Getting Rid of the Albatross

Albatrosses are not pleasant birds--they are noisy, smelly, and heavy, especially when one is carrying them on one's shoulders. Now, before I get letters from the Albatross Lover's Association, let me make it clear that I am talking about the mythical albatross here, not the real bird, which can fly for days on end and is a rather remarkable creature.

No, I am speaking here of that dead weight I've been carrying on my shoulders: the decision about graduate school that I'd actually made but hadn't made public to anyone that mattered, namely my departmental advisor. I emailed my advisor yesterday, telling her that I wasn't coming back and asking her what I needed to do to officially withdraw from the program. One albatross, gone.

Gone with it, of course, is the safety net I supposedly had if things didn't work out here in the "real" world. Then again, that safety net wasn't so safe: it was riddled with holes and more inclined to entangle me against my will than actually save me from anything. So perhaps it's best that I'm flying without one now, especially since I have a partner who is a wonderful spotter and catcher.

As my sister is rather infamous for saying, "It will all work out ok in the end."