Rainy Days Full of Doubt

I just asked myself a question that I haven't asked since I jumped in head first to this whole commercial cookery dream: Am I doing the right thing? Have I made the right choice?

I'm in the process of getting things done for my planned transfer to Victoria University in July and just thinking about being a proper uni student, being in a classroom with students who have a passion for what they're learning (I'm talking about postgraduate students here...) and being enlightened by a professor who has years and years of expertise in a field that most of the world probably doesn't care about. I miss being in uni for those concrete reasons. I'm not going to lie, breaking into the commercial cookery field is tougher than I had imagined because of my student visa constraints. It's been high highs and low lows during these past few months, rather depressing at times even, but I just keep thinking about how much better things will be after I'm done with school (gulp) and out in the real world. Since 2000, I've been a perpetual student not spending more than 6 months out of school at a time. There is just something comforting about being in school, I feel useful and full of purpose when I'm learning about the latest theories in linguistics; not so much when I'm learning how to operate a commercial dishwasher or the "proper" way to remove the entrails from calamari.

I still want to get a PhD in linguistics, but can I really have a career in academia and have a career in the hospitality industry?

I had a big dinner planned for tonight, but with the rain and all of the gloom outside, I can't bring myself to go out into the rain --- without an umbrella.