Oh, Right...I'm a Nerd

For my past two graduate courses, I have not been feeling super studious. In fact, I have been a horrible student. Always rushing to finish my homework at the last minute, I managed to scrape by in the last two courses. But it was a close call.

It's not that my classes this year haven't been interesting. Well, one, the course on categorical programs and special education, was mildly interesting. But the other one, my fiscal class, was a bear.

Mostly, I have just not been interested. I have made a good-ish effort in participation: I bring my materials. I attend class. And I try to raise my hand at least once per class. Again, a good-ish effort, but not stellar.

But today I started my last credential course, and, surprisingly, I really like it. It's my foundation of school law class.

Actually, I shouldn't be surprised that I like it. The course is right up my alley: tons of information, new words and concepts, and even better--Latin. Awesome. I love Latin.

While I am tired, and I will not be crying tears of sadness when my class is done on December 12th, it is nice that my last course is on a subject I'm genuinely interested in. I took four pages of notes today...and it was fun.

Sick, I know.

A Time to Breathe

As of today, I am officially half-way on my path towards a master's in school administration. It's hard to believe how far me and my family have come since last year, when all I was worried about was whether or not I'd have a job this year.

Now, gainfully employed and on my way to tenure, I have a daunting year in front of me. I have a project to implement, a master's thesis to write, and, of course, 150 students I haven't even met yet.

The nice thing: none of that is my problem. Yet.

Now, I have that oft-sought, rarely received, opportunity to stop worrying about deadlines, etc and actually just live my life. I have lots of things to do, but luckily all seem rather manageable after this past year.

My Upcoming "Life"

* Finish out the school year without incident (please, god, may the weather stay pleasant)
* Plan for the next school year with my department (please, god, may I remain pleasant)
* Celebrate my husband's graduation from the credential program and my brother-in-law's graduation from college
* Celebrate my lovely daughter's 3rd birthday
* Teach summer school (yeah, it's not awesome, but the extra paycheck is)
* SCRAPBOOK
* Work on my master's project (again, not awesome, but I might as well get something done)
* Spend time with family
* Actually speak to my husband
* Sit on my butt

The school year is winding down, and it's nice to be in a place emotionally to enjoy it. Last year everything was so uncertain and scary. This spring, I am happy to be employed and I'm doubly happy to have tenure next year.

More importantly, this year has been about working for my family. I'm really hoping to enjoy them over the summer. To recharge. To remind myself why every tear, moment of doubt, every headache, and every moment spent working instead of sleeping was worth it.

Lo Hicimos!

Or in non-Dora language: We did it! My family and I made it to Spring Break. I feel a little rough around the edges, but all in all, I am excited to have a week off.

Basically, the last couple months have been a blur, which is awesome because all my activities haven't been super fun.

A little recap:

January--The beginning of second semester for both my students and for myself. I started probably the most difficult class in my whole graduate program. It wasn't that the subject matter was that hard; I was just pretty wiped after three courses. It didn't help that the class was taught by the superintendent of my district and one of the most powerful people in my district.

February--This is a bonkers month for family reasons, but work and school certainly did not help. I got a couple days off, which was lovely, but I had family obligations up the whazoo. Here's February in our household--my husband's birthday, then my father-in-law's, the Valentines' Day, then my mom's birthday, and then our anniversary. After all the celebrating, I was bummed to find out I had regained all the weight I lost in the fall.

March--One word sums it up: diet. I refocused on losing weight (AGAIN). I've made some head way and hit a goal. But I am a little concerned because I'm at a weight that I haven't been able to get past since pregnancy. I really need to. My health depends on it. I do not want to have Type-2 diabetes.

What April Has in Store--

* Spring Break (Thank God!)
* My 30th Birthday
* Testing for my students
* Final grad class for this school year
* Beautiful weather (hopefully)

I have a lot of things to accomplish this month, but this weekend I am happy to slow down, spend time with my family, and meet my new nephew. It should be wonderful.

Whew!

This week was a bit alarming for me. I was really starting to feel that grad school might not be the right fit for me and my family.

Here's what happened this week.

Sunday I started my first research project of graduate school and I remembered something important: I AM A HORRIBLE STUDENT. Really. It's true. I'm not organized. I procrastinate like crazy. And I have a hard time starting projects. I'm a good writer, so I do well in my classes, but it is painful. So I spent the whole day researching, but not writing. It was just really frustrating. I worked hard, but had little to show for it.

Monday I had a staff (ugh) meeting. In 8 years of teaching, I have attended less than 10 meetings that could not have been better dealt with as a lengthy email. I didn't get home until 6. Had to work out, make dinner, get Em to bed, etc. I got precious little done on my research project.

Tuesday I couldn't work on my paper because I had to attend a school board meeting for my class. It was pretty interesting (actually, it was helpful; there was a presentation on the achievement gap, my project topic.) But still, I had no writing done.

Wednesday, the day I was supposed to have half my paper written, came, and I had still done no writing. Ugh. I had to admit to my professor that I didn't get it done. Very embarrassing. It didn't count for points, but still...ugh.

So today has been all about redemption. After a nice breakfast out, Justin took Em to the grocery store so I could get some work done.

And work I did. Finally, I got my confidence back. Whew!

So far I have four solid pages written. I still feel a little out of my element (I am new to research, so I'm not totally sure of what I'm doing.) But I can actually visualize finishing this paper. I was really starting to doubt being in the program. I kept asking myself all week: "Are you really committed to this?"

I can answer yes, I am, now to that question. Thank goodness. I'd feel really silly handing back all that loan money that just came in...

I MADE IT!

I just got the email today that I made it into the Administrative Credential program! (For those not in education, that means I'm in grad school to get my masters to one day be an administrator.)

This is very exciting news because I have been waiting for almost a month to hear if I got in or not.

YAY ME! I'm going to celebrate with a girl scout cookie. :)