the available workshops. Often, there are TONS of workshops and it takes a fair amount of time to whittle them down to the ones that are actually interesting and relevant to you. Just going through them once in advance and printing a list of the highlights will make a difference once you get there- you'll feel more focused and confident that you aren't missing the best workshops just because you're disorganized. Don't whittle them down too much, though- keep a few options for each time slot. often you can scurry between 2+ concurrent sessions if the rooms are close to each other, and sometimes there are last minute cancellations or your mood changes and you decide x looks better than y after all. Once you get there, look in the back of the conference guide for listings by presenters. Sometimes there are nationally known presenters giving poorly publicized talks that you'll be sad to realize you've missed just because the title didn't initially pop out at you.
Lastly, note which time slots that are 'duds'-- these will become your mealtimes!
7. Which reminds me- scout out the free food! It's there to be had, often at networking events that might otherwise be scary. Know that others are nervous about networking, too, but at the very least you can chat about the lovely appetizers... and make an early exit if you still feel uncomfortable. Also food-related: hostels have kitchens, so if you stay at one won't be at the mercy of fast food, restaurants and expensive room service for the whole trip. You can hit a grocery store and label your food, leave it in the kitchen, and cook whenever you want. Hostels also tend to serve morning breakfast (bagels, cereal) for about $2.
8. Leave extra room in your luggage! Even if you try not to, you will likely accumulate tons of papers, sample journals, books (often on discount the last day), etc. I have discovered that I need the equivalent space of a whole extra backpack to get it all back home.
9. Pay early: I tend to make all my reservations and pay for as much as possible in the week or two after I get my student loan refund each semester. That way it's done, the money is spent, and the only thing that remains is the excitement for the adventure!
10. Tell your teachers and supervisors what you are doing and ask for necessary reprieves from deadlines, days off, and other scheduling considerations (e.g., if you have to give a class presentation at some point) well in advance. Everyone has been very supportive and encouraging and I've had no problems whatsoever. If relevant, you might even offer to present to fellow students/interns about what you learned while away.
11. Do extra homework the week or two beforehand. Even with the best intentions, it will be hard to get any done at the conference.
Let me know if these tips helped you on any of your travels, and happy learning!
kate.
This is NOT from the conference, but this is a good representation of what her talk was like. And man, she is funny!
kate.
Maya Angelou - Being Ageless
I spent most of last week at the American Society on Aging's Annual Conference, just got back today!
I got to go to some great workshops, including an especially good one from the Zen Hospice Project about Buddhist mindfulness and hospice care. If you are at all interested in such things, they are a great organization based in San Francisco.
Also saw a nice keynote address by Maya Angelou and a final night party with the Capitol Steps, a political musical comedy troupe. Check out their website, they have some funny mp3s that you can download.
I also indulged myself by spending an extra night and going to the Cherry Blossom Festival on the National Mall. It was beautiful! 
(I didn't take this picture- I forgot my camera and couldn't take ANY- ugh!)
kate.
SING FOR YOUR STIPEND
Students fund their education through music, prose and other creative pursuits.
"... While most psychology graduate students offset loans through research and teaching assistantships, [some] students pad their grad funding away from the ivory tower. In addition to paying the bills, performing arts and creative writing give them a needed break from academia—and sometimes enrich these grad students’ education in surprising ways."
Read full article here:
http://gradpsych.apags.org/jan08/stipen
Might start getting you thinking of creative ways to fund your schooling! The APA/APAGS sites always have a lot of good articles- definitely worth surfing around if you haven't yet.
I think one of the best choices I made was to spend a year before starting grad school doing a massage therapy training and getting licensed in Massachusetts. I work very part-time, mostly on Saturdays, not more than 3-4 hours a week (and sometimes none). It works well for me- the scheduling is flexible and the hourly pay is significantly better than anything else I'd be qualified to do. Still, I primarily live on massive student loans- the massage work just gives me pocket cash and a little feeling of security.
Reading this article motivated me take an informal poll recently asking current MSPP about how they fund their education and get living expenses. I'll be organizing the results soon and posting them on the blog, but if you want the short answer, it's LOANS! Just about everybody (who responded to my poll) cited receiving some kind of supplementary loan to help with living expenses, though many also did mention family support. More detailed results coming soon...
kate.
- Mood:
loved
Today was an especially nice day. I saw three clients back-to-back for individual psychotherapy sessions, 45 minutes each, all in the same sunny little office (which was actually pretty impressive- as students we don't have our own offices and finding space can be really tough). When I was done, I finished up a little paperwork, and headed home.
