Graduate School and Other Endeavors

I have been thinking a lot about what to write about here over the past few weeks. I'm trying to remember the reasons that I decided to post a blog in the first place - to keep friends and family updated on the house and the farm and to save myself from boredom during my semester off from school.

Now that graduate school has begun, writing papers, doing research and trying to keep up on reading assignments has taken over. I love it. I have also developed an addiction to caffine, whether it's tea or coffee, I don't care. Perhaps living in a near-constant state of caffinated hazey-ness makes things that much more bearable.

I am in the sixth week of my first semester and have already been asked several times what I plan on doing for my thesis, and which PhD programs I have been considering. (For those who don't know, a thesis is a final project for graduate students. Usually a 100+ page report on a research project you've been working on during your studies, reviewed and hopefully approved by a board of faculty members.) A fellow student (in a different program) had even told me that he'd been advised to start researching and preparing to apply to doctoral programs NOW.

Um. Excuse me?

I'm really just trying to make it through my first semester with good grades and without too much stress. Please don't say things like that to me. It's destructive to my well being. I do want to go into a doctoral program eventually...but they are difficult to get into, and they require another 4+ years of schooling. I think I will try to make it through my first semester in my Masters program first. They say the first semester is designed for "weeding out". You mean like a predator crouching, waiting to take down the weakest members of the pack who fall behind? Yep. Exactly.

When I get too overwhelmed I crochet or talk to my rabbits and chickens. I have yet to discover anything more soothing than the feel of yarn in my hands or the soft warmth of feathers and fur. Collecting eggs from my hens has been a daily ritual.

That's not to say I'm complaining. Much the opposite actually. I am finally at the point in my academics where I can demonstrate some control over what I'm learning. My program is very independent, everyone with their own interests and focus. All (two) of my professors know my first name, what I'm studying and they want to help me to succeed. It's refreshing!



Love,

Kay