I met with the graduate advisor today. It went really well. She told me pretty much everything I wanted to know.
Basically, I have to work my ass off to keep my grades up high. I need a minimum 10.0 GPA in order to even be considered for funding. And that's not just in my final year; that's an average of all four. There are three types of funding. There's a scholarship, which is $8K a year for two years. There's the TA schtick, another $8K a year. And then there's the Ontario Graduate Students Scholarship. You have to have straight A's to get it, but it's $15K a year for two years, which is a little more than I'm making now. So I can do that.
It's ideally a two-year program, if you're lucky. The first year is course work, where you hash out your ideas with other colleagues and start working on your research proposal, and the second is your research and writing. Where you can get held up is by the Ethics Committee, and they can keep you wherever they want you for however long they desire. The Ethics Committee at Carleton is one of the strictest in the country, and the Committee for the faculty of Anthropology and Sociology is even more so. Basically, I have to come up with a proposal that is ethically sound in every way, then defend it in front of them. Very few people pass the first time. With the topic I've chosen, it's going to be especially difficult for me to pass, so I have to get it as perfect as I can each time, so as not to waste my days. I figure I can get the expectorating goobermonster to help me out with all the legalities when the time comes. See? There are benefits to working for THE MAN.
We talked about the fact that I was actually serious about this whole shebang, and how it was purely a research thing, which it is, despite what I say to the contrary. I have no intentions of jeapordizing my career to fraternize with a bunch of boys. It means that, due to the sensitive nature of my "subjects," I will not *actually* be able to smuggle any of my friends into the locker room during shower time. It'll be hard, being a girl stepping into a predominantly man's world, but I think I can hold my own.
She told me not to bother "sounding anyone out" until I'd finalized my ideas and had actually gotten funding for my degree, which is reasonable. She said I shouldn't bother them until I'm actually ready to go and work with them. We also went over what would happen if I couldn't get in with the OSHC, or if the CBA thing doesn't get resolved. I covered all my bases, saying that I would apply to another NHL team, like maybe Edmonton or Vancouver, failing that, a WHA team, in case of a lockout. If they still weren't interested, then I would try an OHL team, although I don't think their sense of superstition is as well-developed.
We also discussed various people that I could talk to about my ideas. Carleton is a hotbed of symbolic anthropology, so, fortunately, there are several around, like Ian Prattis, who has done a lot of work on ritual and religion. She even suggested I talk to Charles Laughlin, who's famous for developing the field of neuroanthropology. I told her that I'd had Charlie for a class last term, and that he was actually going to write me a reference letter. I emailed him this afternoon and updated him on the situation. He's retired, now, and lives in Arizona, fixing watches. She also mentioned looking at some papers on other organized sports, especially baseball. I'd already done some research, and so I was able to rattle off some data for her, which, I think, helped my case.
She raised a lot of issues that I had already thought of, like the whole ethics thing, so I think, on the whole, I was pretty prepared for this interview. I was nervous going in, however, and I think it showed, but it all worked out in the end. My favourite thing she said this afternoon was after I asked her if this whole deal was feasible. She looked at me like I was insane and said, "anything is possible in anthropology." I blessed her on the spot.
This is amazing to me. It's like a miracle. This is my DREAM project, and it actually maybe sorta almost is going to HAPPEN. I'm never this lucky. I'm probably going to die soon or something.
Let's get metaphorical here. It's like there's this hallway, or a room, or whatever. The way out is a door. The first door was me raising the subject with Mr. Symbol (Charlie) back in December. That was a screen door, and opened easily. Today, it was a more formal can-I-really-do-this-yes-or-no kind of thing. The door was a little heavier, but it opened. The next door is my marks, but it's already shaking in the wind, so I think it'll pop open of its own accord in a few years. I don't even know what the ones beyond look like. There's the application door, where I try to get into the program and get funding. Beyond that, there's the OSHC door, and the Ethics door. Those will be the hardest to open. I bet the Ethics one is eight-inch thick steel, with those witchy locks like in Grimwald's in Harry Potter. As I go through these doors, I'm picking up little bits, like reference letters, journal articles, contacts, which will eventually become the keys to those two last doors.
It's a very daunting task ahead of me, and it's going to be a lot of grueling work, but I'm determined to go through with it. I wouldn't even go near it if I didn't love it so much.
Now I just have to learn how to skate!
Posted by Ally at February 25, 2004 12:00 AM