Thanks Mr. Barlow.
The thing is, with publications, don't you need a grad degree?
I actually found a masters/PhD program that I was really interested in and I applied in November, but did not get in. By the time I realized that I was interested, the app process was rushed. Judging from the quant score, my math skills are rusty ... plus, although I don't usually get insomnia, it struck the night before the test ... I probably got one hour sleep and was exhausted before starting ... even so, I got a 162 on verbal which was about the 90th percentile which was cool for a first try. I know that I could get the math way up (I used to do better with math than verbal) and do a better job proofreading the app, but for many reasons, I'm not currently applying elsewhere ...
although I tried to deny it to myself at first, I am interested in medical sociology & patient involvement in medical research ... I was not interested in these things before FAS, before the sesame advocacy ...
I would love to make a career out of it, get paid, do it in a formal way .... but for many reasons (some very personal), I doubt that this path will open to me.
One patient advocate that I mentioned in my grad app personal statement ... writing that she had "become an inspiration to me and I would like to follow in her footsteps" recently died by suicide. It breaks my heart. I didn't know her personally, but she was the one who got me thinking of sociology and she was kind enough to share the names of several academic papers that she thought might help me with the app writing sample. I think that I will eventually post my app paper and the articles she shared with me if I create the blog ... I really see the value of the work she was doing ... I may not end up being able to personally contribute more at a professional level, but maybe it would help other patient advocates better build off of what she was doing.
With most medical conditions, I think of them in mostly clinical terms ...
With sesame, it was different.
I guess, at least with a blog, it's ok that I'm a bit of a misfit ... people are free not to read.
Thanks again Mr. Barlow.