You Can Do It

I just finished registration for the fall semester. I am happy to report I was able to get into all of my first choice classes. I will spend the majority of my semester focusing on African conflicts and politics... couldn't ask for much better than that.

Day 1 on grad school.... I looked around the class. Those in their first semester had been asked to raise their hands... a method of singling us out in some sort of sick game to make the first day even more awkward and intimidating than it already was. I gave a longing glance at my neighbor. A dark-haired professional looking female, appearing to be in her mid twenties. She seemed to have it all together, large notebook opened and highlighters posied, she just seemed comfortable here. I felt like a pony at the rodeo. It was her second year. It was like 4th grade all over again, staring at the middle schoolers... thinking how much bigger and more mature they seemed, wondering if I would ever make it to 6th grade, or get boobs.

Somehow, it appears I have almost completed my first year. As I consider my second, I laugh at the ridiculous impression I started grad school with. That girl? Turns out she is just as lost in my ethics class as me. Turns out she hates her job and she gets pimples too. So HA!

Umm, well... it also seems that grad school is only as hard as you make it for yourself. It turns out that schooling can actually be about learning and not about getting a grade. The grad school grading curve gives you a choice... you can either take it seriously, get your moneys worth and try and learn something... or you can hobble through in a state on numbness turning in half-hearted assignments. (this semester I chose the later path, but I am hoping to upgrade.) The truth is, either way you will probably get the same grade.

Day 1 of second semester? I plan on making eye contact with that brand new anxious, over-achiever... I may even pat um on the back and say "You deserve to be here. If I can do it, you can do it."