Hi -- I'm new to this forum and I suppose my question is of a more personal nature than many of the subjects in this forum. I'm 28 now and planning to apply to graduate school. I had applied to a number of IR ma programs when I was 25, but I was in the midst of being unfairly fired by a very emotionally abusive and manipulative boss and I couldn't handle the applications (low gre scores, no focus to my personal statement etc.). I was basically being pushed to apply by my parents and friends when I had such low confidence from my really terrible work experience (quasi-academic/public policy work) and I didn't believe I was ready. I was very disillusioned, leading to a bit of an existentional crisis. I stayed in my current place, but am I working with someone else in a field that I know will not become my field. My question is, how to explain in my application why I stayed somewhere for so long in a field that wasn't quite what I wanted to do? How do I explain my age? I have my confidence back, but am afraid that I won't be able to pursue academia because I am now a late bloomer and I could be juggling family and school responsibilities. I have stronger GRE scores now (790 math, 670 verbal). I'm looking at public policy/econ programs now, although I don't have much of an econ background (but I have the genes for it
. I'm now taking classes at one of the universities I want to apply to.
I realize this is a bit of a more personal post (and maybe even a bit more vague than others in terms of what I am asking here) as opposed to the usual queries listed here, but any thoughts/comments are most appreciated.
here is my picture:
www.sosonike.com
