Summer School & Teacher Perks

I've obviously failed on my part to keep my blog updated. So much for "I'll be sure to update when the end of the school year is finally here!" Needless to say, the last day day/week/month of school has long passed and I am a solid 4 weeks into summer vacation. Summer vacation has been complete validation that the profession I chose is the right one. Despite its never-ending hours/tasks and measly paychecks, the fact that I get a full summer of vacation has made it ALL worthwhile. 

That's not to say my summer has been easy. No, no, no. After I celebrated my last day of school and helped prepare East Avenue for 8th grade graduation, I had to hustle all the way to San Francisco for my first summer school class of the year. I didn't have even have one night off to relax! You're lucky that you're not reading how I really felt during those 3 weeks of class, in which I was expected to spit out 3 chapters of my thesis. Those 3 weeks were spent holed up in Gabriel's room (my study nook), slowly typing away. I wish I could say that the process was a breeze and that my writing skills translated to 3 chapters of a masterpiece. Truthfully? It was nothing like that. Gabriel's room and all of his procrastinating qualities clearly rubbed off on me because instead of typing, I found myself doing an insane amount of online shopping (like mother like daughter). This included a free Netflix trial, which led me to watch an insane amount of TV (caught up on all 4 seasons of 90210, thank you very much). When you combine the amount of TV I was watching with my usual amount of FaceBook/Twitter/Pinterest usage, you can imagine how little writing was actually being done. The amount of rationalizing I did during those 3 weeks was pretty incredible. Ohhhh, I just wrote a sentence? That definitely deserves 10 minutes of Facebook. 

And so it went for 3 weeks, until I finally got my act together and managed to turn in the first 57 pages of my thesis. Luckily for me, it's only a draft! :) Now, I've got the whole rest of the summer to kick back, relax, and take advantage of the vacation time that my profession allows me. Be JEALOUS. 

First year of Grad School OFFICIALLY over!

Last night marked the official end of my first year of graduate school. The cynical side of me would comment on how I still have a year left and that this upcoming year (thesis and all) is going to be even tougher than the first. But, just this once, I want to celebrate all of the accomplishments from this past year. Specifically, the USF part.

When I first began, I knew the program would be challenging, but honestly? I had NO idea what to expect. Ask Corina, I didn't even realize I was applying for an intern program! I didn't know when classes started, what the program entailed, etc. I was clueless. To say the summer intensive was a rude awakening would be putting it mildly. At that point I had no idea how I got through it and had no idea what was still to come.

Boy, did it come! I won't comment on the job details right now; I'll save that reflection for when the school year officially ends (4 weeks! But who's counting?). The school part, however, was equally as challenging. I remember the first class of the fall semester. It was after my second day on the job. My second day of crying continuously for hours. My second day of having NO clue what I was doing. As I sat in class, I remember, vividly, some of my peer's sharing their experiences thus far. I couldn't believe when one member of my cohort said, "I love my job!" Seriously? I wanted to kill him. As I looked around and watched other members nod their head in agreement I wondered what the hell I had gotten myself into. Were they in their right mind? Was I the crazy one? Is this job really for me? Am I already in too-deep? Is it too late to quit?!

I won't lie; I seriously entertained the thought of quitting throughout the entire fall semester. It didn't help that other members of my cohort kept dropping out, too. They all had such sunny accounts of how they made the right decision. I kept giving myself deadlines. "If I continue to cry for the rest of this week? I am definitely quitting." "I'll give it until Thanksgiving. If I can make it through then and I'm still unhappy? I'll quit." I even went so far as creating my own IEP goal! (By September 2013, I will only consider quitting my job in 2 of 7 days. Current baseline= 7/7 days.)

But somehow, I managed to get through it. Somehow I managed to push through the exhaustion, frustration, and forced myself to go to class every Wednesday and Thursday. The strangest part? Somewhere along the way, I even found myself enjoying it. Crazy. Masochist. I know. But, yet...true. Somewhere along the road I actually made progress on my own personal goal to the point where I don't think of quitting at ALL (okay, maybe once in a while, but come on, I'm human)! I've found joy and amusement at little things that occur at both school (USF) and work. I don't mean to sound trite when I say that those little things really had an affect on me and made work bearable, tolerable, and eventually? Enjoyable.

This brings me back to yesterday, the culminating point for all the members of Cohort 14. As I sat in the room and watched all 17 members (well, 15) of Cohort 14 get their thesis' signed, I couldn't help but be so jealous, envious, and excited all at the same time! The jealousy and envy wasn't personal; I just wanted to be in their shoes. To be done with the program and done with my thesis. At this point in the process, I can't even fathom that day coming! But, honestly, watching them get their thesis' signed? I felt excited. It made it seem like the goal was actually capable of being attained. It was a really cool moment to witness and I was eager to get started on my thesis.

That feeling has passed, obviously, as I'm sitting here writing in this blog rather than working on my article synthesis. But still, for a moment... I could envision myself next year shaking Dr. Oh's hand and being handed the final copy of my thesis. I can't wait for that moment and can't wait to experience all the emotions and feelings that are bound to overcome me.

In the meantime, I will gladly celebrate the end of my first year by enjoying this day off and catching up on all my shows... :)