School Daze, Part 4

 

“Education is for growth and fulfillment.” ~ Tom Robbins

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but when I was awarded a scholarship for this fall semester, it also covered next spring semester, even though I will complete my degree plan and graduate this December.  So, the big debate was whether I should return in the spring for a couple of electives.  Well, as it turns out, I just couldn’t bear to leave free money on the table, so this week I have enrolled in two additional classes for next semester. 

The problem, of course, is that though this seems a perfectly logical solution, there is still a part of me—a pretty big part—that is really ready to be done with school.  Even though I’ve selected one course that seems really interesting to me and one that has an instructor who I think can make most any subject at least mildly interesting, I’m still a little worried I will not be able to focus and put forth my best effort, knowing that they are not necessary.

On the other hand, I have always been something of a nerd and enjoyed school, so I’m hoping that nerdiness can carry me through just six more months.  Plus, I selected courses that will not have the drudgery of daily class attendance, one entirely online and one that only meets for five Saturdays.  I think it will be a big relief not to have to rush from work to class every day and then drag myself home totally exhausted only to sit down in front of a computer and try to do homework.  (Not to mention write this blog; this is not the first night that I have drifted off while working on the laptop, only to awaken several hours later still needing to finish both schoolwork and my daily post. Though tonight I appear to have somehow changed the television channel in my sleep and awoke to PBS even though my local news was on when I first drifted off, but I digress.)  Anyway, I think a large part of my burnout this semester has to do with the fact that I have to be on campus for classes Monday-Thursday, and then every other Friday we have our paralegal club meetings, so I feel like I have no time to just breathe and get things done at a reasonable time and pace.  Not having to be on campus next semester should help with that.

But, burnout or not, the fact is that there are tons of things I want to learn, and I am always fascinated to be introduced to new facets of the law.  To not take advantage of the opportunity to learn more—with no further strain on our household budget—seemed unthinkable.  So, I will officially graduate in December then take a short break—including our celebratory cruise—and then I will be back in school, probably before I even receive my actual degree.  Oh, and sometime in January I will also be sitting for the paralegal certification exam.  So, it will be quite some time before I can fully be done with the text books and homework.  Let’s hear it for nerd power.

Going Drama Free

 

I’ve mentioned that I’m not much of a fan of drama, right?  Some might say it’s me causing the problems, since I seem to run into it so often, but they’d be wrong.  I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve got a pretty long list of faults, but I guarantee you that causing drama is not one of them. 

Currently, it’s my paralegal club giving me grief.  We’ve got officers bickering, professors trying to take advantage of students, and basically just a whole lot of stress from something that is supposed to be fun.  And while I try to help people navigate through their hurt feelings and see the opposite sides of any given situation, I still find myself having to remind them that this is not high school and we are not children.  Personally, I think you really shouldn’t have to explain that to grown—and I mean fully grown, not like just-barely-21-grown—people; that’s something they should’ve learned for themselves or from their parents a long time ago. 

So, the school has a big annual function this Saturday, and we’ve finally hammered out all the details and I think the group is ready to make it a success.  But, I’ve got a schedule conflict and will be out of town with the PTK group, so I’m hoping for the best and leaving them to it.  On the upside, I think most of the drama that existed last year with traveling with PTK is now gone (though we still have to share a room), so maybe a day away will be just what the doctor ordered.

Making the Most—and Least—of the Weekend

 

 

“The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.”

                                                   ~Sydney J. Harris   

 

 

 

 

Image courtesy of Ohmega1982 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

Every once in a while, even when there’s stuff that you ought to be doing, I think it’s more beneficial to spend the day doing nothing.  You know, looking back over that sentence, I think maybe it should say, “especially when there’s stuff that you ought to be doing”.  Honestly, that’s precisely the time it’s most important to take a step back and regroup.

Lately, I am really beginning to feel the strain of always having something to do.  Deep down, I’m glad that I front-loaded my classes so that this final semester only requires six hours, but I am also really beginning to wish that I’d had an actual summer break.  A new job while carrying nine hours over summer semester (which followed a jam-packed spring semester of eighteen hours) really wore me down, and a couple of weeks between summer and fall just didn’t let me wind down much.  Add to that trying to launch the Paralegal Student Association, and also trying to figure a way to stay involved with PTK, and I am beginning to feel stretched far too thin. 

So, even though I’ve got a couple of chapters I need to read, an assignment that needs doing, and a bunch of PSA stuff that needs sorting out, those things didn’t get done today.  Instead, I slept in this morning, snoozed a little on the couch this afternoon, had cereal for lunch and a simple tuna and crackers for dinner, and worked my way through a whole bunch of programming piled up on the DVR. (I’m all caught up now with The Glades, Rizzoli and Isles, and Perception, and hope to finish up with Longmire and maybe one other show before I have to jump back on the treadmill Tuesday morning.) 

Not that I never take time for myself even when I should be doing other things, but then I’m usually overcome with guilt and end up staying up far too late to finish up the things that needed doing, thereby undoing any possible benefits of the relaxation time.  But not today.  Today was totally a mental health day, and I’ve got zero guilt.  I might even do it again tomorrow.

