uptowngirl25

About Me I am 24-year-old (soon to be 25) woman living in Normal, IL. In 2006 I started a PhD program at Illinois State University. 3 ½ very challenging years later, I was finally through much of the tough work--I had passed my comprehensive exams, proposed my dissertation, and only had a handful of classes left. I felt really burnt out and wondered what was next. I was applying for internships starting in the summer of 2010, which I had planned to complete while simultaneously completing my dissertation. Which would mean another year of working round the clock, one step closer to the time when I could call myself doctor. The thought of another year of that much work was really overwhelming to me. A stroke of serendipity allowed me to run into a friend who encouraged me to take some extra time to finish my dissertation. Thus, I decided to postpone the internship and spend an extra year where I was currently completing my degree. Despite living in a place called Normal throughout graduate school, I often found that a “normal” life escaped me. I was always so busy with schoolwork, and finishing the next big hurdle, and fantasized about a different way of living would look like. I imagined that it might include taking time to enjoy life at a calmer pace. I soon found that even after I made the decision to take an extra year, and had a considerably lighter load, I did not slip easily into a real life as I had imagined. After so many years of working 7 days a week, most hours out of the day, this was just a skill I would have to take some time to master. I have finally decided to do something that I have always wanted to do—take a year to enhance myself outside of school. This blog is a way to document some experiments in living a Normal life. Other interests of mine include running, working out, Spanish, volunteering, positive psychology, dancing, reading, journaling, travel, food cooking, conversation, coffee, and wine.