Spinning the threads
Tuesday, May 5, 2009 at 07:46AM I've been reflecting a bit over the last 24 hours about the grant I just submitted to the Department of Labor. It was a grant that I wrote that focused on reintegrating homeless veterans into employment. While not directly benefiting the organization I work for, it would bring in about 10% of my salary. I would be responsible for the evaluation piece.
The reason I've been reflecting about this is because it relates to the work I did last month that focused on a proposal for one of my classes that was based on some actual interviews I was doing with chronic homeless men. I've been interviewing some of the ment who were part of a chronic homeless employment initiative. The interviews have been absolutely fascinating and I've gathered lots of great data. I've also written a proposal to interview 20-30 more chronic homeless men about their experiences in seeking employment. I only submitted it for a grade and got a 97% mind you. Not bad eh? Anyhow, it was a really great research proposal.
So, why am I reflecting? Well, I finished up all of my coursework. No more time in the classroom for this PhD. However, I've been thinking about this blog, and the purpose of spinning the threads together. Over the years, I have worked hard to spin together the magical and the mundane, and that is lifelong work. However, I'm finding it is time to really spin the threads together of the academic and professional lives.
I love working in a human service agency. I love doing research. I love qualitative research. I love writing the proposals and then writing about the results. I love connecting with clients. I love supporting human service agency staff. It is time to begin to manifest my next work. It is time for me to create the magical intent of weaving the parts together. That said, it is imperative that I finish the actual dissertation. Now that coursework is done, the temptation will be to rest a bit. However, I can't. That doesn't mean that I can't be smart about how I do this next layer of work. So I'm reflecting on what is the project that would bridge both my current professional work with my academic interests? That is a big question and important for me to answer in the next few weeks.
Reader Comments (1)
CONGRATS on finishing your coursework!