My Life as a Grad Student

I have noticed that the past few blogs have been about baking, which I find fascinating because I didn't realize I had time for baking, or for arranging flowers. I have finished a baby quilt as well which goes to show you that you can and will fit pleasure into your life even when you are incredibly busy.

A couple of years ago I got a postcard in my mailbox at school about a new graduate program at BYU. It was not addressed to me, so I don't know who put it in my box. The program was a Masters in Media Education. I had been teaching media literacy for a couple of years without having taken a class in media, so I was very interested. I went through the application process and got accepted last February. The program started in August and it has been one of the hardest things I have done. Here are the hard things:

• I have had to write more papers than I care to imagine! I also found out that I am not such a great writer. This has been a bitter pill to swallow since I teach a college writing class. Each one of my papers were a labor, really. It was like giving birth! I felt like I opened my brain and poured out everything I had in it and when it was done, I flapped my lips like an idiot!
• I realized that I'm not as smart as I thought I was. Compared to most people, I felt like I was in the top 80%. But the competition is tough in grad school. I realized that the members of my cohort could think much deeper than I could. It was a humbling experience, but made me think deeper and broader.
• I have never read so much non-fiction in my life. Granted, most of the reading was pretty interesting, but some of it was a stretch to apply in my life outside this particular class. That doesn't give you much motivation. With all the reading and the writing i have had to do, I have never sat on my butt for so long in my life. Sometimes I feel that my brain will explode or shut down because of some critical error.
• My life revolves around BYU. It's practically all I think about and all I talk about. I feel sorry for my family who patiently listens to me complain and explain about school.