Yipeeeee!

I know. My entry title lacks sophistication, but it encapsulates my mood perfectly. I just found out that I was awarded the Raymon N. Ball Dissertation-Year Fellowship for next year. In the Spring, each department in the Humanities and Social Sciences is invited to nominate one doctoral student. Then an inter-departmental committe headed by the Dean of Graduate Studies selects one student to be awarded the Ball. They sometimes award one or two semester-long fellowships to other applicants. I submitted a prospectus and a sample chapter to the committee last month after the Director of Graduate Study informed me that I'd been nominated. I'm very excited because this means I won't have to teach in the Fall or Spring--I can't teach, in fact, as the award stipulates that the recipient must not pursue other employment. Although I love teaching, it's a tremendous relief to know I won't have to spend so much time preparing for classes, grading papers, etc. Instead, I will have the entire year to focus on finishing the dissertation and applying for jobs. Hurray to that first thing and blah to that second thing. Not that I don't want a job; in fact, I want one pretty desperately. I'm just dreading the stressful and demoralizing process of applying for academic jobs.