Transition, part II (Chapter II)

I entered Texas fairly nervous and exited, and very anxious about entering graduate school this coming Fall, with my only strength and comfort being my boyfriend of 1.5 years, Dan. I leave Texas feeling accomplished, with a new-found confidence simmering underneath. In 10 weeks, I accomplished what I set out to do; namely, designing a new algorithm for phylogenetic construction.

Not only did I create said algorithm, I created one that is competitive with existing methods. For me, this was the first, fully independent, creative, and most-meaningful project of my life. I poured my soul, talents, skills and mind into this work. Near the end, I also was pulling 60-70 hour weeks. And the best part was? I didn't care. I was so damn driven; it was amazing to see myself so incredibly focused. Finally, I saw what I always felt was there inside of me; a woman obssesed with her work, with a problem. What a great confidence boost. The project has been a success; when I get home, I'll be finishing up the project by drawing up some more graphs. Then I'll be writing up the paper that my professor and I are going to publish. Just a success.

But that's not all I did in 10 weeks. That's not all that is changed. I leave Texas relying on my own strength, my ability to stand on my own. In 10 weeks, I managed to completely unravel Dan's and my relationship. We broke up three weeks ago. I don't know if I'd refer to this as an accomplishment though.

For this first time in almost 5 years, I'm single. I'm single, and I'm entering graduate school. It's like starting a whole new life... perhaps this is what I want to write about.