Notre Dame

My husband has been accepted into the Ph.D. program for the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Notre Dame. As of today he has accepted their offer. I won't go into specifics, but their offer is phenomenal. Combine that with his current employer's desire to retain him (as we desire) and willingness to cut down on his workload for the next few years, and we consider ourselves richly blessed.

God has guided us in this whole process; God has made this all possible. While The Professor (who has a Masters in physics) has long wanted to pursue a Ph.D. in such a program, and has applied at several different programs for the past couple years, we didn't know how we could practically make this work for our family. A few months ago we would have never believed something this amazing, this impossible could happen. We would have never believed it could come together so seamlessly, all the details falling into place, despite how infeasible everything looked to our limited eyes. When S first got the call a few weeks ago that he had been short-listed for a weekend of interviews, we both agreed that this was a wonderful, far-fetched opportunity that would only happen through the intervention of Providence.

Well. It's worked out. Beautifully.

What does this mean for us, practically? Well, it will mean difficult times for all of us for a few years, as The Professor will continue his present job while also pursuing full-time graduate school. The Professor works full-time teaching at our alma mater, a private Christian liberal arts university. He also directs the planetarium there. He loves his job, his colleagues, and his university, and we knew that, for a host of reasons, we couldn't just uproot our family and move to South Bend for him to completely concentrate on graduate school. As it turns out, Notre Dame doesn't mind if he continues teaching and living here, as long as it doesn't interfere with their requirements. (One of their requirements is full-time graduate work, so pursuing the program part-time was completely out of the question.)

When The Professor met with some higher-ups at his university, he continued to get good news: they were supportive of him and very pleased with his offer, and they agreed to cut down on his class load while he attends graduate school. Again, I won't give you the details, but they are very good.

So he will drive 2 hours each way several times a week beginning in the fall. He will teach full time and learn full time. He will stay up late, read thousands of pages of text, take copious amounts of notes, continue to learn French, and immerse himself in the history and philosophy of science. He will lecture his astronomy students, direct labs, and oversee the operation of the planetarium. He will father our children and be a strong, loving husband to me. He will probably be exhausted. But if there is anyone driven enough, anyone independent enough, anyone ridiculously intelligent enough, it is my husband. I assure you.

I am so proud of him, and I am so excited to embark on this crazy adventure.