At Long Last . . .

Last night I submitted my last paper for the year, which means my first year of Ph.D. studies is now completed. Here are my most recent reflections on the first year:

1. The confluence of taking care of Jacoby when not in class (or commuting), commuting almost two hours on class days, and completing all my schoolwork makes for a difficult life.

2. The feedback I received this year was, occasionally, more critical than I might have expected, but this indicates how much responsibility my professors take for molding me into a bona fide scholar in four or five short years. While the feedback was sometimes critical, I always received good marks. I sometimes wonder how much more I would have learned had I not been so busy with other things.

3. I was thrilled to care for Jacoby this year. My schoolwork, however, probably caused Jacoby to suffer on more than one occasion, and I feel bad about this, although see comment 5 below.

4. It has become clear that we will need to work out a better situation for Jacoby and my schoolwork next year. (I probably need to put in roughly 50-55 hours a week into my studies.)

5. I have come to realize how important it is not to be 100% "happy" to succeed in my studies. (Being "busy," on the other hand, discourages my success.) Dissatisfaction (that is, "unhappiness" but not "hopelessness") compels me to work harder, focus better, and produce higher quality work. As an interesting side note, the benefit of "unhappiness" (but again, not "despair" or "hopelessness") may also be true for children. Perhaps the "pursuit of happiness" is better than "happiness," in terms of succeeding in life.

That's all for now!

Justin