phd high #1

i forgot to mention - this week saw the first phd high since i've started school. while meeting with my advisor is never an unpleasant experience, this wednesday was special. my research area changed for the fourth time, but that is fine and expected (well, in the first year :). the more it changes, the happier i am, because not only is it a sign of evolution, it is also hopefully one less change to deal with over the phd.

the funny thing is - i have no idea whence the epiphany came. it is a complete blur in my memory. i found myself writing an email to him tuesday morning, saying i was having a really hard time narrowing down my focus. it was a blatantly honest email, i just prayed he would understand. he wrote back saying we'd talk about it at our wednesday meeting. it was a nice mail, and i wrote back, telling him that in the meantime, i'd try to get my act together (i did not have the faintest idea how i'd do it though). tuesday evening, i suddenly had sketches to showcase the idea i know not when i had, and received positive feedback on them from my classmates. wednesday then, when i met him, i jumped into it straight away, and he was ecstatic. no, i do not exaggerate. he sounded the happiest i had heard him sound in the year i have known him. and he said how happy he was about a dozen times in the hour-and-a-half that we met. where the idea came from though, when it came, or how - i haven't a clue. it is just the strangest thing.

but. now. i have a plan. my phd seems to be headed in some direction. if i fail, i will learn. and if i don't, my advisor will be happy. a win-win situation :).