I am very happy to share the news that I have just accomplished my academic goal and have achieved my doctorate in psychology. It was not an easy journey but one that I persisted in and take great pride in having now completed.
As challenging as the academic task was, however, I can also share that I do not feel mentally fatigued. I certainly enjoyed a few days of relaxing my brain in that I watched some Real Housewives, read some People magazines and enjoyed some leisurely social interactions, but I am not feeling like I need a long rest to reenergize my mind. Truth be told, I am feeling excited and ready to park my academic knowledge into the side of my creative brain and get moving …
Typically, whenever someone achieves a major academic milestone, there is a tendency to want to take a little bit of a break. I can remember when I graduated from college and filling in the July 6th start date for my new job. Apparently, at the tender age of 21, I felt I needed 6 weeks in-between the conclusion of my bachelor’s degree and the start of my career. Why I felt I needed this time was a mystery to me back then, but I think it had something to do with needing to rest after having worked so hard for four years. Today, I think that I needed a rest back then because of simple math as achieving my bachelor’s degree had taken about 20 percent of my lifetime. In comparison, achieving my doctorate took me three and a half years, or about 6.5 percent of my lifetime and my weekend of relaxation seems like just enough…
In further considering my rest explanation as mathematical, when I graduated from college, I had my whole adult life ahead of me as the path of marriage, children and my career were all still unknowns. And at 21, maybe I also needed a post academic achievement rest simply because I wanted to defer, for 6 weeks, the looming next steps of responsibility. Back then, sleeping until 10 am and working on my suntan in the afternoon felt necessary. But today, as a better part of my adult life is already known to me, I have little desire to waste any time at all in resting or deferring responsibility for what else I can and want to do. As a matter of fact, I absolutely can’t wait to hang my degree on a wall and enthusiastically affect what comes…
Next! Next!
Kathy Naumann, possessor of NATURALLY curly hair and the understanding that you can’t control everything!
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