If I applied to graduate school tomorrow...

Would you rather... apply to graduate school tomorrow or apply for a job tomorrow?

Both are equally terrifying.

Right now, I'm going to try to find a job. Edit that- I AM GOING TO FIND A JOB. A job that I love and I kick butt in at the same time.

To be a good sport, though, I'll play both cards of the game. If I had to apply to graduate school tomorrow I would either do public health or something in history or literature to further my Protestantism and the Scientific Revolution topic. Our research project for Colloquium has really piqued my interest. I think there is SO MUCH MORE to be done with the Protestant and scientific revolution thing. The intersection of religion and science (or religion and learning or religion and the world) is truly fascinating. I think that every religion and its position toward science and learning would be a very interesting relationship to study.

The research I have done on my chosen topic (Francis Bacon included), has been very enlightening. I have learned so much more about about history and literature. It's like eating the soup that Milo eats in The Phantom Tollbooth, when you eat the soup it makes you hungrier (some kind of fraction soup or maybe exponents or something). I think two of the most interesting things I have learned about are the boom in botany (English gardens in particular) and the religious fervour that drove science. I have also learned much more about theology than I ever desired. The whole research process has been exciting also. I honestly skipped down the aisles the in the Hesburgh library when I found some legitimate and helpful resources. It was not just exciting because I like my topic(s), but I was excited to find a few other people that had thought about the same thing I did. When I found books that encompassed the relationship between Protestantism and the Scientific Revolution I felt like I was validated, like I am onto something. It made me feel a little bit smart too. When I was with my family for Thanksgiving I stayed back at the house to read and write my annotations. My brother was studying too (gearing up for his clinicals and even giving me my Enbrel injection!) and I would pop into his room every half hour or so with another early modern english Baconian physico-teleological factoid that he really didn't care about but excited me. At least he shared in my humour when I laughed about the noble quality of gardening because plants were seen as "asexual" creatures that don't submit to their passions... (Harrison's "Adam in the Garden"). That was comical.

I wish I would have started this assignment last year. I went frequented a lot of Royal Botanic Gardens this summer and strutted past the Royal Society on the mall. Ah! I just breezed right by my "mecca" for this assignment without even batting an eye! I could spit on the roof of the British Library from my flat (which says a lot about the luxury quotient of my residence). At least I went to the Wellcome Center and saw their medical history exhibit. It would have been so exciting to discover the world of Bacon when I was in London. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that someone at S&S gets pregnant or fired so that a position opens up for me! Muahaha Okay I'm kidding about the pregnancy and firing (maybe just a little bit).

Anyway I have truly enjoyed working on my research project and think that it has been valuable. I wish I could really see my project come to fruition via a much more developed paper. That is why I say that if I had to go to apply to graduate school tomorrow I would apply to some history or literature program to really cultivate my project. I really believe that this topic has so much more potential to be realised.

PS If you are noticing that some of my words have an odd spelling it's because there must be some UK English setting on this thing. It underlined "realized" but leaves "realised" untouched. It also underlines "fervor" but thinks "fervour" is kosher. I don't remember checking any box for UK English but whatevs.