I am a serious student, I am dedicated, study hard, and want to truly learn. I think when you put lots of effort into whatever you do, people around you go out of their way to encourage you, and people in position of authority try to show you the right way and guide you, so you get to your goal successfully. I have been getting encouragement, to continue my studies, from not only my family and friends, and of course my professors, but also from total strangers, who saw my excitement and dedication within the first few minutes of our meeting.
One Friday night as I was about to leave the library, I decided to check out the text I was reading, so that I could continue reading it overnight. I don't like to check out books from the library if I am not going to read it cover to cover! Reading a chapter here, another one there, and taking notes, doesn't take that long, and I rather read and take notes in the library, let the book stay in the library, so when another student like me just wants to read a few chapters, don't get disappointed that the book is not available.
Anyhow, that Friday night, just before the closing time, as I walked toward the circulation desk to check out the book, I saw a line in front of the librarian! I was so not ready to wait in line, that late in the evening, but I wanted to read that book, so I stood!
The student librarian, looked like he was a freshman, who just started, and was probably over his head trying to deal with all of us in a short period of time before closing. I was thinking to myself why a more capable fulltime librarian is not there to help this poor guy who obviously was not very comfortable behind that desk.
Suddenly the women in front of me turned to me and said, "I had been librarian for over 15 years, without the capability of computers of today, and I never allowed anyone wait in line, I was efficient and speedy!" I decided to be polite and show that I was interested in conversing with her, but in reality I just wanted to get home and continue studying/taking note from the book I was reading! So I asked her if she was a librarian here or in another school. She told me that she worked in another school, first as a librarian, and then when her marriage dissolved, she decided to go back to school, got her master's and then a Ph.D., and was hired as a professor at once.
Suddenly not only I was interested in her story, in a split second, I also became an admirer! She continued that, she had two teenage girls at that time and she felt that she needed to excel in her career. I can't image how she did it, going through a divorce, taking care of two teenage girls, holding a fulltime job, and then if her life was not full enough, starting graduate studies. I told her that I was very impressed, and continued that, after my divorce I was such a mess, I couldn't even do my job as efficiently as I had done before, and here she was not only she took care of her kids and did her job well probably, she also went to school.
She asked me about my story and I told her that I was back at school after almost 20 years for a master's degree. She told me now that I was there, why stop at masters; why not go for a Ph.D. She said that she can see my dedication, being there on a Friday night, and added that these days it is essential to have a Ph.D. if you want to go further in your career.
I told her that I thought I was too old to continue! She asked me how old was I? When I told her, she said she was about 6 years my senior when she started her master's degree and continued that she had a great lengthy second career as a professor, and now she is into her third career, a researcher in Women's studies, and that is why she was at the library.
So, yes, the thought of continuing to a Ph.D. program has been in back of my mind! I so would have gone after it if I was a bit younger, or if I didn't want to have kids. Both my older sisters had their youngest kids when they were 41, so that is the absolute latest for me to consider getting pregnant and have a kid too. I have a window of three years maximum to have a kid, preferably two, lol, and that is a tight window, lol. My plan, all along, had been to finish school, at the latest, at the end of 2011, and right away start concentrating on starting a family. But I can't help it not wanting to continue, now that I know I can be a success at school , plus I know where I like to advance in my career, I think requires having a Ph.D!
I've found that some people intend to stop after their Master's, but they become so caught up in their research and so passionate, etc., that they simply cannot stop. Then they go on to get their Ph.D., and often go for postdoc's, too. Sometimes I think grad school just never ends.
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