davonshire

So I have amde a decision, at least I think I have. Most almost definitely decided, maybe. The pwan... (deliberately misspelled) I change my area of concentration slightly. I look at the impact of Asian thought on Western religious culture. By doing so, I have essentially narrowed my school search for my MA program to five schools within Canada. University of Ottawa for their Comparative Religions program, Memorial University, Laurier University for their Religion and Modern Culture program, Queen's University for the Religion and Modernity program, and McMaster University for their Asian Religions program. All of these are good options from what I can tell. I have spoken to several people with regards to this, and these are the best choices before me at ths point in time. Laurier is attractive, because the PHD program offered as a join program from Laurier and University fo Waterloo definitely looks like something I want to be a part of. But there is nothing saying that I couldn't do the MA here or anywhere for that matter and then look at the PHD program there. There are several pros and cons to weigh but at least, the decision is made on my change of focus. My current academic adviser is unaware of this, at this point in time, but I hope she will understand. I believe I am making the right decision based on what I have before me.
I feel a year in Taiwan would do me as much harm emotionally as it may do good academically right now. I still want to go, just not yet. I want to go when I can find funding for me to go, so that I will not have to work 40+ hours a week on top of learning the language. I am not that young anymore that I can pull those 60 hour weeks. I get tired too easily and Taiwan is forever far away. So I have these five Canadian schools to look at. Each have their pros and cons, and I have to eventually decide on just one of them, but these are where I will be applying in just a month or so, for the Fall 2006 semester. Each look like they will offer good funding oportunities, and each look like they will provide exciting programs. This is plan B, build 1.0