I picked up my cap, gown, and stole today.   I guess that makes it official; my days as an undergrad are numbered.  Officially, in fact, I have less than a week and a half to go.

On Monday, I met with Dr. Morgan to talk about grad school.  I’ve been entertaining a revised plan and wanted to run it by her; I also wanted to know if she had any suggestions about what to do for the next academic year (summer is pretty much planned; we’ll be traveling a lot, and I’ll be dancing and working temp jobs to make a little money).

Dr. M definitely favors the idea of going straight into a doctoral program and doing the alternate route certification for DMT. Ultimately, that will grant the most flexibility in terms of career options.

She also suggested that during the 2015-2016 academic year I work with Dr. Kahn as a research assistant (an unpaid position, but great experience) and find any paid position I can in a clinical psych setting, even if it’s just working as a resident assistant in a group home.

For some reason, that idea hadn’t even occurred to me, but it’s a great one.   I’ll be able to make some money while gaining some basic practical experience in my field, and I should be able to grab opportunities to sit in on patient intakes and so forth.

This means that ’15-’16 will be a busy year for me, but that will be a good way to prepare for the demands of a doctoral program.

I have to admit, last week, it felt like the future was rushing towards me with terrifying speed and I couldn’t see a way forward.   It was like that moment on every mountain bike ride ever, when the trail makes a sharp turn around a tree and all you can do is follow it, shift your weight back, and pray.

I feel like my chat with Dr. Morgan gave me a peek around the corner — or, well, like it gave me reassurance from someone who has ridden this trail before.  It’s possible that there will be new washouts or that old ones will have been smoothed, but I at least know the gist of what to expect.

So that’s it for now.   No class tonight because OMG Final Paper of Doom, so next class notes will be on Friday.