It’s finally here!

Excitedly, I have received my new UK visa today – meaning that I have all of the official bits of a government-issued ID to allow me to return to Scotland to start my PhD programme. Yay!! It’s been a bit of a crazy ride to get it (I’ll tell the full story later) but it’s here now and I’m happy.

Well, I’m mostly happy. To be honest, I’m a little deflated feeling because it means I will be leaving the Homeland (and my parents!) soon and I don’t know when I’ll be back again. I realise that I’m 39 years old, but I still miss my parents when I can’t see them all the time.

Still, I know (I think?) I’m making the right decision by going “home” to Scotland because I know (I think?) that this is the best thing for my overall being. It’s the best thing for my emotional health and it’s the best thing for my academic and professional future.

So yes, this is an exciting and happy thing!

The next step is to book my flights and pack my bags. Then there will be tearful goodbyes followed several hours later by exciting hellos. And then there will be loads of official paperwork and matriculation details to sort out for my PhD programme.

I’m sure the next few days will be filled with emotions (good and bad!) and I’ll try to keep you up to speed on my journey. No promises though, since I may be too busy with the real world to be updating the virtual one!