PhD Hoops

I watch Criminal Minds sometimes cause I love watching the awkward goofy genius guy at work. Of course, the show is about *criminal* minds and the FBI behavioral analysis unit that tries to figure out the mind of the criminal - so their work is no walk in the park. So at the end of one episode the chief, recounting the difficulty and horror of the day's work, wondered of the other agents: "How many more times will they be able to recover the pieces of themselves that this job takes?"

I could so relate.

Sometimes, I feel this way about the whole PhD process. Sometimes I struggle to re-call, to experience, the passion for learning that brought me to this in the first place, wondering if the stifling effects (stifling to me) of this degree program in this discipline will keep me from being able to recover the pieces of myself that I feel it takes from me. Sad but true.

But then I re-call my feminist sisters and their courage and it inspires me to go on. I must go on. Once I have my "license to practice" (what one friend calls the PhD) I will be able to spread my wings more fully

and

flap them

WILDLY!!