Thursday, January 29, 2015

Envelopes

So, let's compare this picture I took and uploaded to Facebook on the 6th of December 2012:


Those are envelopes containing my hopes and dreams of getting into a masters program. Luckily, I managed to get into every single German school that I applied for. "Which one should I choose?" was a wonderful dilemma. 

The PhD version looks like this:


I'm really hoping to have at least some of the success that I managed to garner in my first attempt two years ago. This is just the first round; I still have to prepare a couple whose deadlines are a bit later. After the end/middle of February, though, I will enter that state of constant "what if? did I do it right? I hope I hope I hope". It probably won't end until September, but I'm ready. 




Monday, January 26, 2015

Und in einem Monat, sieht die Welt ganz anders aus

And next month, everything will look totally different...

     Wise words from someone I've been spending a lot of time with. Everything is moving so quickly. I have deadlines coming up for applications, and this weekend I couldn't really devote much time to anything other than this conference where I was helping out. I did, however, manage to go to a YFU (one of my organization's partners) event, where a professor of Universität Mainz held a speech on a topic similar to that of my thesis. It was a great opportunity to learn and network. I even managed to get a couple of cards from representatives of the US embassy, which could turn into valuable contacts in the future. Everyone seemed to be respond really positively when I talked about my topic and potential findings. "I can't wait for the results" was something I heard more than once. Well...haha...me neither, I guess.
      There's still this slight sensation of  "am I doing this right? What if it turns out to be completely useless?" But, I suppose that's normal. Doubts are a part of life. I literally have no idea what I'm going to be doing after September. I could be in Cairo, Berlin, Gießen, Bremen, Leipzig, San Francisco, or even Heidelberg again. I just don't know. It's simultaneously exciting and terrifying. 

Friday, January 16, 2015

Transition phase (round 2)

Fight!

I am literally going through the advanced version of what I went through to get where I am today. I'm almost done with my Master's...just gotta write the thesis and get all the bureaucratic stuff handled before I go on to the next step:

PhD

When I started this academic journey, I didn't think that's what I wanted to do. But now, I can't really imagine doing anything else.

I've had a bit of time to reflect and think about what I want. I also read the last few posts of my old blog...and I really want to tell myself (both then and now) "ssshhh everything is going to be alright"

The one that really struck me is this post about what options I had. Everything back then was so touch and go...but I can say with 100% surety that I did the right thing.

My current situation is essentially the same (after finishing that the tiny issue of writing my thesis). Essentially I have:

Plan A: Do a PhD in Global Studies at Humboldt University. Basically the same as what I did for MA but between two countries instead of three and I basically have to write a book at the end. My current thesis advisor has already agreed to be my Doktorvater, and has said would support me in the application process. The only problem is that I would need to find funding somewhere else (like the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, Hansen Stiftung, Heinrich-Boll Stiftung, blahblahblah)

Plan B: Do a PhD at the Berlin Graduate School of Transnational Studies. This would be all included but, I think it's also much more competitive. I also think that this would be the best choice in terms of resources available. It's a cooperation between Freie Universität, Hertie School of Governance, and the Social Science Research Center Berlin, all of which are great institutions.

Plan C: Do a MA-TESL certificate in Egypt at the American University Cairo. This option is really attractive to me because it's all paid and basically I'd be learning Arabic the entire time, teaching a few classes in English a week, and getting a certificate at the end.

Plan D:  Do a PhD in Gießen. Based on the location, not as attractive as the others but would be paid.

Plan E: Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences. Mostly, I just like the acronym BIGSSS. Similarly to Gießen, it's not very geographically attractive, but the program seems solid.

Plan F: European University Viadrina at Frankfurt (Oder). I got into grad school here but this is another story. Also, not paid.

Plan G: Freie Universität Berlin. Talked to a professor here who is doing a really interesting project on social inequality and transnational human capital, which is similar to what I'm interested in doing. He mentioned there might be a new project for next year but that would be a year too late for me. Also, not paid.

It would be awesome if I had the same success rate for PhD programs as I did for MA. I catch myself going through the exact same pattern of "what if I don't get in anywhere/no I'll get in somewhere/BUT what if I don't get in anywhere??" and it's nice to know that it can possibly work out. I made it this far...still, this is a completely different level of difficulty. Oh well, all I can do is try (and by that I mean obsess over applications for the next half year) and see what happens.


Sunday, January 4, 2015

Jahreswechsel

These past holidays were a bit strenuous, but nice overall. I decided that, because I couldn't really afford to go back to the US, I would book a random flight using Germanwings' Blindbooking service and try to beat the holiday feels. I ended up getting a flight to Switzerland, which turned out to be an interesting experience




 

It snowed a LOT. But it was nicer than Berlin snow (which turns grey and gross after about half a day) I met up with a lot of nice Swiss people from Couchsurfing.com. My main takeaway from the whole experience is that Zurich is a very clean, luxurious, and expensive place. My hosts were all lovely and very hospitable, especially my friend who invited me to visit his family in Berne for Christmas itself.
I also got to see the friends that I made in Buenos Aires during a three-day stint I made back to Freiburg between Christmas and New Years. Despite some logistical awkwardness, I was really glad to see all of them after not seeing them since India (6 months ago!)

Now that I'm back in Berlin, I really have to dig in and focus on what I have to do: analyze my interview data, start writing, look for scholarships for my PhD, finish my application for this fellowship in Egypt, and flesh out any other options I might have after successfully finishing my thesis in August/September. Reality is coming, I just have to be ready for it.