This morning when my program coordinator (one step above my advisor) came in, she said, “Good morning. What do you want to do when you graduate?” I told her I have no idea, because I never planned to get my PhD and haven’t really looked at options. “Where do you want to live?” she asked. Well…not here.
She told me she’s working on a grant for a program that would help provide quality ABA training to professionals in rural areas of Arkansas (which is most of Arkansas). The idea would be that there would be kind of satellite sites where people could get on-site training, and then they’d come here for parts of it. It sounds amazing. And needed. She said she was thinking, “Who would I want running it?” and she thought, “What about Jessica?”
I really have no intention of staying in Arkansas any longer than I have to. I’ll probably go back to Virginia, but I’d also consider Ohio, Ontario, South Africa, or just about anywhere. I wonder what the autism incidence is in the Arctic? (I seriously plan on spending one winter in the Arctic when I graduate.) But I’ve learned to never say never.
When you get a PhD in ABA you generally open a research clinic or teach. This would be another option that maybe wouldn’t be as big of a time commitment as running a clinic. Although it probably wouldn’t give me summers off like teaching.
Lots to think about. And lots of time…although it’s going fast!
Next Comes Africa 