As I was driving home, I realized "hey! I bet that's what private practice will feel like!" It was so exciting! I love these little momentary surges of satisfaction when I realize I'm actually doing the things I've long held as career goals. I think, since the educational track at school is so intense, and since students are always looking forward to the next hoop to jump through, it's easy to forget the fact that, at least in a way, we've already arrived. Although still only a student trainee, I am entrusted with the responsibilities of a psychologist; I'm doing the work. I always get excited when I realize this, and feel a flush of gratitude for (1) my own hard work and discipline in choosing this path and sticking with it, (2) MSPP, for seeing my potential and accepting me to their program, and (3) my field site supervisors who are willing to toss responsibility my way and trust I can handle it.
I have never envisioned myself being able to handle too many hours of private practice and I get antsy just thinking about psychotherapists who see 6 or 8 clients in a day. Even if it was only one day a week, that seems like a LOT to me for one day! It never seemed like it would be good for the patient, either, especially the ones 'lucky' enough to be booked late in the day after you've already sat through a handful of other sessions and are getting tired.
Today, though, I started to see how people can do it. I had those three sessions and was actually feeling really good, like I could have easily done at least one or two more (with a lunch break in the middle somewhere, of course). I was feeling energized and competent and like my clients were getting better. I could see how people can really get into private practice, and it opened me up a little bit and made me open to the possibility of doing it more than I had originally imagined. I felt like a lot of my training was starting to sink in and somehow culminated in these new feelings of energy and mastery. Yes, there's still a lot to learn- but it was a refreshing moment of confidence on the journey...
kate.
THE DR. LEON O. BRENNER CENTER FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT AND CONSULTATION
The Dr. Leon O. Brenner Center for Psychological Assessment and Consultation at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology (MSPP) provides comprehensive psychological assessment to address problems of learning and adjustment for children, adolescents and adults. On the Center’s staff are senior psychologists, doctoral students, and post-doctoral fellows who work as a team to provide comprehensive evaluations, jargon-free reports, consultation and advocacy to facilitate the implementation of assessment recommendations.
Our thorough, accessible reports provide invaluable information to therapists, physicians, educators, employers, families and individuals to assist with educational planning, job performance, psychotherapy and personal growth. MSPP has always endorsed the tremendous value of a thoughtful and thorough psychological assessment in improving treatment and educational plans and in improving quality of life. The Brenner Center provides this invaluable service.
Read more here
A Note for Prospective Students: MSPP has a handful of "centers" but don't be deceived- they tend to exist more as networks of people than in physical places. The Brenner Center utilizes the school building and isn't a freestanding structure unto itself. Similarly, some of MSPP's other 'center for x and y' type programs are more likely to be networks of people with a shared goal rather than any kind of defined place or space. I was confused by this when I was a first-year student and, for instance, wandered around the building for awhile wondering "where exactly is this "Center for Mental Health and Aging"?! (The answer to that question: inside Erlene Rosowsky's head! She, and a team of colleagues, host events, lectures, etc., but again, don't exist in a defined place.)
I'm very excited to spend a year honing my assessment skills, doing lots of testing and writing lots of reports. It's a skill that I really want to master before I finish grad school. I have taken the 'Psychological Assessment' course sequence but didn't feel like it gave me quite enough experience to feel truly confident at testing. If it's a career ambition, I definitely recommend planning to spend at least one year at a training site with significant testing responsibilities. I'm excited to get started!
kate.
* = In reality, in only a few short months, it will be time to start looking for internships again... I'm going to begin looking for an APA placement this summer and will have to start putting out applications in late fall. The cycle never ends... (cue the Lion King 'Circle of Life' theme song).
- Location:home
- Mood:determined
Believing time is money to lose, we perceive our shortage of time as stressful. Thus, our fight-or-flight instinct is engaged, and the regions of the brain we use to calmly and sensibly plan our time get switched off. We become fidgety, erratic and rash.
Tasks take longer. We make mistakes — which take still more time to iron out. Who among us has not been locked out of an apartment or lost a wallet when in a great hurry? The perceived lack of time becomes real: We are not stressed because we have no time, but rather, we have no time because we are stressed.
By Stefan Klein
Read Full Article Here
Time, and it's lack, is a relentless preoccupation for most graduate students, many of our psychotherapy clients, and the general public besides... apparently, as it turns out, we have Benjamin Franklin to blame for the old "time is money" cliche that so many of us have internalized and take as truth. Thanks, Uncle Ben- I appreciate your whole 'electricity' thing, but could have done without this one...
kate.
kate.
* * *
Avoiding Overcommitment
TAKE CONTROL
Overpromising, overextending, overestimating and overdoing does not help you live a balanced life, take care of yourself or develop a positive and healthy professional identity. Yet, we all do it on occasion. And we all regret it afterward. The opportunities for students to contribute professionally are tremendous, making it difficult to pass up chances that you think may only come around once.
