Grad School...What was I thinking!?

I promise I'm still alive! And I promise that I haven't quit blogging! I just started grad school (today is our 1 month anniversary) on top of teaching and in the process lost my free time. Goodbye television. So long blogging. Au Revoir  social life. So much has happened over the last month that I need to catch my blog up on (like Beebs & Bdo's engagement party, the last family gathering at my Grandparents house, and much, much more!) so I cannot wait until I have the time and energy to blog on a more regular basis! The good news is that this is our last week of school, and the only thing I have on my plate this summer is grad school. Now my Tuesdays and Thursdays won't seem so long! 


So, in case you are wondering...I thought I take a moment to share my thoughts from the first month of grad school.


1. Grad school is HARD. Try spending countless hours doing readings that are a bazillion pages long and use words like "positioning" and "Discourse" and "hegemony" (let's just say, I followed my partner in crime, Ash, in downloading the Webster's Dictionary app on my iphone!). 

2. Grad school is EXHAUSTING. Try waking up at 5:30,  spending 7 hours teaching and then going straight to grad school until 7:30 at night. You would be tired too!


3. Grad school is INTIMIDATING. Try speaking in front of 60 other students on topics like race, culture, white privilege, and stereotypes. Try explaining the theory of positioning and discussing it with your professor who helped write the book on positioning! S-C-A-R-Y!


But, most importantly...


4. Grad school is WORTH IT.  I complain about it a lot. I dread writing the papers and procrastinate like it's my job. I cry over it at least once a week because it is completely overwhelming to think about doing this for the next 2 years. But, I am learning so much! And my thoughts about a lot of important issues in society and in the schools are changing, and I am being pushed to be a better teacher. I feel like I already am a better teacher just through some of the things that I am learning about myself and through developing my critical consciousness. Anything that I can do to be a better teacher is worth the headaches, late nights, tears, loss of free time, etc. Because I have 23 incredibly impressionable and very moldable nine-year olds at my hands everyday, and I want every second to count! 


And, to be quite honest...I can't complain too much. At least I have time tonight for a nice game of Trains with my two favorite boys...the hubby and the brother!