July 4, 2006

Master Plan

It is now 5:54pm and I'm very tired. I've literally been to the other side of the city and back again today. The mission? Travel to Ringwood, a distant land on the outskirts of the East side, and meet with Darren, Deb, and Kim to talk about graduate work.

Ringwood is pretty much the other edge of the universe for me, at the moment. It's in zone 3, which, for all you non-Melbournians, is basically the equivalent of ... well, nowhere in particular, really. Maybe Iowa. That's the problem: it's 40 minutes by train from Flinders Street Station (the center of the city), and then add to that getting to Flinders Street, and it makes for one long trip. Add the breaks in between trains, and the ride is about 1 hour 15 minutes for me, one-way.

Then I came home, grabbed a PBJ sandwich (for you Australians, it's penut butter and jelly, which, as I'm told by most Americans and Australians alike, is an outrageously dumb idea, but that's fine for you, because I like it), and then ran out again to catch a train (which was 20 minutes late) to Kingsley College (two train stops in the other direction from home) to enroll in the FORGE internship for which I'd just had a meeting. [side note: the train passes a station called "Batman Station," which makes me smile every time.]

All this to say, I am now officialy working on my post-graduate degree. I'm hoping to finish an M.Div within about three and a half years, including my time here. The five-year plan, as it stands now:

Now: FORGE internship, Mimos, and the occasional night out with my wife
9 months from now: return from Australia, begin searching for home in Wilmore, KY
1 year from now: enroll at Asbury Theological Seminary, dutifully take classes
4 years from now: graduate with an M.Div
5 years from now: I have no freakin' clue, but I think it involves a PhD and a job as a professor somewhere

It's funny, I've always been so sure about the future, about how everything would work out for my wonderful master plan. Maybe this means I really am growing up.

2 comments:

Priscilla said...

PBJ is still one of my favorites!

dobbo said...

"Ringwood" - outer edge of the universe" That's where I live. I'd say Preston is on the outer edge of the universe - joking.
It is much greener out Ringwood way wouldn't you say!!