It always seems that there's too little time and too much to do. But selecting your activities and opportunities carefully is one of the most important skills to master as a graduate student. Saying "no" and respectfully declining enticing opportunities will serve you much better than taking on a project, then quitting and letting people down once you're involved.
Being able to set priorities and allocate time appropriately are critical skills for achieving your personal and professional goals. Taking control of your time and schedule enables you to increase productivity, enhance your quality of life and establish a reputation for which you can feel proud.
MAKE GOOD CHOICES
How do you select from among many alternatives wisely?
Examine your schedule and available time. Sit down with your calendar and list all of your responsibilities, as well as your routine and mandatory activities. Include your classes, lab work, study time, work schedule, practicum, family activities, and time for self-care and social events. Keep in mind that it's often easy to underestimate your time constraints. Survey and prioritize. After looking over your schedule, determine if you have already taken on too much. Can you scale back any of your activities to free up more time for new opportunities? Decide what is realistic and what is most important to you in light of your existing obligations. Avoid last-minute commitments. While a calendar can serve as a useful visual reminder of standing and upcoming events, too many blank spaces may tempt you to fill them quickly with new activities. Before taking on another obligation, be sure to obtain a good description of what will be expected of you and the time investment. Consider how the new activity will contribute to your development and if it's in-line with your goals. Be sure to set aside time in your schedule for rest and relaxation. Days reserved "just for you" or "just for family" are as important as everything else! Say "no" and "yes" and mean it. Learning to say no can be a very difficult thing to do, particularly for students who want to stand out among a cohort of other high-achieving and talented individuals. People that you don't see or interact with on a regular basis may not realize the full extent of your time commitments. When your schedule is already pushing its maximum capacity, it's not only permissible, but important, to say no and to feel comfortable setting limits. Before committing to something new, take some time to think about the implications, so that if you do agree to take it on you can perform to the best of your abilities and be absolutely certain you can follow through. The first few times you have to turn down an exciting opportunity may feel awkward or unsettling. But it's much better for you and your reputation to do a few things exceedingly well, than a lot of things in a mediocre way.
Dealing with an overcommitted schedule is difficult. Examining your activities with respect to your goals will allow you to develop valuable skills that will help you gain credibility and maintain balance.
—Dr. Carol Williams-Nickelson
APAGS Associate Executive Director
This is a great video of Rogers talking about some of his fundamentals. It ends in a funny place- at the beginning of an interview with a patient- and kind of leaves you hanging. Consider it a teaser for the first year of MSPP classes. If you get accepted and enroll, you'll likely get to watch the rest of it at some point...
kate.
1. The students are very bright, friendly and easygoing. They are committed to their schoolwork and especially excited to talk about their field placements. When I came for my interview day, I was very happy to hear how competent everybody seemed to feel in their work. Now, only two years into my training, I feel similarly. Professional development occurs on a steep, ascending curve. It is fantastic.
2. The field placement/internship is central to the training- perhaps even more central than the coursework itself. We get tons of clinical experience each year! Although I knew the number of hours we'd be expected to be at our placements, I don't think I realized just how much time it really was until I started the work. It's been very valuable and I know I'll graduate with my PsyD feeling much more clinically competent than people coming out of a lot of other doctoral programs where there is only one or two years of internship.
3. The faculty are excited about what they teach and want to share that enthusiasm with students. The majority of them (maybe even all of them!?) still do clinical work and for some reason this is important to me. They know how to teach their material in a way that makes it practical and useful for real-time work with clients. And students, for our part, ask lots of questions about the clinical relevance of the material being covered, and faculty are always receptive and thoughtful in their answers.
4. I felt immediately comfortable in the building. I could tell that the kitchen and seating area was well-used and had hosted its share of impromptu, thoughtful and inspiring conversations. It feels like the 'hub' of the community and was warm and welcoming.
5. Being in Boston means having rigorous training opportunities at hospitals, universities, community health centers, etc., that have national and sometimes international reputations for their quality, depth and rigor.
**
These are the things that come immediately to mind, but I'm sure there are others... I'll add as they come to my mind- and feel free to comment and ask questions about things I haven't mentioned- I'm here to help!
kate.
kate.
Two more interviews scheduled in the coming weeks, and another site still not heard from. Will this ever end?!
kate.
UGH!
To do justice to my present frustration, we have to go back about two weeks...
