Wow...it has been awhile

And I'm sorry about that. I didn't realize how busy graduate school would be. Last semester was supposedly the hardest I'd face in the program. I completed my two foundation courses and finished the semester with 3.375 gpa...which means I satisfied the requirements to upgrade from provisional graduate student to graduate student. I met some good and cute people along the way, and just as many that I won't to forget and hope to not have to deal with again.

I also found out how hard it is to blog about everything that goes on in grad school. Therefore, I'm going to focus more on whatever is on my mind. If it's grad school, my love life (more on that later), my social life, or whatever...I'll blog about that. And since all of that is still being guided by my education the title still fits lol. I'm a stickler for stuff that.

I'll post again sooner rather than later...maybe tonight before I go to bed. Gotta head to class now...every Wednesday evening from 6:30 to 9:00. Whew...

Wowzers

So much has been going on, mostly dealing with school. I have two weeks before my first midterm and am trying to prepare for that. My second midterm will be the following week. This is definitely proving to be a challenge. I'm still trying to find an effective way of taking notes. I'm keeping the faith though, especially after I "cracked" my Communication Theory course last week. Well, I don't know if I "cracked" it, but it sure got a hell of a lot more interesting when I got past the "foundation" readings.

I also am trying to find balance in all this. I'd like to have my evenings and weekends free of school work, except for group projects. I'm still working on that, sometimes I break that balance rule, but its all a work in progress.

Week 2...Whew

Let's just say I realized that I need to put more time and effort into studying. I'm taking the hardest and most boring courses now...Research Methods and Communication Theory...gotta get them out of the way. But damn it if they aren't causing me to glaze over. I'm keeping it in mind that it gets better after this semester. The problem I'm having is trying to find interest in something that isn't really all that interesting. I mean...one course is about finding stuff and the other...well I think Communication Theory will turn out to be interesting in a few weeks. But I need to refocus myself because I'm reading the literature to get it done, rather than reading for comprehension...and that's going to bite me in the ass if I don't get a hold of it now. Also, I have to devote more time to reading the literature. It's quite a bit of reading and it would behoove me to start reading a little each day instead of a ton of reading in four days. But I'll get it under control...no doubt about that. Well, I'm off to Deltona/Orlando/Tampa for the holiday...later!

Week 1

My first week of classes is now over. I only have classes on Mondays and Wednesdays. I went to my second class on Wednesday for the first time (its only held once a week). Its a Communication Theory course and I'm hoping it's going to be interesting. This semester I'll have to complete, between both classes, two group projects and presentations, a paper on one of the group projects, weekly one-to-two page response essays, a 10-15 page essay, and four exams. I'll also have to go to work at 7:30am and take half-hour lunches to make up my hours lost during class time. I have my work cut out for me but I'm up to the challenge. No complaints from me.

I'm back...

Hey everyone, long time no blog. Like I posted a few weeks ago, my uncle died. I'll write about him in a future blog. I don't feel up to it today.

A few weeks ago I received an email informing me of orientation dates for my master's program. I have two later this month. For the most part I'm excited about going back to school. I hate the feeling of idleness and am not used to working towards nothing...I mean...I've been in school my whole life working towards something. I knew that I would continue my education past a Bachelor's degree, but I wasn't expecting to have an almost nine month break.

I found it hard to relax and enjoy this time...and honestly I haven't. Plus being out of school has kind of shaken my confidence. Sometimes I'll think in regards to getting a Master's "Is this really what I want to pursue?" Of course it is, but I'm not one that usually embraces change...I just go with the flow of the change. I felt the same way when I graduated high school. I was terrified of going to college and didn't think I was up for the challenge (even though I graduated high school with honors). And when I finally got to college, I wasn't so sure I wanted to stay there after about the third week. My saving grace is that I realize that moments of insecurity are fleeting and...moments. They sweep and swoop over my path, but never stall my journey.

