School!
Two things about school:
1. It's HARD! So much work! And my classmates are so freaking smart. I have to fight the urge to compare myself with them. I try to remember that I'm doing this for myself, and it's my job to get out of this program what works for me. My approach to school has always been that I want to do well AT SCHOOL. I want to get As. Or Bs. (Because I'm lazy.) This is my first school experience where I'm thinking explicitly about the future. I want to get a good job with benefits and a 401(k), and I want to have it sitting in my lap by the time I get my degree. So it doesn't actually matter what grades I get, as long as they're good enough to stay in the program. I'm going to get a job by aggressively networking and by building a portfolio of interesting and practical class projects , not by getting an A. I should be looking at my classmates as resources - people whose intelligence and histories can help me move forward. Not as people whose test scores I need to beat. Which brings me to...
2. I get to converse! I talk to everybody! Apparently I racked up a huge conversational deficit while I was home with Dutch fulltime, because I've become a conversational whore. I will talk about anything with anybody, anytime. (Okay, not really. There was this guy on the bus yesterday who wanted to chat about his divorce, and I didn't talk to him. I have some limits.) It's fantastic. I don't expect to become best friends with anybody, but I'm loving the superficial chats. I came home last night supercharged on conversation (my extroversion showing through, I guess) and the heady thrill of spending time with lots of like-minded people. People who wish to debate the pros and cons of quantitative versus qualitative research! People who think it matters whether or not a community has sidewalks!
There are a few flies in my ointment, of course. The work looks to be pretty hard, and between school and job and family, I'm not predicting much free time in my future. (Though I'm finding time to write this...) Some of the work is going to be seriously boring. Also, yesterday I was forced to listen to a smug conversation that indicates the dark side of both 1 and 2. Two of my classmates were discussing their GRE scores (bear in mind that this program doesn't even require submission of GRE scores) ad nauseam while walking down the stairs after class. One of them was very disappointed in her math score (but of course did spectacularly well), and the other was very pleased with her overall scores and was condescendingly explaining that she did so well because of her choice of prep book. Agh. I fought back by rallying up my twin skills of Conversational Whoring and Being the Class Idiot and started up a loud conversation with another classmate about socks.
1. It's HARD! So much work! And my classmates are so freaking smart. I have to fight the urge to compare myself with them. I try to remember that I'm doing this for myself, and it's my job to get out of this program what works for me. My approach to school has always been that I want to do well AT SCHOOL. I want to get As. Or Bs. (Because I'm lazy.) This is my first school experience where I'm thinking explicitly about the future. I want to get a good job with benefits and a 401(k), and I want to have it sitting in my lap by the time I get my degree. So it doesn't actually matter what grades I get, as long as they're good enough to stay in the program. I'm going to get a job by aggressively networking and by building a portfolio of interesting and practical class projects , not by getting an A. I should be looking at my classmates as resources - people whose intelligence and histories can help me move forward. Not as people whose test scores I need to beat. Which brings me to...
2. I get to converse! I talk to everybody! Apparently I racked up a huge conversational deficit while I was home with Dutch fulltime, because I've become a conversational whore. I will talk about anything with anybody, anytime. (Okay, not really. There was this guy on the bus yesterday who wanted to chat about his divorce, and I didn't talk to him. I have some limits.) It's fantastic. I don't expect to become best friends with anybody, but I'm loving the superficial chats. I came home last night supercharged on conversation (my extroversion showing through, I guess) and the heady thrill of spending time with lots of like-minded people. People who wish to debate the pros and cons of quantitative versus qualitative research! People who think it matters whether or not a community has sidewalks!
There are a few flies in my ointment, of course. The work looks to be pretty hard, and between school and job and family, I'm not predicting much free time in my future. (Though I'm finding time to write this...) Some of the work is going to be seriously boring. Also, yesterday I was forced to listen to a smug conversation that indicates the dark side of both 1 and 2. Two of my classmates were discussing their GRE scores (bear in mind that this program doesn't even require submission of GRE scores) ad nauseam while walking down the stairs after class. One of them was very disappointed in her math score (but of course did spectacularly well), and the other was very pleased with her overall scores and was condescendingly explaining that she did so well because of her choice of prep book. Agh. I fought back by rallying up my twin skills of Conversational Whoring and Being the Class Idiot and started up a loud conversation with another classmate about socks.
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