Tarot

I had a very interesting tarot reading done last night. For a few reasons, I didn’t want to ask any specific questions of the cards, but instead picked a tact started long ago – just let the cards tell me what they want, and go from there (typically I would then ask more specific questions, but for said few reasons this wasn’t possible last night). The funny thing was, had I opted to ask about anything, I would have asked about academia, and that’s all the cards talked about. Passions for teaching, pride in intellect, strength and survival. It was the future-path card that was most interesting, though – it warned of academic selling out for money.

And it made perfect sense. I’ve been thinking a lot about graduate school lately, what with needing to take the GREs and start my applications and Phillip and I talking a lot about where I should go, and trying to figure out myself what exactly I want to study. Something I’ve been using as a mental barometer, in perhaps not the most serious manner, is that I’ll go wherever pays me.

I honestly feel like one of two things will happen for graduate school. I will either get in to lots of places, or nowhere. I tend to assume the later, while more deeply believing the former. And money – aid packages – does become a consideration. In that considering, I need to keep in mind the fit of the program, educators and education, and not just funding and prestige of school (which would be another form of selling out).

It’s a good thing to keep in the front of my mind as I go into this whole process.