Stepping towards the future

Today was a busy and productive day, despite having nothing tangible to show for it. Still, I’ve taken steps towards tomorrow and that makes me a bit happy – if not slightly nervous and uncertain.

And – wouldn’t you know it? – the steps in between the steps led me to a wonderful discovery for a fun photography project I signed up for!

The first big step was the next in the process of getting my new visa: Registering my biometrics with the UKBA at the St Vincent Place Post Office in Glasgow. It’s not much of a step, but it’s required before things go any further. I was starting to get a bit worried because I hadn’t received the paperwork I needed for this step and I had planned to make enquiries about it this week, but the letter arrived over the weekend which calmed my fears.

The next step in the visa process is waiting. Just waiting. And hopefully not waiting too long. So the next time I bore you with a visa story, it should be the good news that my visa has been issued. (Fingers crossed!)

From there, I began to make my way to my next step, which took me past the place of discovery mentioned above.

And that next step was a meeting with someone at the University of Glasgow to talk about the potential of me doing a PhD in the Centre for Cultural Policy Research. I know that meetings are really big, productive steps, but in this case, it was a chance to meet one of the centre’s researchers to discuss the potential for placement. After all, it’s beneficial to put a face to a name sometimes.

Obviously, I won’t know until I apply, but I got the impression that (as long as my research proposal is well thought out) I wouldn’t have a problem being accepted – especially with my academic record and breadth of education and professional experience.

The stumbling block will be finding adequate funding. But even then, I was given the impression that my academic record will put me in a good position when the decision-makers start to hand out scholarships. Of course, if loads of clever people all apply at once, I may be out of luck!

So, they’re both small steps towards the future, but every little step adds up. And you can’t take the next step until you take the first.

Oh! And with this new step, I am starting a new blog tag “PhD”. Let’s hope it’s heavily used in the future!

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