Posts Tagged ‘school’
By Belynda, August 30th, 2011 in Other | No Comments
Tags: freedom, insanity, limitations, nablopomo, play, school, work
(I wrote this draft and never posted it. It’s like a time capsule!)
____
I shouldn’t be writing this post.
I should be doing some homework, or (holy hell) cleaning my long-suffering house, doing the laundry, or perhaps even sleeping. I’m not. Instead, I’m piling one more thing on the plate. I’m signing up for Nablopomo and committing to a blog post a day for the month.
I’ve updated my blog three times in the last ten months. One post didn’t even count really - I posted a paper I wrote for school because I wrote it scary-fast and it got an A. I’ve just fallen out of the blogging habit. Full-time work, (more than) full-time school, a renewed attempt to read fifty-two books again this year, and just the regular old schmeg of life have taken up any bits of free time I might have been able to scrape together for writing.
Despite the toll this takes on my social life and my “fun” time, I don’t regret a bit of what I’ve taken on. I’ve learned a lot about myself in the past year, specifically just how much I’m capable of taking on. I’d never have known how little sleep I can actually function on. I’d never have known I could take two years of school and jam it into sixteen months, and still graduate with a GPA I can be proud of. I will never be able to say “I don’t have time” or “I don’t have the energy” for something small. If I want to get done, it can in fact get done. I am capable of as much as I set my mind to.
It hasn’t always been pretty. I’ve had a lot of blessings to help get me where I am. I have a stellar husband who puts up with the less-than-stellar moments of temper; the disastrous house and strange mealtimes; the wife who sometimes runs on caffeine, catnaps, and sheer force of will. I still have friends who love me, even though (as it’s been pointed out) I’ve seen them about a handful of times since the beginning of the year. I’ve been forgiven over and over for skipping basically an entire year of Wednesday night family dinners that were my idea in the first place (I love you Missy! Sorrryyyy!)
Now all of this insanity is coming to an end. December 11th, I send in the last paper of the last class of my Bachelor in English. I will have the piece of paper, and (for a little while) I will have a WHOLE lot of time on my hands. More time than I’ve had since I was twenty years old. I’ll be able to ring in the New Year without the lingering dread of class starting on the 3rd (just after the departure of the last holiday hangover!) I’ll be able to lay on the couch when the snow is piling up and read the latest Ken Follett without an ounce of guilt, knowing I should be reading chapter three of some Gods-forsaken textbook about operant conditioning. It will be a little like breaking free of the Skinner box and the damned little button, actually!
So… what the hell am I going to do with myself?!
PLAY!! PLAY PLAY PLAY!!!
I’m going to finally finish the stained glass fireplace screen I promised my in-laws two years ago. I’m going to read books because they’re awesome, and not because they’re assigned. I’m going to edit the three books in pitiful draft form that have languished in my hard-drive, and work on new projects! I’m going to finally learn how to knit (Really knit. Not BS knitting like I do now, than ends in tears and stubs of scarves.) I’m going to sleep in until noon on weekends, wake up, eat Cheerios, then take a power nap directly after, rousing only to snuggle with Indiana and stick my tongue out at Eddie.
It won’t be all fun and games (although, there will be a lot of fun AND games). I’ll still be “studying”. The GRE and the MTEL (if I don’t take them before graduation) will be right around the corner. I’ll be hunting for a grad program, and jumping right back into the fray. But it won’t be the hell-ride my undergrad has been. Hopefully, anyway.
So here’s to big dreams about “life on the outside.” Dreams filled with stained glass, good books, hand-knitted slippers, writing, editing and long, glorious naps on the couch.
And of course, some blogging.
Hurrah!
By Belynda, October 9th, 2010 in Other | No Comments
Tags: dante, inferno, nablopomo, overload, procrastination, school
We all knew it was going to happen. I forgot to do my blog post last night, and so today (you lucky people) there will be two!
I’m playing catch-up a lot this week. I haven’t written anything new in a long time, and haven’t really had the time to edit any of my first drafts. This week, however, the fancy caught me to start re-writing the draft from my first Nano novel, written back in 2007, forced into one premature revision, and left in the digital top drawer forever after. A few friends were so kind as to read it and provide critical notes for me, make comments, and very honestly tell me what works, what doesn’t. I am so grateful for this, because it’s given me the juice to work on a draft that has languished in drafty purgatory for far too long.
Unfortunately, writing often moves in unexpectedly and sucks up time, especially time meant to be devoted to finishing up my classes. So here I am, on Saturday afternoon, trying to scream through The Inferno (not optimal, I assure you) and catch up on responses that were due ohhhhh on Wednesday. To be sure, it’s a tall order, and something had to slip. Of course it was the blog challenge! I don’t even remember falling asleep last night. There was a book in my hand, and then there was blackness, and the 1am arrival of Ed, finally tired enough to sleep. I WISH I could stay up that late without serious ramifications!