I had to much free time during this break. And to circumvent fiddling my thumbs I decided to make a lifestyle change and get into shape. To date I've lost 27lbs...although I've dropped 41lbs from my heaviest weight. I tipped the scale at 211lbs, made a lifestyle change at 197lbs, and currently weigh 170lbs. I decreased my BMI from 29.4 (overweight but at the cusp of obesity) to 23.7 (normal). I've very pleased with my results and am almost enjoying working out lol. I strive to workout five days a week...I don't always make five though. Three days of weights and five days of cardio. And let me point out that I run..ahem..2 miles with relative ease...and walk two to catch my breath...lol. But that's all for now...I'll be back to write soon.

I received my acceptance letter...

I received my official acceptance letter in the mail yesterday. I need to send an email to the admissions liaison to clarify the requirements. The letter stated that I will have to receive a 3.25 on three courses at the end of my first semester. But, I will only be going part-time and taking two courses. Hmmm…

One Step Closer

I heard back from the College of Communications admissions liaison…but let’s go back in time for a minute.

I finally received my GRE test scores on Saturday (when I couldn’t do anything with them besides look at them over and over). Let me just state that I really, really hope I get in because I don’t want to have to pay for that test again, let alone take it again. It cost $140 and I had to borrow the money from my aunt to pay for it. I have yet to pay her back…but I told her I was one of her investments and that she’d receive her dividends in a few years. And she will, she knows I love her.

But anyway, I walked the test scores over to the College of Communications because as of…umm…TODAY they still had not received them. So, this morning I took it upon myself to be proactive (and to settle my own anticipation). I wrote an email to the admissions liaison thanking her for how helpful she’d been (mainly to pump her head up, but she was helpful), asking if I needed to do anything else concerning the application, and when could I expect to hear something back since I was really cutting it close in regards to time and deadlines. I mean, classes start May 11 and I don’t have an acceptance letter nor am I registered for any courses. She replied to my email in a very direct and “cut-the-bull” response:

I received your scores and I should know something from the committee sometime next week. I will notify you by e-mail.

So, all I can do now is wait and hope for the best...

I think I received good news today...

Today an email popped up from the Office of Financial Aid telling me to check my award amount. I checked and it was a nice lil' peace of change waiting for me that I could use for the summer session...umm but I still haven't heard back from the admission's department. I also haven't gotten my GRE official test scores back, so that could be the hold up. I checked the GRE website to see if there was some way for me to see the scores online, but nope...no online score posting. However they had the nerve to have a "score by phone" option for $12. Umm, yeah...I can wait. According to the website I should receive my scores in 10-15 days via mail from New Jersey. Today is day 11. At any rate, that got my hopes up a little bit today.

I should clarify...

I should clarify that I am not yet a grad student. I fully intended to go to law school this fall, but it didn’t seem realistic in terms of me relocating, finding a job in a new city, finding a place to get a haircut, etc. So, I got a job here in Tallahassee that wanted a long-term commitment (a Godsend considering the job market), and since I don’t like sitting idle when I’m not working (and happen to have a lot of free time since I’m single, with no kids or pets), I decided to pursue a Master’s degree while here in the city.

The art of communication has long interested me and was briefly my major in undergrad before I changed it to English. I also happen to be a bit of a procrastinator; therefore I ended up fulfilling the oral requirement to graduate in my last semester. The communication course rekindled my love of communication and suggested another way I could indulge myself in words and language. I applied two weeks ago to the College of Communication and am waiting to hear back from the admissions committee.

I must say that if I get in it will be nothing short of the hand of God that I will have gotten accepted. I missed the application deadline by 12 days and my GRE scores were less than desirable. I submitted my application and took the GRE less than a week later (after the nice lady helping me with the application process made it clear that I was cutting it hella close). Now, I don’t like making excuses, but I’d spent most of my time preparing for the LSAT, not the GRE. So, say what you want…but the two tests are different! Now the effed up part of this is that I went to the mail box yesterday and guess what was there waiting on me all willy nilly…a freaking GRE prep computer disc with “time sensitive” stamped on it. You damn right, it WAS time sensitive. Now what am I going to use it for? A coaster?