Life Updates and Grad School

So here I am…One year and 2 weeks (to be exact) since my first blog post.

I know said I would post regularly since that was a part of my do-over project but life has a way of just taking over and waylaid even the best of plans.

Where to begin…

I got accepted into the MA program (Asian Studies with West Asia as my major) that I had applied to, ticking off Item No. 1 on my do-over bucket list.

In fact I’ve been officially on semestral break for the last 2 weeks with enrollment for the second semester just right around the corner.

I had a pretty good first semester considering I have not been in a classroom-type set-up since 2005. I met a lot of cool and interesting fellow grad school classmates and really amazing professors whom I learned a lot from.

Of course, transitioning into grad school had its challenges. The type of homework they give is no child’s play as it had been during undergrad years. I mean, they expect you to churn out papers worthy to be published in journals. Coupled with the requirement not to get a grade below a 2 and the pressure is definitely on!

Readings from first semester of grad school. Second semester readings will probably double this size.

I probably studied more now than I did back in college. I should have known it was going to be like this since most people who go to grad school have aspirations to get doctorate degrees or work in the academe or some think-tank.

I don’t know if I want to pursue a doctorate. I mean, the reason why I wanted to go to grad school was more of to gain specialized knowledge in order to apply it to a future career path/s that I have been planning on.

I guess its different when you come face to face with reality of grad school. I had to “tame the beast” so to speak. Although, I’m not sure if I have actually tamed the beast that is grad school but I’m trying my best to get the hang of it.

I mostly took the core general courses this sem since it was the requirement but next sem I will be taking some classes in line with my major so I’m hopeful that things will look up.

For now, I’m just enjoying the free time by watching movies and TV series I’ve missed at the same time catch up on my long to-read queue.

I’ve also been planning to get a job. I want to see if I can handle both going to school and having a full-time job. I know it’s not going to be easy. I’ve seen some of grad school classmates do it but they all say it takes a lot of hard work. It remains to be seen whether I can get a job that will fit my grad school schedule. As my mother always likes to remind me, “First priority is finishing grad school.”

So far, that is all the update I can muster for now.

Till my next post,

Emme

Fresh Slate

My name is Emme. I'm 28 years old and in less than 2 weeks, I'm going to leave a job that I've held for four years and my family to start over in my home country.

Monetary-wise, I could not have asked for a better job. Yet despite this, I've resigned to pursue something, which I hope will give me more than economic security.

Does the prospect scare the shit out of me? Hell, yes! But I'm determined to do it nonetheless (because I'm stubborn that way).

For the past 6 years, I have been living and working in the Middle East (Qatar, specifically). I was 22 when I left the Philippines for the adventure that is the Arabian Peninsula. And boy was it an adventure!

I've learned a lot about different cultures and people but mostly I learned a lot about myself - what I like, what I don't, my principles, my beliefs, things I'm willing or unwilling to compromise on, things that I'm capable of (both good and bad) and things that I can never change.

I used to have a blog prior to this but since I'm starting a new chapter in my life, I've decided that I needed a fresh slate as well.

This will be a record of sorts on my new adventures into the unknown. My do-over diary.

I have listed a bucket list of things that I wanted to do now that I had been given a "second wind", as my friend Justine calls it, and will be writing about my attempts and progress in trying to fulfill them.

I won't promise to do a daily or weekly blog post but I do promise it will be regular (Blogging regularly  is on my bucket list).

No, I'm not dying and neither do I have any life-threatening disease (At least not that I know of).

This is just a purely narcissistic outlet for my thoughts and observations of life in general so whatever I write here has to be taken with a grain (hell, make it a bag) of salt.

My only hope is that somebody might learn something useful from my little adventures. If nothing else, I hope you'll find it entertaining.

Signing out for now,
Emme