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Thursday, November 17, 2005
Why I Love It
As my first semester as a graduate student is coming to a close, I am reminded of why I decided to attend in the first place: I am addicted to research and writing. I am not talking necessarily about the acquisition of knowledge or simply getting smarter, although that is a big part of it. Instead, I literally enjoy the activity of hunting down material, reading it, and being able to understand what is being discussed. It’s sort of like “research archaeology.” I have probably about 15 books checked out from the library and just as many journal articles that will be the basis of my three papers this semester. It’s so much to read and digest which makes it daunting, but the feeling of being humbled by other research and standing on the shoulders of giants it what is addicting. I suppose I enjoy the feeling I get every time I read something and realize that there’s no way that I’ll ever run out of things to learn and that I have a very real opportunity to contribute. Maybe there’s a part of me that wants to publish the next ground-breaking ideas about the Maya; something never before realized. Some archaeologists secretly dream about finding that one artifact or site that will make their career but I dream about paradigm shifts and frameworks. I like to think I would have the ability to keep my ego in check and remain humble, but how easy could that be if you come up with a new way of viewing the past and it just happens to be accepted by the field?
Posted by Will at November 17, 2005 08:35 PM in Graduate School