Back to School

 

Week one of the fall semester is in the books.  And none too soon, seeing as how I’m sitting here now barely able to keep my eyes open.  I just have to glance at my task list to know that I’ve been busy, and I’ve still got plenty of items left to occupy my time for a while yet.  But, this final day was a pretty good culmination of the rest of the week.

I think I have mentioned that we’re re-launching the paralegal club at our school.  It hasn’t been active for several years now, so we decided it’s time to do something about that.  We kicked off with a “mixer”, giving the students a chance to get know each other, mingle with the professors, and eat some free food.  What better way to spend a couple of hours on a Friday night? 

I have to say that I would never have thought getting a school club up and running could be such an ordeal, but it certainly has not been a walk in the park.  And who knew a smallish community college could have so much bureaucracy?  But we persevered, and the Paralegal Student Association officially got under way tonight. 

Not that everything went off without a hitch—does anything, ever?  In fact, I’ve always had a sneaking suspicion that one of the reasons schools encourage such organizations is so the students get some practice dealing with the frustrations of committees and red tape and things that just don’t go as planned, you know, part of a well-rounded education to prepare for the real world.  Yet another advantage of returning to school so late in life is that I’ve been dealing with all that real world nonsense for years.  You wouldn’t think that would be something to brag about, but the strangest things can come in handy sometimes. 

So, we had our launch party, and everyone seemed to have a pretty good time—good enough that they were willing to commit to coming back for a chapter meeting in a couple of weeks, so things are off to a pretty good start.  I think we can be proud of ourselves, knowing that this busy week was an overall success, and that we’re well-positioned to continue to succeed going forward.

Now, where’s the rest of that list?

 

Getting it Done

 

“I am definitely going to take a course on time management... just as soon as I can work it into my schedule.”  ~Louis E. Boone

This quote makes me laugh; I think it pretty much sums up the way we live our lives these days.  I worked my butt off for the last two semesters so that this final term of school I would have an easy schedule.  And I do—only six hours.  I do still have to be on campus four days a week—which really sucks, by the way—but it still feels like a pretty easy workload compared to the nine hours I just finished in summer school or the eighteen I packed in back in the spring.

But, of course, rather than trying to kick back and enjoy the relative ease of the schedule, I’m filling my time with other things.  Phi Theta Kappa always needs something, and now we’re trying to get the Paralegal Student Association (PSA( up and running.  Today and tomorrow we’ve got campus-wide back to school activities, so I took a long lunch and ran over to the campus to help support my clubs, then hurried back to work to finish up some actual work, then rushed back to campus for tonight’s class.  Then, a quick trip to the gym before heading home.  And I’ll do it all again tomorrow, with the added pressure of an important motion that has to be put on file before the day is over.

Wednesday I’ll take my normal lunch hour to drive over to the school and talk to a new group of students about the paralegal club and then Thursday I imagine I’ll have to work through lunch to make up some time.  Finally, Friday will roll around and then it will be time for the Back to School Mixer the PSA is sponsoring. 

Then, by the weekend, I figure I’ll have the first round of homework to churn out, just so I can drop into bed Sunday night to get ready to do it all again, only the details will change.  I’m not sure when life became so busy, but I’m not sure I entirely approve, even if most of the business is of my own making.

Heading off to bed now, while there are still a few minutes left in Monday. 

What’s New

 

“Start where you are.  Use what you have.  Do what you can.” ~ Arthur Ashe

Calley, the girl who’s been training me at my new job, worked her last day yesterday.  So, obviously, that means today my first day on the job on my own.  All in all, I think things went pretty well.  Sure, there are a lot of things I don’t know yet, and I’ll probably ask about a jillion questions before it’s all said and done, but that’s the way new things are, right?  And I think I might feel sort of new for a while.  It’s kind of weird, but now that Calley’s gone, it’s almost like everything is brand new all over again, just like it was a couple of months ago when I first walked into the office.  But it’s going to be fun learning it all.

Also, I think I might’ve mentioned before that one of my professors wanted me to help her get the school paralegal club up and running again.  Well, we’re finally getting that project under way.  I was elected president of the club, so it’s going to keep me pretty busy for a while, but I think it’s a worthwhile way to spend some time.  The officer group had our first meeting last night, and I think we got quite a few things ironed out in the general, big-picture way, plus we’ve started planning a back to school mixer, which will be a fun way to get to meet (hopefully) the new students who are just joining the program this year, plus give folks a chance to get to know better people they might’ve been sharing classes with for a while now.  “Mixer” sounds a little old-fashioned maybe, but I think it’s quaint and should be a fun way to begin our networking, and our new school year. 

So, in the grand scheme of things. even though the summer semester is winding down (just 2 exams to take online this weekend, and one to study for and take next Tuesday, and summer session is OVER!), it looks like I’m going to have plenty of things to keep me busy for quite a while.  Here’s to keeping busy.

What sorts of things are occupying your time these days?