S-L-O-W

I am just amazed at how s-l-o-w things have been for me so far this semester. Every week, I keep thinking that I'm suddenly going to be overloaded, but so far, it hasn't happened! I guess I'm just comparing to last semester which was KILLER!

Something Nice to Hang On My Wall

Yesterday was one of those days: why am I doing this, what is the benefit in getting my degree, am I even going to use this thing, and so on.....

The reality is, my degree will probably end up being no more than standard wall decor for me. I'll probably end up in the scores of people who got a degree in a certain field only never to use it. Yay. What an encouraging thought.

Let's face the facts: I live in a rural area; there's not much demand in the field of mass communications. Even if I did work within my field, I would only be making peanuts...which is what I make now with my small business except I get to work when and where I want.

So, to answer the nagging questions in my head:

1. Why am I doing this? Because I always said I would. Because a half-finished degree would always linger over my head. Because I don't want to feel like a college drop-out loser. Because I want my kids to know that education is important.

2. What's the benefit in getting my degree? Because you can't even bring in carts at Wal-Mart anymore without a degree of some sort. Seriously, when is the last time you saw a classified ad that doesn't say something about "college degree required/preferred?"

3. Will I ever use this thing? We'll see...but in the meantime, I can "wow" everyone with my mad Adobe In-Design skills or conflict resolution abilities. {lol}

Dead Week...So Soon?

This week has felt so weird. Here we are, back in the swing of thing school-wise, yet I have no homework, no reading...pretty much nothing to do! Not that I'm complaining!!! My history course is pretty much all lecture and tests which I LOVE. I do have my independent projects in hand now as well as assignments for the newspaper, so I have a feeling that my dead week days will soon be over.

Internship: Can I Really Do This?

I'm getting three hours credit this semester for working as an editor on our campus paper. It's a bit complicated for me because I am getting both pay and college credit for the position, BUT I can not count the hours that I am paid toward my internship. I have to book 100 hours by the end of the semester, so I am kind of worried. However, if I need to, I'll just turn in a couple of hours for pay & use th rest for my intership....at least, I hope I can!

Day One, Semester Two

The day started off weird. First, there was the annoying alarm clock which I did NOT miss hearing over the break. Then, I was disappointed that there were no familiar faces in either of my classes. I was sure there would be SOMEONE that I knew in class from our small campus. Third, one of my profs laid down the law really quickly: no cell phones ("I don't even want to see them."), no eating or drinking, no talking....and so on. But that's okay by me--I totally understand. This particular course was one of the general ed requirements, so it was: A. very full of people and B. full of freshmen. Enough said.

However, I went to check on my independent study class and my internship and I am pretty excited about those things. I have an interesting project to work on in my Features Writing course that involves writing for a local museum. I am, however, beginning to wonder how I will ever get in 100 hours for my internship. Dadgum--that's a lot of time!

Spring Semester Variables

Since I took a mini-holiday last week, I'm trying to catch up on all the things I want to get done before school starts. You know, the neverending, generally unreachable goals like "organize this" or "plan ahead that." If I can just cross off a few things, I'll be happy.

Unlike the fall, my schedule is not set in stone. Right now, I do not really know how many hours I will be taking (either 12 or 16). I may or may not be editing the school newspaper which would mean working extra hours & staying at school longer. This also means my daughter may or may not be going to daycare and I may or may not be home by 1 p.m. each day. So many variables!

Also unlike last semester, I'm not particularly looking forward to the classes I am taking (except one). One is a general education requirement, so that class is sure to be an interesting mix of people. Hopefully, these classes will pleasantly surprise me. Hopefully.

Winter Break: The Cold, Hard Facts

I'll be honest: at the beginning of winter break, I felt lost. Out of sync. My routine was completely destroyed. I didn't really like it! Even though I was ready for a break--and even whined about the fact that I thought the break should be a week longer--it was if I was paralyzed and couldn't do anything on my very long winter break to-do list.

I got over it.

Soon, I loved being able to stay up late, watch movies, sleep in, shower late, sit around in sweats all day...it's been wonderful! But I really wouldn't want to live like this forever.

I'm ready to get back to my routine. When I was in my early 20's, I HATED the predictability of my job. It was so boring to me. Now, I crave predictability. I like knowing that every Tuesday and Thursday, I am on-campus; every Wednesday, I 'm holed up in my office doing homework; Friday morning is homework but Friday afternoon is "me time;" Saturday is more "me time" (or "catch up on housework, shuttle kids to activities or travel great distances to visit family members time"); Sunday is reserved for worship (except the occasional catch-up on internet classes after my Sunday nap!) and Monday is for any unfinished homework. I slip in work whenever I can in-between these schedules.

Something I've learned about myself: I crave structure and routine and I do better when under it....even if it is constricting and boring!

2008: What Lies Ahead

Who knows? But from my guess estimations, academically, 2008 holds for me:

*44 credit hours of classes
*132 hours of homework/reading/computer work outside of class
*8700 miles of commuting
*311 gallons of expensive gasoline
*Somewhere near $1000 of textbooks
*Somewhere near $3000-4000 of tuition
*Untold number of blood sweat and tears