Lesson Learned
It's goodbye to the days of double-fisted drinking (not that I ever did this...or at least did it well), and time to do as this poor soul is doing--double-fisted reading. As my day came to a close today, I realized that I have learned a very important lesson in the budding days of this new semester. As some close friends have warned me in the past, I have realized that my challenge in this new stage of education is not so much learning the material. I, of course, need to do the work and retain the important stuff, but the bigger lesson that I'm learning is how to be a successful and competitive graduate student. It's so very different from undergraduate studies. Even reflecting on the lesson I just mentioned, learning the stuff is the key in undergrad. You have tests, quizzes, and final exams that reflect this fact. Now, though, all of it comes down to what you will do on your own. How far are you willing to go in attaining a shred of knowledge that your classmates have failed to unveil? 
I've been a total loser up to this point, repeating how I'm not competitive by nature...blah blah blah. But, it's finally hit me that I just need to kick it in and get to work. I truly adore higher education and want to be a part of its functioning eventually, and I'm not going to get there by magic...I must, like all of the others, walk the ropes. What I discovered as I had to discipline myself today is that I actually enjoy doing that work moreso than most other things in my life. If you're going to have to work your life away, then why not make it something you love, right? Today was one of my favorite days, and it included hours of plowing through a book and some critical essays and a delightful PB&J sandwich for dinner only to run to the next building for two hours of class. It can't get any better. Okay, that's admittedly a little over the top, but it's good to be waking up to the "job" of a graduate student. We'll see what happens with this awareness : )
It's goodbye to the days of double-fisted drinking (not that I ever did this...or at least did it well), and time to do as this poor soul is doing--double-fisted reading. As my day came to a close today, I realized that I have learned a very important lesson in the budding days of this new semester. As some close friends have warned me in the past, I have realized that my challenge in this new stage of education is not so much learning the material. I, of course, need to do the work and retain the important stuff, but the bigger lesson that I'm learning is how to be a successful and competitive graduate student. It's so very different from undergraduate studies. Even reflecting on the lesson I just mentioned, learning the stuff is the key in undergrad. You have tests, quizzes, and final exams that reflect this fact. Now, though, all of it comes down to what you will do on your own. How far are you willing to go in attaining a shred of knowledge that your classmates have failed to unveil? 
I've been a total loser up to this point, repeating how I'm not competitive by nature...blah blah blah. But, it's finally hit me that I just need to kick it in and get to work. I truly adore higher education and want to be a part of its functioning eventually, and I'm not going to get there by magic...I must, like all of the others, walk the ropes. What I discovered as I had to discipline myself today is that I actually enjoy doing that work moreso than most other things in my life. If you're going to have to work your life away, then why not make it something you love, right? Today was one of my favorite days, and it included hours of plowing through a book and some critical essays and a delightful PB&J sandwich for dinner only to run to the next building for two hours of class. It can't get any better. Okay, that's admittedly a little over the top, but it's good to be waking up to the "job" of a graduate student. We'll see what happens with this awareness : )
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