Now that the semester has finally wound it's way to a slow, stuttering, painful stop, I thought I might reflect a bit on the past 4 months - for my own benefit of course, since no one else reads this thing...
1. I remember one Monday laying out on my coffee table all of the books, articles, and assignments I had to read all or part of or complete that week. I then remember thinking - "Crapola." ...or something like that. I'm still not used to the amount of work that graduate school entails, yet I know that there is only ever going to be more and more and more work to do.
2. Even though the amount of reading and work is enormous, generally I have found that graduate school work is some of the most interesting stuff I've done in school since kindergarten. This may seem obvious - the classes are much more specialized, there is no need to take any extra classes that you don't really want, and the professors often let you make your own topic choices when it comes to projects/papers. I still have to do 3 classes in a minor field, but Comparative World History is still pretty interesting (much more so than my other option of US History!), but the classes offered are often what the professors are most interested in and passionate about. All in all, learning in graduate school is pretty fun :)
3. I must learn to manage my time better. Like, MUST. I don't know how it's going to happen, and God knows I've tried for 4.5 years now to stop procrastinating, but eventually I'll get there. Maybe by the time I've completed my Ph.D. I won't feel the need to procrastinate any more - problem solved!
4. Cats are anti-graduate school. I love my kitten, and he can be so completely wonderful. But then again, pencils and papers and spiral bound notebooks and highlighters and all those things I need to use in order to get work done are all his favorite toys. Also, using him as an excuse - saying that I'll wait to do work until he's asleep for the afternoon... or the night... - has not been very helpful for #3.
5. I don't think there is a #5... at least not right now... ahh well - graduate school. :)
Monday, December 12, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Before I go out in the rain...
...I usually have an umbrella.
My kitten, Tux, is currently eating my best friend's sister's bridal bouquet on my kitchen table. I am laying on the couch playing with my brand new, completely amazing, laptop. My boyfriend has gone to bed for the night and is probably looking completely adorable as sleeping loved ones often do.
I feel like I'm experiencing the calm before the storm...
Graduate school begins for me in 3.5 weeks. Normally, I would be completely prepared by now - i.e. I would have paper and notebooks and all my school supplies purchased and ready to go; I would have folders created on my laptop and in my email client for each of my classes; I would have set up parking and have mapped out where I go when.
I'm a bit of planner see. But apparently, UNC-Greensboro has all of its incoming graduate students wait to register for classes until about the week before the start. Hmmm... they are messing with a totally not spontaneous person's mojo here!!! And because I'm not officially a registered student I can't get a parking pass, purchase textbooks, and all the millions of other things I would love to have done :(
But I'm calm.
My kitten, Tux, is currently eating my best friend's sister's bridal bouquet on my kitchen table. I am laying on the couch playing with my brand new, completely amazing, laptop. My boyfriend has gone to bed for the night and is probably looking completely adorable as sleeping loved ones often do.
I feel like I'm experiencing the calm before the storm...
Graduate school begins for me in 3.5 weeks. Normally, I would be completely prepared by now - i.e. I would have paper and notebooks and all my school supplies purchased and ready to go; I would have folders created on my laptop and in my email client for each of my classes; I would have set up parking and have mapped out where I go when.
I'm a bit of planner see. But apparently, UNC-Greensboro has all of its incoming graduate students wait to register for classes until about the week before the start. Hmmm... they are messing with a totally not spontaneous person's mojo here!!! And because I'm not officially a registered student I can't get a parking pass, purchase textbooks, and all the millions of other things I would love to have done :(
But I'm calm.
Monday, July 04, 2011
An Important Story
Something so awesome, so thrilling, so inspiring happened to me last night that I have to write about it.
My story begins at a pool party. I had an amazing afternoon and evening hanging out with some of my best friends and relaxing in the pool - that's what summer should be all about! By the time the festivities ended and I got home it was about 10pm, which is still pretty early for me, so I decided I'd be lazy and get on Facebook, chat with friends, and play some Dragon Age: Origins (yep). I put my hair up in a messy bun at some point during this time, unconsciously I'm sure. About 3 or 4 hours later I decided I should probably actually get to bed and get some sleep, but noticing that I reeked of chlorine from my long day in the pool, I knew I'd have to shower first. So I go into the bathroom.... turn the light on... look in the mirror... take my hair down out of the messy bun... and... MY HAIR WAS CURLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well wavy. BUT IT WAS SOMETHING!! At this point, I'm freaking out - my hair is never curly, or wavy, or even crimpy. It's straight. Like, I almost always let it dry naturally, and it's straight. Like, for junior prom it took a whole bottle of extra hold hair spray to put my hair up in spiral curls, which proceeded to only last for about 4 hours. But no, at this point, there were definite waves in my hair!!
By now I've already run into the bedroom to show my sleeping boyfriend the magnificence of my curly coif. He was a bit less impressed.
Then I deeply regretted my need to shower. It would go back to straight, blah, normal hair.
But everyone has to shower eventually. And I really was getting headache from the remnants of the chlorine smell.
So no one else got to see my amazing waves of hair. It probably occurred after the specific mixture of that amount of chlorine, still damp hair, and a perfect, never to be repeated, messy bun.
But I promise it was real.
