The Plan: 2023-2024

© 2022 Asha Bardon

I confess to being hectic at the moment. I fly in *checks Flighty app* twelve days (eek!), have my 5k Japanese Literature essay due, I’m two shots into a two-week B12 regimen (ow!) and have a load of packing to do as well, so this will be brief.

I’ve been fretting over my future plans, this is the first time since I started at the Open University that I’ve not had something lined up for after I complete my Masters. Not having a plan freaks me out, as do arbitrary deadlines and ones for funding. Yep, it’s nearly CHASE time and I’ve only just floated my PhD idea properly to my tutors.,

Today, I got to sit down and chat about my plans. As a result, we’ve come up with a plan and I feel so much better, even if it’s not ideal. But I need time and this way I get it.

So:

1) Focus on finishing the MA and getting a distinction. (Dissertation is a must, as this is the part you test going into a PhD but over all MA with distinction would be nice.) The point is: I have until September 2023 to write a stunning dissertation. I can do that.

2) Take a year out to do JLPT at N2. (N1 would be better but there’s no way I’m doing that first… Plus it gives me time to go back to Japan, to do as much immersion-based learning as I can…) I can do N2 at SOAS in December 2023 (sitting the test costs £100, regardless of level) and N1 there in July or December 2024, depending on my pass results for N2.

Side note: *£@$&!*…

3) Apply for a PhD (at the UEA, SOAS, Bristol etc... and funding…) with an aim to start in the 2024-25 academic year…

4) Profit… No, wait, wrong meme…

It is nice to have a plan and it is something achievable, if I work hard and I put in the time. It’s not going to be easy, or even fun in some places, but the best plans never are. It’s reassuring to have an idea of how the next couple of years will pan out.