Matchingsocks’s Weblog

If you have been following this girl’s grad school journey, you’d know that she’s been having second thoughts about it. Last week, she sent an email out to the people that she loves telling them of her decisions. She’s reproducing it here:

Dear People that This girl loves,

Hello everyone.
Its taken This girl a long time to write this email, but she finally able to do it. So, here goes… Some of you would already know that she has been rethinking her decision to go off to graduate school.

The reasons are simple:
One, This girl has realized that she’s really rather unable to work for someone else, or under someone else. This includes the UN. If you’d think back, the big impetus for going to grad school was because working with the UN meant needing a masters. It was a means to an end. And it follows, thus, that if she was not going to work for the UN after all, why is she even going off to grad school?

Two, This girl has realized that she does love this semi-relaxed life she’s leading. She gets to do freelance work of her choosing, NGO/NPO work when the opportunity arises and other interesting projects that seem to keep her plate rather full in the past few months. She’s truly having the time of her life. She knows that even if she heads off to grad school these many cool things would still be around when she gets back; but grad school no longer holds the same appeal in light of the career and life opportunities from this new vantage point.

Three, This girl has realized that if she went to grad school it was because she can. Think Sir Edmund Hilary climbing Everest because its there. It, in itself, is a fine- and some would argue, reasonable- argument to go off to grad school. But its simply not enough.

So, yes, This girl is not going to go to graduate school. By the time you read this, she’d have replied all the schools to inform them of her decision and she’s very at peace with her decision; even with the knowledge that she might never get to go to Fletcher or any other school in the future. Its another chapter she’s closing- although, she’s gotta add, that this chapter was one of much excitement and alot of “I told you so!s”

To be fair, this whole endeavor has been a real blessing in disguise. Without this grad school shindig, This girl would never have been able to get the kind of rest she needed given the very eventful 2007 she’s had. She had time to heal, to grow, to take stock, to focus on herself and she finds herself at the end of it all a complete person. Whole in a way she has never really been before. A good fthis girlnd of hers told her that life had to be led with a “seriousness of purpose” and she thinks that she’s finally understanding what that means.

This girl would like to take this chance to thank you all for all the love, encouragement and support you have all shown her in the months (and in some of your cases, years) past. Many of you have been an absolute rock in this drama-mama life that she leads. Most notably, her family whom she loves and adores greatly. To good fthis girlnds who kept her sane, kept her on point and kept her best interest at heart at all time- thank you. To the three people that she bullied into writing her recommendation letters (you know who you are), she’s really grateful you had such great faith in her, her abilities and her potential. You each have a big dinner treat waiting for you. To Smartest Friend, sorry you’d have to make this journey on your own, but know that This girl is rooting for you with her heart, mind and soul. To everyone else, big hugs and big love all round.

This girl loves you all loads.
Hugs, love and God’s richest blessings,

This girl.