A little over two years ago I took the decision to leave my job in London and return to higher education. Committing myself to a further two years of study and ~£4,000 in fees was not a decision I took lightly, but it had been my goal since graduation to take this next step in my academic career. I enjoy enormously the expansion of knowledge and the refinement of understanding. There is no feeling like being deeply engaged in learning something new.
I’ve very much enjoyed reading for my MA, but it was also a test - as it should be. I took classes in American Modernism, Postcolonial Fiction, Modernist Poetry, and the Postmodern Novel, and I wrote my thesis on American Minimalism. I got to be surrounded by the best resources possible for the pursuit of my passion, and by people who share it. It’s been my pleasure to share seminar rooms with some inspiring academics and some really talented fellow students. In all it has been a wonderful way to spend a couple of years, and has more than lived up to what I had hoped to gain from the experience.
Today I learned that when I graduate next month it will be with a distinction. It’s good to know that all of the hard work has paid off and that I have met the goal I set myself when I took this all on. The greater reward however, has been in the work itself and in that which I take away from the classrooms and the libraries and the conversations which is of infinitely more value than any certificate.
OK, what’s next?
