Thank you for your application...

When the next word is "unfortunately," you know where the letter is going.

I did not get in to the Phd program I applied for. Besides the obvious disappointment about being rejected from something, and the great annoyance of having put a lot of work into applying, I feel okay about it. Honestly, I am relieved not to have to put Amelia in some one else's care for what likely would have been many hours a week, and I wasn't sure I wanted to do all that school work (i.e. theory) anyway. I wanted more time to write, I wanted to teach, and it would have been cool to be Dr. O'Connor. Except for that last one, I can do those things without a PhD.

I am still looking forward to the coming year--we will still enroll Amelia in a preschool program, probably for 3 or so mornings a week, so I will have more time to figure out what to do next, writing-wise, as well as to actually write. I think Amelia will really enjoy a couple of mornings of preschool, and I will still have my baby in the afternoons and for one or two full days a week. It might have worked out that way anyway, but who knows. I am excited to explore freelance writing and to become more involved in a great local writing group (Lighthouse Writers).

I still think it would have been cool to be Dr. O'Connor. Oh well. College students just call you by your first name anyway.