SUMMER BREAK

What Most People Do in Graduate School:  ​
Drink
Write a thesis
Graduate

​What I've Done in my Two Years in Graduate School:  
Kept an active and popular blog 
Wrote and published a book
Wrote and published an academic article
Wrote a story for a soon-to-be-published anthology
Presented at 3 conferences
Gave talks at different schools in different states
Taught 60+ students each semester for two years straight
Started a freelance writing career
Hired to write for Rookie
Hired to write for Vulture
Applied to Ph.D. programs
Talked about and decided to get married to my super great partner in the span of two weeks
Became the executor of my grandma's estate (she's fine, just old) (and her "estate" is mostly black Jesus figurines)
Applied for (and received!) a doctoral fellowship
Wrote a thesis
Drank
Graduated

I am very tired. 

I'm grateful for every single opportunity I have had during this time, but I also miss my friends and spending entire days without a single plan. As I gear up to start my Ph.D., I am going to take the next 3 months to myself - less social media, less time online, more time exploring my new city, more time looking at the faces of the people I love. I'm going to power through my reading list, see every single movie and find out who serves the best egg sandwich in Seattle. I will sit in parks in New York City and listen to my friends tell me about their dreams. I will sew many dresses. I will dance in the kitchen while I make dinner with my husband. 

See you in September. 

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