The Great Grad School Adventure

The first weeks of what will from here on out be known as My Great Grad School adventure have sucked me into a black hole. The class I am in now is Graduate Portfolio I. I have to do well in this class to be officially accepted into the program. Basically they are evaluating me to make sure that once I get my shiny new degree and am released to go out and heal the world I won't screw up anybody. And I'm not saying I have to pass with simply an A or B, no I have to pass every single criterion they have decided on. NO PRESSURE.

I had to turn in a paper before I even attended my first class. So come August when my nieces are complaining to me about how they got homework the first week of school, I can tell them how I had a paper due before I even STARTED my class. And then I will cringe, because that sounds like a something my mother would have said THAT would have driven me bonkers as a teen. But now I understand why she said those things, because the stone, cold truth is I am becoming my mother. This means I am probably only a few months away from wearing a fanny pack when I go on vacation, and at that point I might as well throw in the towel on this thing called life.

The second week the professor asked us to write a topic on a piece a paper that we could give a 5 minute long spontaneous speech on. My first thought was to talk about King Henry VIII and his six wives, because I know the Tudor era like the back of my hand. But I ultimately decided on TV shows, so I could spend the entire time dissecting the plot lines from The Real Housewives of New Jersey. "Is Danielle a dirty, dirty whore?" ( Yes) "What the heck did she try to do to Dina?" and " Why does Jacqueline store ear plugs in her boobs?!"

But no the professor put all the topics in a bag, and we chose at random. I picked financial difficulties. I know this sounds like an easy topic (and I definitely have some financial difficulties) but it is hard to talk for five minutes with no preparation. So I ended up telling everyone how much we pay for rent, and how much my car cost. Something I would never do in any other situation. That whole speech was a real bummer, because I had all that stuff to say about The Real Housewives!

But I got through that and now I am in week three, and am currently putting together a ten page paper and presentation. But the worst part is I have to give a 5 minute presentation to 3 professors who are judging me. And this presentation has be within 30 seconds of 5 minutes, and it is the time limit that is really wigging me out. So if you don't hear from me after Monday, just assume I ran away and joined the circus because I just couldn't handle it. Although come to think of it, running away and joining the circus would make for some great blogging material.

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365 days ago (give or take):

Today I was watching Top Chief, and it occurred to me how very passionate these people are about cooking. And it is like that on most reality shows. Like them or not, you have to admit these people really know what they want. They know what they love, and are trying to make it to top anyway they can. And I can truly admire that.

I was really struggling to find what I wanted out of my life. I'm glad I'm working towards that now.