My story begins at a pool party. I had an amazing afternoon and evening hanging out with some of my best friends and relaxing in the pool - that's what summer should be all about! By the time the festivities ended and I got home it was about 10pm, which is still pretty early for me, so I decided I'd be lazy and get on Facebook, chat with friends, and play some Dragon Age: Origins (yep). I put my hair up in a messy bun at some point during this time, unconsciously I'm sure. About 3 or 4 hours later I decided I should probably actually get to bed and get some sleep, but noticing that I reeked of chlorine from my long day in the pool, I knew I'd have to shower first. So I go into the bathroom.... turn the light on... look in the mirror... take my hair down out of the messy bun... and... MY HAIR WAS CURLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well wavy. BUT IT WAS SOMETHING!! At this point, I'm freaking out - my hair is never curly, or wavy, or even crimpy. It's straight. Like, I almost always let it dry naturally, and it's straight. Like, for junior prom it took a whole bottle of extra hold hair spray to put my hair up in spiral curls, which proceeded to only last for about 4 hours. But no, at this point, there were definite waves in my hair!!
By now I've already run into the bedroom to show my sleeping boyfriend the magnificence of my curly coif. He was a bit less impressed.
Then I deeply regretted my need to shower. It would go back to straight, blah, normal hair.
But everyone has to shower eventually. And I really was getting headache from the remnants of the chlorine smell.
So no one else got to see my amazing waves of hair. It probably occurred after the specific mixture of that amount of chlorine, still damp hair, and a perfect, never to be repeated, messy bun.
But I promise it was real.
Friday, July 01, 2011
Time Never Stops Flying
Blogging seems to be its own vicious cycle... It's been nearly a year since I have written anything on this blog that I've spent so much time on playing with the design. I really have redesigned this thing so much - just as much as I've "thought" about adding a new post. Now I figure that time's only going to keep flying by, so might as well put something out there before time's all gone and I'm too busy for piddling around with designing a blog.
So my first post last year stated that it was the summer before my senior year of college. Currently it's the summer before my first year in graduate school. LOTS of time flying right there. lots. a lot. I mean, so much has happened in the past 12 months. Got through my first year of living with my boyfriend - AWESOME :) Succeeded in filling that apartment so full of furniture and random things that every time I go home and my mom wants to give me another antique apron I have to tell her that I don't have the drawer space (yup). Graduated with distinction (according to the ceremony program, but really I was 0.011 GPA points away by the end of the semester - bummed, but still did really great!). Graduated with a math degree from UNC-CH (part of the reason I still did really great! Math is one of the hardest majors UNC offers...). Also graduated with a history degree (YAY!).
Speaking of history - I loves it :) Not the recent stuff like all the silly World Wars brought on by small, though tragic, events and the useless diplomats and aristocrats that refused to act like civilized men. But no, the old stuff - Medieval stuff to be exact :) It's awesome. Not lucrative, naturally, but awesome. The invention of the stirrup, stuff like that, just... awesome. So awesome, in fact, that I am pursuing my Masters in European History with a Medieval Concentration. If I'm uber-lucky? I'll get a job :) I'd love to be a professor. One of my professors at UNC made a huge history impression on me and I basically want to be just like him when I grow up :)
Which I sincerely hope isn't anytime soon in a lot of ways! I am adamantly against bills and waking up early every day and "planning for the future". But then again, 24 seems so close (when I'll get finished with my M.A.)... I guess I can just go get a Ph.D. then :)
Anyway, it's bed time and I need some alone time from our new kitten who is getting doused with water from a spray bottle every 5 minutes in this hyper phase of kitten life...
'Night!!
So my first post last year stated that it was the summer before my senior year of college. Currently it's the summer before my first year in graduate school. LOTS of time flying right there. lots. a lot. I mean, so much has happened in the past 12 months. Got through my first year of living with my boyfriend - AWESOME :) Succeeded in filling that apartment so full of furniture and random things that every time I go home and my mom wants to give me another antique apron I have to tell her that I don't have the drawer space (yup). Graduated with distinction (according to the ceremony program, but really I was 0.011 GPA points away by the end of the semester - bummed, but still did really great!). Graduated with a math degree from UNC-CH (part of the reason I still did really great! Math is one of the hardest majors UNC offers...). Also graduated with a history degree (YAY!).
Speaking of history - I loves it :) Not the recent stuff like all the silly World Wars brought on by small, though tragic, events and the useless diplomats and aristocrats that refused to act like civilized men. But no, the old stuff - Medieval stuff to be exact :) It's awesome. Not lucrative, naturally, but awesome. The invention of the stirrup, stuff like that, just... awesome. So awesome, in fact, that I am pursuing my Masters in European History with a Medieval Concentration. If I'm uber-lucky? I'll get a job :) I'd love to be a professor. One of my professors at UNC made a huge history impression on me and I basically want to be just like him when I grow up :)
Which I sincerely hope isn't anytime soon in a lot of ways! I am adamantly against bills and waking up early every day and "planning for the future". But then again, 24 seems so close (when I'll get finished with my M.A.)... I guess I can just go get a Ph.D. then :)
Anyway, it's bed time and I need some alone time from our new kitten who is getting doused with water from a spray bottle every 5 minutes in this hyper phase of kitten life...
'Night!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)