Consider Me Oriented

The next step towards higher education is complete. I attended orientation for grad school. Surprisingly, I didn't feel as old as I thought I would - there were many grad students older than me, and some who haven't stepped foot inside of a classroom in 20 years. Luckily I was in a college classroom (a few mandatory grad school classes for my teaching certification) a few years ago, and then I'm always in the classroom as a high school teacher.

Much if it was pretty basic. Here's the fitness center, meet the dean of students (who is such a good speaker I asked if he'd talk to my classes at high school and he said yes), here's your student government president, here's the copy facilities, there's the library.

The most interesting, and yet daunting, time was when we were split into groups. I, of course, was in the group for graduate Humanities and Human Sciences. In a large lecture hall were psych majors, sociology majors, one lit major, criminal justice majors, etc. I was the lone history major. One of the advisors walked in and laid it all down: expect to study 9 hours for every 3 hours of classes/credits, expect to miss out on friends and family, meet as many students in your field as possible. Then she went away and was replaced with a faculty panel. One of the faculty members was actually my faculty advisor, but I saw her once in April so she didn't remember me, I'm sure. But then she started talking about study skills and class loads. When someone asked her about assignments and such, she said that whenever anyone in the history department takes the mandated research methods class, they should probably take only that class because it's so intense and there's a 20-page paper in there.

Gulp. Not only do I start that class Thursday, but I also start another class Wednesday. And I'm a high school honors English teacher (honors English=papers). And my boyfriend and I are training for a half marathon in February. And I'm on a Rodeo committee and the board of directors for a theatre.

It was nice knowing everyone.

My heart went thud. Luckily, I'm thinking, I'm probably smarter than many of my classmates (not necessarily in terms of grades, although my grades were always good), but being a high school honors English teacher, plus being a history nerd and having the advantage of doing a research paper last summer using the resource in the Folger Shakespeare Library has probably been nothing but beneficial. I know how to read books like a teacher, like a professor, and taking the right things out of it. I know how to research and get answers. I know a hell of a lot of European history and societal changes and norms. I'm hoping that my other class (European towns and villages) will actually be easy. I hope.

We shall see.

But my kids start Tuesday and I start grad school Wednesday. Keep reading!

Cheers!