There’s something to be said for the type of pressure I’m putting myself under with classes, work, and writing. As mentioned in previous posts, I’ve learned I am capable of taking on a lot. I work faster, work smarter, and ultimately shine under pressure, and I’m very grateful for it. It does make me lean towards procrastination, but I think it’s okay, because the thrill of the battle against time brings out something good.
And now back to my descent into hell. Cheerful!
By Belynda, October 1st, 2010 in Other | 3 Comments
Tags: freedom, insanity, limitations, nablopomo, play, school, work
I shouldn’t be writing this post.
I should be doing some homework, or (holy hell) cleaning my long-suffering house, doing the laundry, or perhaps even sleeping. I’m not. Instead, I’m piling one more thing on the plate. I’m signing up for Nablopomo and committing to a blog post a day for the month.
I’ve updated my blog three times in the last ten months. One post didn’t even count really - I posted a paper I wrote for school because I wrote it scary-fast and it got an A. I’ve just fallen out of the blogging habit. Full-time work, (more than) full-time school, a renewed attempt to read fifty-two books again this year, and just the regular old schmeg of life have taken up any bits of free time I might have been able to scrape together for writing.
Despite the toll this takes on my social life and my “fun” time, I don’t regret a bit of what I’ve taken on. I’ve learned a lot about myself in the past year, specifically just how much I’m capable of taking on. I’d never have known how little sleep I can actually function on. I’d never have known I could take two years of school and jam it into sixteen months, and still graduate with a GPA I can be proud of. I will never be able to say “I don’t have time” or “I don’t have the energy” for something small. If I want to get done, it can in fact get done. I am capable of as much as I set my mind to.
It hasn’t always been pretty. I’ve had a lot of blessings to help get me where I am. I have a stellar husband who puts up with the less-than-stellar moments of temper; the disastrous house and strange mealtimes; the wife who sometimes runs on caffeine, catnaps, and sheer force of will. I still have friends who love me, even though (as it’s been pointed out) I’ve seen them about a handful of times since the beginning of the year. I’ve been forgiven over and over for skipping basically an entire year of Wednesday night family dinners that were my idea in the first place (I love you Missy! Sorrryyyy!)
Now all of this insanity is coming to an end. December 11th, I send in the last paper of the last class of my Bachelor in English. I will have the piece of paper, and (for a little while) I will have a WHOLE lot of time on my hands. More time than I’ve had since I was twenty years old. I’ll be able to ring in the New Year without the lingering dread of class starting on the 3rd (just after the departure of the last holiday hangover!) I’ll be able to lay on the couch when the snow is piling up and read the latest Ken Follett without an ounce of guilt, knowing I should be reading chapter three of some Gods-forsaken textbook about operant conditioning. It will be a little like breaking free of the Skinner box and the damned little button, actually!
So… what the hell am I going to do with myself?!
PLAY!! PLAY PLAY PLAY!!!
I’m going to finally finish the stained glass fireplace screen I promised my in-laws two years ago. I’m going to read books because they’re awesome, and not because they’re assigned. I’m going to edit the three books in pitiful draft form that have languished in my hard-drive, and work on new projects! I’m going to finally learn how to knit (Really knit. Not BS knitting like I do now, than ends in tears and stubs of scarves.) I’m going to sleep in until noon on weekends, wake up, eat Cheerios, then take a power nap directly after, rousing only to snuggle with Indiana and stick my tongue out at Eddie.
It won’t be all fun and games (although, there will be a lot of fun AND games). I’ll still be “studying”. The GRE and the MTEL (if I don’t take them before graduation) will be right around the corner. I’ll be hunting for a grad program, and jumping right back into the fray. But it won’t be the hell-ride my undergrad has been. Hopefully, anyway.
So here’s to big dreams about “life on the outside.” Dreams filled with stained glass, good books, hand-knitted slippers, writing, editing and long, glorious naps on the couch.
And of course, some blogging.
Hurrah!
By Belynda, May 19th, 2009 in Other | No Comments
Tags: achievement, awards, GPA envy, hard work, school, talents, Writing
“Your talents are God’s gift to you. What you do with those talents is your gift back to God.” - Benton’s Mom (ER)
Just got back from the MCC Awards Ceremony, which was a lot of fun and ended at a restaurant with a particularly good glass of wine. The ceremony itself was an eye-opener.
I do very well in school, considering I procrastinate my ass off and do everything slapdash. It always seems to work out. I have a near-photographic memory for facts, I’m not too humble to say my writing skills are top-notch. On top of that, I genuinely enjoy being in school. When I found out I’d won the English Department award at my college, I was sort of cracking up over it, because I basically felt like I’d always done the bare minimum to scrape by (even if scraping by for me is A’s). I’m forever burning the midnight oil, or writing a paper on a book I only barely paid attention to, waiting until the last minute. I’m a pressure-cooker student I guess; I fare best when the clock is ticking. I’m not saying it to be an ass, I know that my academic successes are a blessing. But I didn’t have a full appreciation of the benefits hard work can reap, because I’d become so accustomed to just breezing by in school.
