Day 63

Two versions of the same blog post:

Today was a great day.

This afternoon, I took the lab portion of my statistics quiz. I felt confident about 3/4 of it but totally tanked the other 1/4.  After the quiz, I ran into a former LSMSA student in the Panda Express line, and we shared a late lunch. Running into people I know on a campus the size of LSU's is always a pleasant surprise.

For my Foundations class, I met with my book group, and we got organized for our project on Beer and Circus by Murray Sperber. I really enjoyed the book we read and am looking forward to our presentation next week. Then, I think I will be done with presentations for a little while.

I am learning every day as I read and interact with my classmates and professors. I know that this program is where I belong right now.

Something that made today great: I had fun cooking dinner tonight!
Time I woke up: 8:00 am

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Today was a great day, but it was not an easy one. I was up late last night reading, and I allowed myself to sleep until 8:00, the time I said I would be at work this morning. I'd planned to drop Scooter off at Camp Bow Wow by 7:30. We are finally having our truck repaired after we were rear-ended weeks ago, and we have a rental car for the time being. No pets are allowed in the rental car, so I dropped Scooter off this morning in my car. I had to make an extra stop by the hospital to pick up the rental car because Richard said he would pick up Scooter when he finished at work today. (I am usually in class until 7:20 on Tuesday.) I missed my exit on the way to the hospital, and there was already typical commuter traffic on the interstate at that time. I arrived at work more than an hour after I originally planned, but I still managed to have a good day.

This afternoon, I took the lab portion of my statistics quiz. I felt confident about 3/4 of it but totally tanked the other 1/4. After the quiz, I beat myself up about it for longer than I should have and decided the best solution to my problem was to go to the student union for a mid-afternoon lunch/snack. I ran into a former LSMSA student in the Panda Express line, and we shared a late lunch. Running into people I know on a campus the size of LSU's is always a pleasant surprise.

For my Foundations class, I met with my book group, and we got organized for our project on Beer and Circus by Murray Sperber. I really enjoyed the book we read and am looking forward to our presentation next week. Then, I think I will be done with presentations for a little while. What was as helpful as preparing for our presentation, though, was taking a few moments to decompress and share some of our graduate school struggles. It was nice to speak candidly about some of my feelings related to being a full-time Ph.D. student.

Like that I sometimes feel guilty for getting behind on reading and staying up late the night before class to finish an assignment when I am only working part-time so I can go to school full-time. Sometimes I get frustrated with myself for putting myself in this position when I have classmates who work full-time, commute an hour or more to attend class, and/or have kids, yet they seem to stay on top of all the reading and not come to class looking like they need a nap. This morning when I left for work, there were two articles sitting in my printer tray that I needed to read before I could participate in a class discussion...tonight. The articles have been available for over a week, yet I didn't even print them until last night. As it turns out, my classmates are in similar positions as I am, and we are all learning to navigate the volume of reading in addition to everything else going on in our lives. (How appropriate that our discussion focused on women in higher education following World War II!)

I am learning every day as I read and interact with my classmates and professors, but I don't love everything I am assigned to read, and sometimes I find myself skimming to the point of having to re-skim or reread because I don't remember what I just read. My other classmates seem to come to class prepared to discuss the material  I know that this program is where I belong right now, I just wish I could shake this feeling that I am not a good student because I am not reading so deeply that I absorb every word of every article or book that I touch.

Something that made today great: I had fun cooking dinner tonight!
Time I woke up: 8:00 am