I got a phone call from a potential internship site for next year. They wanted to set up an interview. YAY! It was one of my top choice sites. Happy, happy Kate. But, lo! They wanted to interview me on a Wednesday, and Wednesdays happen to be very busy at my field site this year, so I politely asked what other times they had available. I said, hey, I could do a Wednesday, but if there's another day that would be mutually agreeable, all the better. They said they would have to call back with another available time. Fine, said I. We hang up. The fear immediately crosses my mind that they are not going to call back. Days pass. A whole week. A fortnight. FINALLY- after I'd given up hope and cursed them to the sky- they call back. Very, very nice gentleman, different person than last time, schedules me an interview.
The night before, I fuss for over an hour trying to find the best clothing. I've lost about 25 pounds (on purpose- yay!) and haven't updated my wardrobe yet, so nothing fits well or looks quite right. Finally, I settle on a simple wool skirt, blouse and sweater combo. The day comes. I go to my current site and leave early. I leave really early. Google Maps tells me that it will only take 20 minutes to get there, but I give myself an hour. I'm taking NO chances. The directions are familiar to me until the last three turns, so I think I'm in good shape...
But two things happen. First, snow begins falling from the sky. Hard! This is what they call a 'snow squall,' in fact. Cars are going even slower than usual. People are backed up behind lights, sitting for two and three cycles. Street signs become difficult to read. Second, in spite of diligent efforts and only being TWO RIGHT TURNS and LESS THAN A MILE away, I get horribly, horribly lost. It is 5 minutes before my interview and I know I'm going to be late. I know, at most, I'm two miles away- but two miles can take a long time in Boston, especially when you aren't totally sure which two miles you need to traverse.
I was good, I did the right thing: I called them. Receptionist was very nice but had no idea how to get me there from where I was, even though she agreed I wasn't too far away. She put me on hold to talk to the very, very nice gentleman with whom I was to meet. At this point I'm hoping he also happens to have a GPS installed in his brain. But no luck! Instead, she comes back to the phone and tells me that he is very busy that day (I add in my mind: most likely interviewing other people who have found their way there! Oh, catastrophizing mind!), they are running late anyway, why not just reschedule for some day next week. They put me through to the voicemail of another one of the site administrators to set up a time. They are nice and reasonable about it, but I am frustrated, disappointed, and angry at them, myself, the weather, the roads, Google (oh yes, those smug billionaires are going down, too!), you name it. I leave them a phone message trying to sound pleasant. I don't bother to use the 'listen and approve' menu option. I hang up. I am deflated and miserable.
They didn't call back that day. Fine- they were busy, that's why they told me to reschedule. But will I hear from them Monday? Any day next week? EVER? At this point, I don't even care- okay, that's a lie- but it's been a comedy of errors with this site. Maybe it's just not meant to be. I have five other interviews in the next two weeks. I'm trying to forget about this one... but it's like a bad break-up when you chastise yourself thinking you could have done something different or better to make it work,even though you know you did your absolute best. If only x, y, z. Ugh.
kate.
- Location:Home
- Mood:
angry
I don't know why, but MSPP tends not to use the word "dissertation." Instead, it's a "doc project" ('doc' as in 'doctoral'). I haven't yet figured out this little idiosyncracy. Is it a PsyD thing? Maybe PhD programs do dissertations, and PsyD programs do doc projects? I think it has something to do with the word 'dissertation' being reserved for a certain kind of project, e.g. ones with experimental manipulation, whereas 'doc project' is more all-encompassing of all kinds of research designs-- but I could be wrong. Maybe it's because the word 'dissertation' tends to make palms sweat and sympathetic nervous systems pump into gear? 'Doc projects' sound much less intimidating, to be sure. I don't know- but it's good to know the local vernacular, so there you go.
Whatever they are called, we are starting to talk about them in my research methods class, and it's both scary and exciting... There is a push to get students to commit to a topic by the end of second year (in prior years, it was a 3rd yr, 1st sem thing), and I think this is a good thing. The sooner you commit, the sooner you can start doing your research, preparing your literature review, etc... but picking a topic is tough! When I first started at MSPP, I created a Word document to start listing my interests. Every time something jumped out at me in class, or I had a vague notion for an interesting research project, or an 'aha!' moment, it would go on the list. I definitely recommend doing this! I've never felt at a loss for ideas and have often gone back to it, reconsidered and prioritized my ideas. I have gone to it for paper topics for various classes. And now, I'm going back to it to start sifting for a doc project idea. It means that my problem is one of abundance- having to choose among many equally compelling options. Some people have the opposite problem, where nothing has yet really 'grabbed' them. I much prefer being in my situation. But it's still hard! I have to remember that I have the rest of my life to pursue my interests-- I just need to pick one that is doable in a limited time span, not too expensive or complicated, and that has enough 'stuff' to it to keep me curious and interested. I'll keep you posted...
kate.
- Location:Home
- Mood:
curious - Music:Bob Dylan
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