Possible Research Path

For me, find a path of research seems so difficult. There are tons of things I'm interested in and I really could research any one of those things and be happy. Except I don't always feel the support of my department to research what matters to me. I've been told several times "program planning is what will make you successful". Program planning is boring. I know what you study for your dissertation may not be what you study in the future, but I don't want to be stuck studying something I don't feel passionate about. In class on Wednesday I was able to talk with my critical friend's group about one of the possible options for study.

Over this summer I volunteered with a camp, called Camp to Belong (you can check out the camp here: http://camptobelong.org/). While volunteering I was given an opportunity to explore a potential new area of research. From the time I met some of the volunteers to the time I left the camp I can say I was sold on everything the camp stands for. I remember thinking the idea of camp to belong was that siblings separated in foster care would be given an opportunity to see each other and get to know and hang out with their siblings and reconnect and it would just be a fun experience and a nice thing to do. But then I remember Joanne, the director of the camp I volunteered with giving a small speech to the volunteers and she said the real take-a-way for the camp was the remind these kids that everyone belongs to someone and although family may not be close by, they do belong to each other. I know belong is in the name of the camp and I should've seen and understood that, but I was thinking more along the lines of belonging in terms of fitting in, not so much having a place and a person to belong to. And that was just one of many revelations I had during that week where I came away really proud of the work the camp does and so happy for the kids that get at least this one opportunity to connect on a meaningful level. The camp itself was great, and I learned a lot about the children, and maybe more so about myself personally, but it has also opened me up to seeing a potential area of research (and maybe a grant writing assignment to bring this program to NJ).

After discussing a little of my experience with my friends group, one area of research might be this concept of siblings apart. How do you remain a part of a family when apart and what type of effects does being apart have on the sibling relationship? Do these kids feel like they belong to someone when apart? This friends group conversation led me to a potential area of research to really focus on that I could be passionate about. We also brainstormed ideas for how to frame this idea into one that hopefully the faculty of my program would also support, which can be really helpful. Over the next week I'm going to spend some time looking at and seeing what type of research already exists in this arena and maybe formulating a potential research question.