Have Hope
Life-changing events can be cause for some major fear. They also take a lot of preparation and, when they go wrong, can have fairly severe consequences. Why, then, do we bother with doing them? Part of it, I imagine, is a risk and reward calculation. At this point, the worst that will happen to me is that I will have a master’s degree, and I’ll be free to pursue another opportunity. If all else fails, it will be back to school in about a year to try my hand at being an attorney.
One of the better reasons that we put up with levels of risk like the ones I have taken on in going after my doctorate is hope. At the end of a long journey, I’m looking back at all of this and asking why I have decided to come so far and work so much. It is, in this case, out of hope. Coming from a working-class family that struggled, for a time, to even meet the basic needs, the idea that I would become, eventually, a professor upon whom students could count in the worst of times, is highly motivating. Assuming this presentation goes fairly well, I can stand with my head held high, find the students who are like me, and say, with confidence, that they can do it too and I’m here to help.
That hope, and the purpose that comes with it, is one of the things helping me get through the dreaded waiting before I walk into my university for the last time as a student and, hopefully, walk out as a faculty member. If you’re facing something big in your life, I hope these reflections help you feel a little less alone in what can be extremely trying times.