1 Down, 9 To Go

I’m done! My first grad school class is officially dunzo! A puros madrazos, but I got through it!

I know grad school is all I’ve spoken about lately, but that’s all that’s taken over my life this year. Was it hard? Hell yes! Do I regret doing it? Not even a little bit!

I was dreading the idea of having to study communication theory. I mean seriously, who uses that stuff? When I was an undergrad, I took a comm. theory class and just wanted to poke a pencil through my eye the whole time! But having a great instructor who is passionate about the subject really helps. More than anything, this instructor is human and he did everything he could to make the class as enjoyable as possible. The truth is, I learned so much this semester! I got so many new wrinkles in my brain! I’m kind of excited about what’s to come.

Things I learned my first semester of grad school:

• Grad school is hard. And doing it while working full-time and having a family, makes it harder. BUT, it is not impossible.
• It’s a different world from when I did my undergrad. Things that would never slide with my instructors back then, are so not a big deal now.
• I’m not the student I used to be. I used to be able to read so quickly. I used to comprehensively read 5 pages in less than 3 minutes. Now, I have to use Speechify in order to read articles because I was not comprehending what I was reading. That tool seriously saved my tail this semester.
• Other students may not be my age, but their struggles are similar to mine. Grad school is a place for people who are serious. So they’ve got a lot on their plate too. I don’t feel alone in that.
• People treat me differently. Ever since I updated my social media and started telling people a master’s degree is in progress, I’ve had doors open up for me. Does going to grad school make me look smarter? I hate to admit it, but having alphabets after your name makes a difference.
• Going to school at a major university is so much different than going to smaller schools. So many opportunities and perks are available. I mean during finals, they provided snacks and drinks at the library!
• My husband and child are the best! They have been okay with not having me around the house as much. They’ve fended for themselves while I’ve been at the library or locked away in a room to get my studying done. They’ve not complained a single time about not getting to go to the movies or out to dinner all semester.

Right now I’ve got that end-of-semester shock. I’m kind of like, “Did that just happen?” “I don’t know what to do with myself now.” I’ve got 19 days until my next class starts. I know I should relax, but the anxiety is probably going to win. I’ve already been hit with episodes of insomnia the past 2 nights. My brain is the worst sometimes.

Now, I’ve got 9 more classes to go! I hope at some point I can take an additional class to try to get done faster, but if all grad courses are like this, that’s probably not a good idea.

I’d love to celebrate by drinking myself silly, but Aria is hosting her first slumber party tonight. So I’ll be on full-on Mommy duty. My beers will have to wait until Saturday.

Now I’m just hoping I pass!