Everyone keeps asking me how I feel, now that I’m in the twilight of my academic years. Am I excited? Where will I go? Who will I work for? Will I start my own practice? I never quite know how to respond.

On the one hand, I’m so sick of school and class that I could yell. Probably for a good 10 minutes. On the other hand, for the entirety of my adult life, I’ve been either in the military or school. Both are rather controlled, time-consuming ways of life. Both are quite a poor representation of “real” life. It’s an alien world that is still quite mysterious to me. So the path forward may seem dark, uncertain, and scary, but I can’t stay here.

My life at the moment

So, what will I be doing in 10 months time? I wish I knew for certain. It’s something I definitely need to get dialed in. I keep saying that I’m going to shake some trees and see what falls out. But I haven’t started shaking yet and time is really starting to run out. Perhaps I’m afraid of failure or rejection. Maybe I’m not quite sure what exactly it is I, uniquely, have to offer. I have everything I need to get started: a CV, a cover letter, even a business plan with financials. I just need to figure out how to present it all to potential employers or partners.

The pace of academic life does slow down the last year of school and I can see why. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done to ensure a smooth transfer from school to life. Internet research into a practice just doesn’t quite cut it when trying to assess whether or not it’s the right fit or if there’s opportunity for upwards mobility. More often than not, a face-to-face meeting is necessary to truly determine the proper fit. I’ll keep you all posted on my strategies and what falls from the trees!