Yay me! Now what's next?

My graduate studies at SF State are complete. Actually, they were long completed five months ago, but there is no winter ceremony for December graduates. Alas, I had to wait before walking with my cohort. It was nice not having to worry like those who were true May graduates. I heard so much of the following:

• I still have to turn in my paper today!
• Do you know what grade you got?
• The professor still hasn't emailed me about my e-folio.

I looked at a fellow December grad and we agreed that it was nice not having that stress on a day that is meant to be celebratory. What was also nice is that they separated the graduate ceremony from the undergrads. The ceremony went pretty fast.

I always hear, "what's next?" In other words, will I be pursuing a Ph.D? I've given that a lot of thought. I always consider what my parents said about their expectations of kids. We're supposed to do better academically than the previous generations. Well thanks Mom and Dad for setting the bar really high. They both have the MA degrees. But yes, I do plan on pursuing my Ph.D.

It'll be about 2 years before I even apply to a program. One can't simply decide to apply without having all their ducks in a row. You need to research the right program for you, improve your second and third languages (Spanish and Italian), take the GRE and have a dissertation abstract ready. I still don't have a clear focus other than knowing it will be in early 20th century American Literature. Since my life is firmly planted and taking root in the Bay Area, that leaves me with few options, and it just so happens that those few options are among the most competitive universities in the nation. Nonetheless, I will be applying to the following programs.

1. Stanford University
2. UC Santa Cruz
3. UC Berkeley

This is precisely my order of preference, too. Why is Berkeley my last choice? What they have in reputation they lack in financial aide packages and teaching opportunities.

So we'll see what the academic future brings.