After a few weeks of wondering, I received my email today that I was accepted to Graduate School at Sacramento State! Yay!
The last few weeks at work has been emotionally taxing for a few reasons, so this made my day for sure, and maybe even my week- although I do get to go hang out with a coworker’s puppy later this week, so that should also be a bright spot. I’m excited for the opportunity to have discussions with people, read good books, write, and continue working on my Chinatown research alongside other people that are also excited about doing history.
I know I may be idealizing a bit- plenty of folks roll into grad school still not 100% sure of what they’re interested in, and there will probably still be people trying to coast their way through. I’ve come to learn there will basically always be people doing that kind of thing no matter where you go. Despite that, I am excited and eager to get started and make some progress forward, and work towards getting back into the field of history, whether that’s in museums, grants, or something else entirely.
Besides my Chinatown work, I’ve had the opportunity in my day job to work on an outreach program to share information about the grants program I work for with Tribes- our statutory mandate for the program includes that we serve Federally and State recognized tribes, but none ever apply, so I’m doing some research to better understand why and propose changes to make the program more accessible. Despite grants administration definitely not being the field I thought I’d be working in, I am glad for the opportunity to make some change and promote equity in the program. It’s been a bit of a teaching opportunity as well- some of the questions I’m asking haven’t really been asked before, but I’m lucky to be working with folks who are open to thinking in different ways, have connections to share, and are willing to learn more.
That’s the update for now!
Katie Buesch 