Life + PhD = Winning

Although I've touched on this before, some of you may be unaware that I intended to begin life after my degree as a Clinical Psychologist. It was my motivating factor for pushing me to get the grades I needed for a First, to sign up for extra volunteering (that I could have really done without at times) and to just be generally annoying in badgering everyone I could think of for experience.

I'd contemplated a PhD, but didn't think I had the academic capability, the creativeness or the drive for research. So I thought, "Clinical, that's for me", right up until I got my first post as an Assistant Psychologist. That was awful, and I hated it!

Thankfully, I still had links to one of the lecturers at my university from when we'd considered submitting a proposal, so we worked really hard on shaping that up and here I am. (You can read more about the application process in one of my previous posts on the topic).

For me, I feel like I really dodged a bullet. Although my PhD can be stressful and unco-operative at times, I love it. I have never been happier, more motivated or more content. In some ways, this is because I tend to thrive on stress (but not all the time!) but also because I am content in knowing this is what I want to do. I'm not concerned that I've made a mistake.

So, for all it's difficulties, I remind myself what could have been, and how lucky I am to be doing something I love so much, and I conclude that this is as close to winning as I can get, in a non-Charlie Sheen sense. I've hit the elusive target some people aim for throughout their lives - to do what they love.