So, it's official. I've started graduate school. Actually, I'm almost done with my first week! I have one class tomorrow morning (unless I find out before 10 that I passed the competency exam to test out...no guarantees there). About this week--it's been almost completely overwhelming.
I finished moving in on Sunday, and went to dinner with the other school psychology graduate students. I barely had any time to settle in, and then I had my first class Monday morning. That one wasn't too difficult, and then I went to Noodles for lunch. I'm not quite sure why I was so nervous, but I was. I had Advanced Behavior Modification from noon until almost 3. I'm definitely nervous for this class, since I've never even taken a regular behavior modification class. But it's largely discussion based, and that's something I can do...once I am comfortable speaking up.
Tuesday morning I had statistics, which was amusing. The prof has a sense of humor, and although he can be long-winded, I like him. Stats could be boring...this isn't. He says we'll be doing a lot of technical writing, and that he is a "grammar bitch" but I'm not the least bit scared about that. My sister (who just got her first real job, teaching English!) is the most strict person I've ever met when it comes to grammar. I actually feel prepared for this class.
I also had my legal/ethics/issues in school psych class, which looks like it's going to be a lot of work. Most of these classes are only once a week, so it can't be too terrible. But I'm told my schedule will really fill up, with a two-hour block of field work at an elementary school, a two-hour block at Headstart, and two one-hour blocks for meetings, in addition to my classes and my graduate assistantship.
I will say that the older students are really nice and supportive. They've all told us that we'll be just fine (whereas the professors warn us that we'll come to them crying in a few weeks) and I'd much prefer to believe that I'll be fine. I probably have one of the better schedules--my school placement is close by, and my graduate assistantship is very simple. I'm just taking care of small tasks, as needed...and I haven't even been needed yet. It's disconcerting that I am hardly working at all, after working 3 jobs last year.
I would really just love for my schedule to be set in stone. I hate trying not to forget all the necessary meetings and stuff, and I can't wait until things settle down. I'd like to feel more organized, really. Today I took a competency exam to hopefully drop a class, which would give me more free time. I'm not really that confident, as I mentioned earlier. We were told that only one person has ever not passed the exam and I don't want to be the second. I'll know soon enough...but it just doesn't seem SOON enough!
Tomorrow, my roommate and I are having a small get-together at our apartment for all the first year school psych students. We haven't had a chance to really get to know the specialist students, though they seem really nice so far. Natalie and I want to be on good terms with everyone, and this week has been so exhausting that it's hard to be social. People are coming over around 5 tomorrow to just hang out and get to know each other. I'm pretty excited. Speaking of which, I am loving my new apartment AND my new roommate. It's surprising how much we have in common, and it's just been a lot of fun getting to know each other. We had a good heart-to-heart yesterday, which was rudely cut short by the appearance of a big spider on the sofa. We both freaked out a little bit, and it took us about half an hour to kill it. But then we went out and bought bug killing spray..and called maintenance today to have them spray for spiders too. Ha. I am pretty pleased with how quickly maintenance has helped us with everything--it only took them one day to replace our dishwasher, which I was quite impressed by.
Suffice it to say, despite being stressed, nervous, and confused, I am having a really good time. This weekend, we are going to check out the corn festival in town. I'm really looking forward to getting out of the apartment, for something OTHER than school. More updates to come soon, hopefully :)
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