I got to the ceremony, and listened to some of the stories of other award recipients, and I was truly humbled. One kid, a commencement speaker, came over on a fishing boat from Viet Nam at age five. He has a 4.0 and is going on to a business program. He’s involved in half a dozen clubs, went on a fellowship program to China, and helps his uncle run a business. Another woman had a 3.95, which she maintained while raising three school-aged boys, running the books for her husband’s small business, and also involving herself in school programs in whatever time she could otherwise be using for sleep. There were many other stories of people who completely worked their ass off while struggling through strokes, disabilities, language barriers, family problems. Every single person on that stage deserved to be there, and I found myself feeling like “What the hell did *I* do, take a few extra lit courses? It didn’t even feel like work.” But I guess that’s the thing. If you’re doing what you love, and you’re doing what you’re talented in, then it’s not going to feel like work. To the rest of the world, it’s a sacrifice, but to the individual, it’s just the way of things. I hear people tell me “Yes, but you work full-time and still keep your grades up, and find time to write!” Let me be the first to say that this so-called “achievement” is total dogshit compared to some of the things I heard tonight.
I came away from the ceremony with a renewed sense of wanting to apply myself, really apply myself, to school, to my writing, to my talents. I want to work towards that 4.0 in my new pursuits at NEU. I want to finish the re-writes on the book and take courses that will get my writing to the next level. I want to stay away from my television (which I’ve done a bang-up job at in the past 9 months), stick with my artwork, sing more, read more, and re-commit myself to better things.
Going to the ceremony wasn’t just good in feeling like I’d accomplished something, although the recognition was nice. Better, it put hard work into perspective for me, and made me want to rededicate myself to the worthy things in my life.
It was a good night.
By Belynda, May 18th, 2009 in Other | No Comments
Tags: awards, disappearing canapes, graduation, hard work, lost, love, school, vacation time, work-life balance
A co-worker looked at me today and said “So.. when is your semester over?”. I laughed and replied “Two years.”
I was kidding, but it made me realize that I really am opting for the mule’s path to academic success. I’ve decided I want to be done with the rest of my BS and also my MA in two years, which seems completely ridiculous, but is actually doable as long as I don’t take any breaks. I’ve got something like 17.75 classes left for my BS (a mathematical phenomenon I will never understand), which works out to about 8 semesters of accelerated classes, AKA 4 regular semesters (since Northeastern Uni is cool enough to offer accelerated online courses.) So far, so good. Then it’s on to my MA, which should be in Education, but that remains to be seen. Marion and I have been plotting GRE’s, which makes the whole finishing my undergrad seem much more real, and very close!
Even despite the grueling pace, I realized recently that I’m not unhappy with my classes or the time that I’m putting into them, not even a shred. Sure, I have some nights that only see 4 hours of sleep, and I’ve torched more than my share of midnight oil in pursuit of that mirage we call “a social life”, but at the end of the day, I’m still really happy I’m doing this, and I still feel as though I’m working towards something that is going to change my life - something that will help me change the lives of others. Ed jokes that he’s going to need a hard-hat if I take on any more classes, but for the most part I think I manage to not be completely hideous. I don’t watch much television any more, but I’m coping. It’s not like ‘Lost’ ever made much sense to begin with, so catching bits and pieces really doesn’t put me at any more of a disadvantage than watching intently while following along with LostPedia on my laptop.
I recently found out I’m even getting a little atta-girl for the work I’ve done thus far. I got a letter in the mail the other day from MCC, saying that I’d won the English Award for Outstanding Achievement. Finally, my beefy GPA pays off! I’m really quite pleased with the award. I’ve even got a spot at the honors awards banquet tomorrow night! I just hope they make some extra munchies, because I’m going to be blazing through the canapes like there was no tomorrow.
The part that keeps amusing me though, is that I wasn’t even going to attend commencement for my AA, because I didn’t want to take the vacation time away from my job to go to the weekday ceremony. But was I going to pass up getting an award after doing all the work? Hell no! Well, here’s the funny part: Now, because of the award, not only do I have to be at the Commencement, but also at the rehearsal - because they’re going to make me sit on stage like a monkey in a board and robe for a few hours apparently?
So, my day off just became a day-and-a-half. So much for conservation of vacation time! I catch myself protesting this in my head, saying “I don’t have time for this! I have a family reunion to go to this year! I have a friend coming in from the UK! I can’t use 12 hours of vacation! C’mon guys! You’re killin’ me!”
But even though I’m crabbing about the stretched-thin time, it hit me that I’m still loving what I do, and I’m still pluggin’. I realize how much of a blessing that is, and how good it feels to have someone pat you on the back for it every so often. There’s something really important to be said for loving a hard life for the sake of itself. So, whatever it is that is worth the sacrifice for us, worth the late nights and tired brains and aching bodies, that is what we should commit ourselves to do, because there is a singular achievement to be found in nursing those sore muscles and foggy brains. I’m just glad I’ve found what it is for me.
