10: piled higher and deeper

Competing for biggest, most meaningful news story of the year is the fact that I have been accepted into a PhD program at UNSW. What's more, I applied for a scholarship and somehow that worked out too. I will be examining communities containing invasive plants, and my project will have something to do with characterising communities which get invaded or figuring out when invasions happened. Or even if that is possible. It's going to be a long and winding road, full of heartache, sleep deprivation and "whoops" moments, but I'm pretty excited about it and for the first time in a long time I feel like this is really something I want to do. I have been warned by pretty much everyone I know that this is a terrible idea, but that's alright with me. Most of my friends don't understand why I like to cling on to cliff faces at terrible heights either.

Now, here's where all of this gets interesting: I cannot start my PhD until I get a piece of paper from the Australian government that says I am legally allowed to be here as a permanent resident. My end of the paperwork mountain is done and handed in, but governments being what they are, the paperwork won't get squinted at until February the 23rd. That means I have approximately one month's worth of working days for somebody in Melbourne to tick all my boxes and send me a really, really important piece of paper. And then I will be ready for 3 to 4 years of real stress. If it takes longer, I won't be able to start this semester and I will lose my scholarship. That means I will have to defer and then re-apply for a scholarship in the coming months. I'm really hoping that piece of paper makes it through in time. So, if you really like me, go ahead and put in a few positive thoughts for me next time you have a spare moment and brainwaves. In the meantime, I just keep telling myself it will be fine.