1. When and how did you decide you wanted to go on to graduate school
in your field? Did you always "just know," or were you inspired in
some way?
I had no idea at all what I wanted to be when I "grew up." After high school I went to college for music but the talented musician track didn't pan out so well. I wound up majoring more in drinking and dating and reasoned that it must have been because I was a terrible student - just not cut out for academics. But when the kids were little I thought I would go back to school and finish up. At least get some degree...something. I started back by taking the one course that scared me the most - the one that I knew I would hate the most. I knew that if I could get through that I would be fine. So I signed up for Research Writing. I had to take it. It was a core requirement. But this was the course I had dropped twice my last attempt at college.
I loved it. I loved the course, the prof, the assignment, but most of all just the environment. Still, a part of me was hesitant until the prof who would later turn out to be my advisor/mentor/friend told me that he was never a great student. He just loved the courses. He told me I should consider teaching college - go to grad school. And the light went on. I never thought that was an option for me. Now, I am not sure what else I would do.


2. When did you start loving the Mets and why?
hahaha. There are other teams?? I loved the Mets as soon as I was old enough to say "we'll get 'em next year!" I slept with a stuffed Dave Kingman doll and knew all the team stats. I have been around for both Mets World Series' wins (although I don't remember the first one!). We still listen or watch every game. I think I have only missed two this season and I was on vacation. They might not always win, but it's always an adventure. And it has always been a way to connect with family even if we felt far away - even when I was a rotten teenager there was always baseball to talk about. (And those were good Met years!) But there is something to be said for rooting for the underdog, and most years...the Mets are just that. It's a rollercoaster ride. Just today they had me cheering, anxious, angry and disappointed and that was in just one inning. lol.
The boys are being raised as good Met fans. They cheer for the Mets...and whoever is playing the Yankees ;)


3. What are you looking forward to about starting graduate school?
I can't wait to get started on just English classes. No more wasting time and money with core courses, just digging into the classes that I really enjoy. I can't wait to be challenged and worked up and get that feeling that you get after a heated discussion when the class is over and you still can't stop working through it in your head. I can't wait to get to that point in a research project where it isn't work any more, where you lose track of time for hours on end and are stuck in a giant pile of post-its and photocopies. I know it doesn't happen all the time and that I will spend a lot of time (most likely on here) griping about some assignment or another that is due and I haven't started, but every once in a while you just get in the groove and I love that.


4. What is a fear or concern you have about starting graduate school,
and how will you take on and address this fear or concern?
I have a pretty common fear, I think. I worry that someone is going to tap me on the shoulder and say, "Hey! You aren't supposed to be here. This is where the really smart people are. Who did you think you were kidding? We read that last paper and we know you were BS-ing." I worry that I am not prepared. I worry that I am not like some of the academics that I know that live only for research and work. I love it. But I also love a good cheesy movie. I love reading Chaucer and Langland but I also loved Time Traveler's Wife and sometimes it feels as if I don't fit in if I don't claim to be all academia all the time. Look at the answer above! Most of the profs I know just shake their head when I say I am going to watch a game. Baseball? Really?
How will I handle this? I just keep working at it. I know that my work has improved. I know that I was lucky to have friends that were also profs, who knew my goals and helped me along the way so that I would be more prepared. And if I don't fit in there? I will find somewhere that I do.
One of the nice things about reading academic blogs is that I get to see that some academics actually have other interests, and they even blog! lol. I also get to see that some of the fears that I have are common, especially ones that have to do with getting published, etc. Right now, I am going to handle this one class at a time. That's how I got through undergrad, that's how I will get through this. And the truth is that I understand it is going to be difficult. I know that I am going to be hard pressed to find a tenure track job that is within commuting distance. I realize that I am limiting things even further by choosing to be a Medievalist. But there isn't anything else I can see myself doing, anything else that I want to do.


5. What is the funniest or most entertaining thing your boys have said
or done lately?
When we were in Maine we were browsing in a cute kitschy shop in Bar Harbor. It is one of the places that has funny bumper stickers and magnets, t-shirts and gag gifts, etc. The boys were with us but we were steering them from the more inappropriate items. C came running over to me giggling and holding up what looked like an altoids tin. "Look at this mom! This is too funny!" he was laughing, "This tin says, 'I love my pennies!' Isn't that funny?" Only it didn't say "pennies" it said, "I love my penis!" and he is running around the store waving it in the air and laughing. Like a good mom I immediately looked for my camera while his brother wasted no time explaining C's error. This, of course, resulted in more laughing until we got so loud we thought it best to leave the store before we were asked to. Hey, between that and the boob mountains it was a fun day!