And then I ate sushi and all was better.
Classes started getting to me yesterday (well, the sense of overwhelming actually started Thursday night, but it continued into yesterday). I started thinking, "What the hell am I doing?" in terms of obtaining a master's degree in history. Thursday afternoon, before class, I proudly took my professor my little 2-page paper. Every teacher has their own writing style, grading style, etc. and I wanted the professor to tell me how to fix mine to make it what he's looking for. That said, I went in there still thinking that my paper is fantastic and I won't need to tweak much. Oh, I was wrong. He told me that my paper isn't bad (strike one - this is never a good sign because he's letting me down gently) and that it's too narrative. He says that I need to forget that I'm an English teacher and get back into the mode of writing history (which is blunter, I suppose). I felt deflated because I thought I did really well, but then I realized that if I just listen to him, I can work on my writing style. In fact, I'm glad I spoke to him because we have another 2 page paper due next week (one a week for 5 weeks) and since he told me what to fix with my writing, my next one will be great, whereas the others turned theirs in and will have to wait until next week to get it back with comments (and they would've already turned another in without his comments).
So, besides a hit on my writing ego, the sheer amount of work for that class hurts. Every week for 5 weeks we have about 100 pages of reading and then an analytical 2 page paper over the reading (as I mentioned). PLUS next week I also have to turn in a 4 page prospectus of a research paper that I haven't started. We have to go to a local archive (which sucks because most aren't open on Saturdays and close at 4:30 on the weekdays), dig around in the archives, find interesting things and create a paper based on our findings, using secondary sources for additional information. I'm not a big American/Texan history person, but the Civil War interests me, as does the Texan-Mexican war, so I'm heading to a local war museum's archives. I've already requested about 4 boxes of personal letters, correspondence, bills and other documents to be pulled so that I can start. It's strange to look without knowing what you're looking for, but that's the purpose.
SO, in addition to that class, I have to have a 3-5 page book critique written by Wednesday and another one in a month.
I'm swamped. Thank goodness this weekend is Labor Day weekend, and thank goodness the boyfriend's got his kids this weekend so that I'm all alone to work on my stuff.
Oh, and I need to grade and reread a short story for my day job.
So, here's the plan/goal.
Today: Read three chapters of the boring history textbook in the morning. Afternoon will be at the archives. Evening will be something... either writing the 3-5 page critique or more reading.
Tomorrow: Finish the chapters of the boring history textbook and write the 2 page paper. Also finish writing the critique if necessary.
Monday: Read!!! I'll work on my day job in the AM, and the PM will be reading the next book for class 2 (a boring-looking book on Renaissance Florence... since I get to choose a book not to do a critique on, I choose that one!).
Busy, busy, busy. But I am NOT going to give up. I'm not a quitter. I have endurance. Hell, reading doesn't hurt, not like any of the 3 marathons and 5 half marathons I've completed.
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