I'm joining the bandwagon

So I've decided to start my own blog as well. Not that I think many people will be particularly interested in these things, but I know I thoroughly enjoy reading the blogs of my friends and family that I don't get to see every day, so I thought that perhaps they too, would enjoy reading some of my musings.

I would like to make my first post about the thing that is forefront in my mind right now: my future. In my younger days, I basically breezed through life (high school, college) not really trying very hard and still doing well, and I didn't have a problem bouncing from career goal to career goal without really settling on one for long because I was always of the mind-set, "I'm young, I have time to make up my mind." Well, while I will not dispute that I am still young, I am in my late twenties now (oh yes, LATE, ugh), and I feel that it is time for me to cut the bullshit and decide. I've toyed with the idea of pursuing my PhD in Psychology for years, and it wasn't until I found out about a certain program available to me that it became clear that I should really go for it! The military offers a program to go to the Uniformed Services University and earn your Masters and PhD with a follow-on internship at a military hospital, and you get paid the entire time. Sounds too good to be true, right? Well it almost is. The program is EXTREMELY selective, meaning only about 5-7 people from the entire military (that's ALL branches, not just AF) get in each year. So I have set my sights on this program now, and I am gearing up to apply at the end of this year.

My immediate goals are to take the GRE and get involved in research projects to get all peer-reviewed and whatnot. I've purchase multiple GRE study guides and have been working on those, and I've also gotten involved in one research study with one of the docs I work with and I'm open to others. I've been putting myself out there, trying to gain all the insight I can from the psychologists I see in the clinic, and making it known that I am enthusiastic and hopeful that I will be a stand-out applicant. That being said, from what I've read about the program, many students don't make it the first time they apply, so I'm prepared for that. I just want to make sure my package is as awesome as possible this year so that if I don't quite make the cut, I will still stand out in their minds as someone to consider next time.

Being out of school for so long has made me realize how much I actually liked being IN school. I miss classes and learning new things that are relevant and novel and just plain cool. I feel like I've finally grown in to someone who is ready to take my life seriously and actually make an effort at getting what I want instead of just succeeding because I'm a good test-taker and have a photographic memory.

So anyway, that's what I'm working on now. Getting my shit together and making something of my life. I feel like I have a lot to live up to, being that my sister is a freaking genius who goes around inventing things like flavor-changing lip gloss and ball powder lotion =).