Before the myriad of Namibia posts start queuing up, I thought that it was about time for me to share a few of my major plans and goals for 2013 with you.
Believe it or not I've been putting off writing this post for quite some time now. Not because I'm worried of what you all will think, but more because change is always a bit unsettling for me and somehow putting a big change down in writing and exposing it to the world seems to make the whole thing feel a bit more real. But, it seems that the time to share has officially arrived since I already find myself swimming in a combination of assignments, lectures, meetings, and part-time work.
As some of you may already know {and many of you may not know}, I've enrolled in a full-time Master's degree this year.
Because the programme is effectively completed within the year {by November I should be finished!} and we are required to attend between 35 and 40 hours of lectures each week, this means that I've had to quit my job and Jurg and I have had to take a leap of faith in terms of how we're going to make ends meet throughout the next twelve months. Aside from the financial implications, the course itself is extremely demanding and I've been told to expect many sleepless nights and long, tired days. Outside of the 35 - 40 hours of weekly contact sessions, we're expected to complete dozens of assignments after hours as well as a mini-dissertation of between 80 and 100 pages and a publishable article by the end of November. Again, I've had to take a serious leap of faith in terms of how well I'm going to be able to adjust to the drastic increase in work load.
The decision to pursue this Master's programme was not an easy one. I went back and forth on it for several months last year and Jurg and I have had many discussions relating to the plausibility of this option from a purely financial standpoint as well. The alternative option was to pursue a part-time Master's at another University, keep my full-time position, and hopefully finish the degree at the end of 2014. In the end, however, it seemed that the first option would be the best fit for us in the long run and we finally decided to take the plunge and hope that we'll both pop out on the other side alive come November. In terms of time, quality, and reputation, option one just seemed to be the greater of the two on all fronts.
This month marked my 5th anniversary of living in South Africa and our 3rd anniversary of moving to Johannesburg. While we have loved living here, we don't want to be limited in terms of other opportunities that may present themselves regarding the possibility of relocating within South Africa and/or Abroad. Once we get married, we want to start thinking about purchasing a home and settling down and neither of us are certain that Johannesburg is the best place for us to do that. When it's also considered that I'll need to complete a one-year internship following my Master's, pursuing the part-time option would likely mean that we'd be bound to this part of the world for at least another three years. And while we may very well end up choosing to stay in Johannesburg for another three years {or even longer}, we don't want to be tied to the city when an ideal opportunity unfolds elsewhere. Catch my drift?
Of course, pursuing the full-time option is going to have major implications on all spheres of my life, including this blog. There will be days and weeks... and maybe even months, where this little corner of the internet will be all quiet on the western front and I hope you'll all bear with me on that. The travelling will most definitely decrease and the content will likely undergo a temporary shift as well. It's just a reflection of an impermanent, but necessary phase in my life that will be over before we all know it. And I promise not to disappear completely, there are lots of Namibia posts to come, birthdays and graduations to celebrate, my brother's wedding in California to attend, and several weekend getaways to look forward to!
That being said, my 2013 goals are quite simple:
+ Obtain a Master's Degree
+ Eat Healthy
+ Step up my Fitness
{that means hitting the gym 3 - 4 times per week}
Thank you so much for your support and understanding! I'm both nervous and excited about this new journey and I can't wait to pop in from time to time to share it with you!