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
