Who Cares? I’m going to Scotland!
By Keiti | December 13, 2007
The chaos has already started with this grad school in Scotland thing. People are wondering what in the world I’m going to do with a Masters in The Gothic Imagination.
My stock reply from this point on is, “Who cares? I’m going to Scotland!”
Flippant, perhaps, but true.
I’ve never been one to fall prey to the rat race - much to my parents’ chagrin, I’m sure. I just don’t have the desire to be part of that scene. Do I want to have a good job? Absolutely. But I also want a job that I enjoy and one that doesn’t require me to set aside my morals and ethics such as they are. I also want a family-friendly job. I don’t have one at the moment, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that some things are far more important to me than a high-powered job. Perhaps I want too much, but I can’t help feeling that society’s sensibilities are a bit skewed, not to mention, its priorities are way out of whack.
Besides, sometimes learning for learning’s sake is just as important, sometimes more so, than anything else.
What all that boils down to is that I haven’t a clue what I’m going to do with a degree in The Gothic Imagination, but it’s going to be a grand adventure figuring it out along the way.
Topics: Grad School, Human Behavior |
December 13th, 2007 at 9:29 am
WHO CARES??!!!! YOU. ARE. GOING. to SCOTLAND!!!!!!!!
Congratulations!!! YAY! YAY! YAY!
And what CAN’T you do with an MA in Gothic Imagination???!!!! Good grief! heh-heh-helloooo people, back down off this girl’s case, this is whatcha do when you go for advanced degree, you SPECIALIZE! You see, it’s one of those little things that makes you more *valuable* in the academic community.
A couple of months ago, there was an article about one of our very inspiring students here at UF, Peter Ter. He is one of the Lost Boys of Sudan and I’ll never forget what he said about education:
“I had a teacher who told me that education is worth more than a million dollars, because if you have a million dollars, you can always go bankrupt,” Ter said. “Education, she said, is untakable. That is why I am not motivated by money.”
So, girl, you go on out there wit’ yo’ bad self!! Jump in feet first, don’t worry about anything!! Everything else will fall into place right behind you!
I think Scotland might be one of the last magical places left… One of my bestest friends I met back in Texas, decided she was going to make a life change and saved up enough money for a plane ticket to Edinburgh. She sold everything she had that wouldn’t fit into a coupla suitcases and just left. She didn’t have a place to stay, no job lined up and wasn’t sure what she was going to do when she got there. She just went and threw the rest up to fate.
The same day she arrived, she found herself walking around the city and it started to dawn on her what a crazy thing it was for her to just show up to a city in a foreign country, she started to get a little freaked out so she decided to get a cup of tea and try to chill out. So, she stopped by a coffee shop, and while she was waiting for her order, she read the local bulletin board and saw an ad for “roommate wanted.”
On a whim, she called from a pay phone outside the shop and it turned out the apt. wasn’t far from where she was calling. She walked over, met the folks and found out they needed someone right away so she moved in the next day. Okay housing problem miraculously solved. Then, someone there knew someone else at one of the universities and she got a job not long after that. That was five or six years ago now, she’s still there, met the man of her dreams, just got married a month or so ago and are moving into a house they just bought.
So anyway, enough of my yammerin’ and soapboxin’, just go go go an’ don’t look back! You’ve already gotten into school, you’ll find a place to stay and you’ll find work- no problemo. KB said that people there are really, really nice and it’s a very supportive community. You’re gonna LOVE IT!
(and we’ll all have a place to stay when we decide to fly over for a vacation… heehee). 
CONGRATS AGAIN!!! What an amazing opportunity! I’m SO excited for you!!
December 13th, 2007 at 10:02 am
Thanks, Stace!
That’s such an awesome story about KB and one that I will keep in mind whenever I start feeling overwhelmed with getting the details set. But it’s all about taking that leap of faith and trusting that you’ll land on your feet. God definitely has a way of sorting everything out just fine so long as we stay out of His way.
KB sounds like me in the sense that I’m known for randomly doing things that most people find a bit out there. Remember the elopement trip to Germany?
I’m terribly excited, but not nervous; I sort of have the advantage of having grown up overseas (albeit not Scotland) so that’s not too huge of a deal for me. I’m more nervous about the possibility of flunking out of school. Can you imagine?!
Okay…now I’m a little freaked out.
And, yes, you guys will have to come visit. Absolutely!
December 13th, 2007 at 11:45 am
oh man, you’ve got NOTHING to worry about there- you’re so dang smart!!! you will be kickin’ butt so hard and fast you won’t have time to take names. ;D
I think if you can manage several months of 72 hr workweeks and no sleep, grad school will be a cakewalk in comparison! “specially since it will be subject matter you ENJOY!
December 13th, 2007 at 11:46 am
Don’t you mean smart-assed?
