Thoughts on Beginning Year Two

School started (officially for me) today. Wednesdays will be the only day I have my own courses to attend, beginning at 8am and ending at 7pm. In between the two classes I go to for myself, I am also convening the Bailey class from 12:30 - 2pm, so there is no rest for me on Wednesday. My third course is an independent study, so, nothing to attend except my own learning, yo!

So yes, class started today. And I am feeling.... accomplished that I completed my first year as a grad student/PhD student. Most folks I know say that if you complete your first year, you're golden! I'm not sure I feel golden, but at least mostly copper.

I'm also feeling... (already) a little squished because my schedule is much tighter than last year. Part of the reason is because I have an assistantship that requires me to be in an office between Monday and Friday, any time between 8am and 6pm. Unlike last year, when I could just do my assistantship work whenever I wanted (10pm! Yeah! 5:30am I'm feeling like doing assistantship work, heck yeah!), now I am limited. This means that I am NOT flexible. I have most hours planned to the minute, and each minute gets me from one scheduled thing to another. My Monday to Friday is packed. Needless to say I am very protective of my time.

And I am also feeling.... relaxed. I have some friends who are in their 5th year, some who have graduated in different disciplines with their PhD and one friend in particular who reminds me, "Emiko, just go through the hoops. If I could go back in time I'd tell myself not to be so stressed out all the time, so I'm telling you this." He's a sociologist so I take his words to heart. (I have a special place in my heart for sociologists. If I could get another degree, it would be in sociology.)

And finally, I am feeling.... more like I know what I'm doing and less like I'm pretending. I don't have to fake it so much because I learned a lot last year and can actually apply it. I can also see the bigger picture (although I've always been a big picture kind of person so maybe this doesn't count) and how each of my classes this semester, as weird and seemingly random as they are, actually fit really well together. They are all in my interest area, see the photo above of my books. And them all being in my interest area and narrowing in and staying focused on an interest area says a lot, especially from a generalist like me.