Etc.
When I was in high school, long ago and far away, I distinctly remember thinking that if I could only get the necessary credits/grades/classes to graduate, I'd never have to go back to school. I'd be finished. I could begin life. (Come to think of it, considering the fact that I only had 2.5 (of 7 possible) classes left for the senior year, I suspect I could have graduated a year earlier by adding an extra class here and there, had I known. I doubt I'd have matured any faster, so I suppose it's just as well.)
So how did I end up in college? Boredom. I went back for my master's because (1) I was convinced I needed it for military promotion, even though the AF was telling me to quit ("If we want you to have an advanced degree, we'll send you!")--and I was right, and (2) I felt stagnant. I needed to feel as though I was learning something and making some sort of progress. Each time I thought, "I'll never go back to school. This is it. I'm finished."
And so it is that I now seek a college and degree program for my PhD, and I'm looking forward to it. Irony, eh? :)
I went for a feedback session with my boss not too long ago. He asked me what I was thinking regarding the PhD program, and how I felt about the (lit crit) paper I'm currently writing for a conference (in 2 weeks). He asked if I writing the paper was enjoyable or excruciating. I told him it was somewhere in the middle: I enjoy reading great literature and thinking about it, but I don't fancy lit crit. He said, "Many world class literary critics don't enjoy what they do. Writing literary criticism is hard work." Then he said, "Have you ever considered College Composition and Rhetoric?"
I said, "Sir, I didn't know I had a choice outside of pursuing a PhD in English literature."
He was clearly shocked. He said, "Perhaps Col H is encouraging you to pursue a degree in literature, but I'm quite sure she'd be interested in you pursuing a Comp/Rhet degree. The question is, are you interested?"
I said, "Might I have the opportunity to study professional essays?"
He said, "Yeah!"
I said, "In that case, I'm very interested in pursuing a comp/rhet degree."
I'd never dared to look into this major, really. However, the subject matter fascinates me. What's not to love? The study of rhetoric, refining my skills in teaching college composition, and refining my understanding of literature at the same time. Almost as an afterthought, he said, "And it's marketable. Go look at hot jobs any day. You'll more than likely find one or more listings for comp/rhet PhDs."
That's nice, too.
So, more enthused than I was when I sought a lit crit degree, I began to look. I'm currently enamored with the University of Oregon, Eugene.
Some colleges in places I've lived or studied are also good, but I like the idea of living somewhere else (somewhere else northwestern, preferably, to overcome any Southern prejudice I may encounter). Plus...I have a rather nomadic nature, and I fancy the notion of living in Oregon. I've heard only flowery praise for the state.
As a plus: there's no AF ROTC unit in Eugene. I've heard some horror stories about AF officers pursuing PhDs and being used by their ROTC unit to do all sorts of odd jobs and onerous taskings. Those in charge of ROTC detachments often (honestly) have no idea how much work the attached officer is trying to accomplish in a mere 3 years; plus, they have manning shortages like everyone else in the AF, and wish to take advantage of everyone assigned to them. AFIT (Air Force Institute of Technology, who sponsors our degrees) seems largely unaware of the problems they instate when they assign a mature officer/college student to a resident ROTC unit. I think the whole thing is largely a matter of naivety and misunderstanding.
And so...I'm looking into UofO in Eugene, with two backups: Purdue (Illinois) and University of Massachusetts (Amherst). I don't think I'll make the foreign language fluency requirement; however, Eugene offers the Old English classes as one of their "reading competency in a foreign language" requirements, and I could easily use French as another.
Incidentally, french.about.com ROCKS. It's possibly the most comprehensive, friendly and interactive site I've found yet.
:)
d
