Coming Up For Air

I will be the first to acknowledge that I’ve been relatively absent from tumblr for the past few weeks. With good reason. While I knew coming into this quarter that I was going to be in for a struggle, it’s been every bit the struggle I expected—and sometimes more. 

I am taking three classes this quarter, and while that may not seem like much to some, it certainly is a good deal of work. I am taking Multivariate Quantitative Statistics, Advanced Industrial Psychology, and Occupational Health Psychology. On a “normal” week, I have anywhere from 8 – 12 research articles and 4-5 book chapters to read, as well as a statistics lab to complete. Aside from that, I’m supposed to be working 5 – 10 hours as a research assistant, though my advisors are being kind this quarter since they know how swamped everyone in my cohort is. Oh, and I’m also supposed to be narrowing down a thesis topic! I had my first Quant midterm last Friday, and on the same day I had to give a 90 minute presentation in my I Psych class. I spent most of the week running on caffeine and adrenaline. Grad school has officially given me the ability to drink coffee. Thankfully, both the midterm and the presentation went well. 

And now I’ll stop crying about how busy I am.

Is it difficult? Yes. Time-consuming? Yes. But I’m getting through it. And what helps is having an amazing support system within my cohort here. I’m not the only one going through this, and I have to remember that. And my friends back home ground me. At the end of the day, I know how incredibly lucky I am. 

New Haircut!

To reward myself for an incredibly stressful week (which you’ll hear about later), I went and got my hair cut today! I went in with a vague idea of what I wanted…and my hairstylist was awesome at working with me and figuring out what would work best. 

So…here’s what I looked like before: 

I knew I needed a hair cut when I was home for winter break and a friend said to me, “Are you growing your hair out again?” and I honestly didn’t have an answer. I hadn’t even thought about getting my hair done during my first quarter. Oh dear!

And this is what I looked like afterwards!

I love it! (So if there are any haters out there…I don’t want to hear it!) It’s a bit shorter than I usually wear my hair, but I feel great about it, and I honestly think it even makes my face look a little smaller. (Not that that was something I was actually worried about…but still!)

Nothing like a little day of self-care! 

My Long Weekend

Ah, I thought four day weekends were a thing of the past. Sadly, mine’s being consumed with reading and studying, but still. Not having to go to class is quite nice. (I’m looking on the bright side here!)

Though I knew I was in for a long weekend, I still headed out to happy hour on Friday evening, mainly because we were celebrating a birthday in the program. What ensued was an incredibly strange/awkward/entertaining evening. We ended up at at incredibly odd club that was trying way too hard—complete with smoke machines, lasers, “house” music, and dancing girls (as in, girls employed by the club to dance on stages). Strange. And not my cup of tea. But entertaining nonetheless.

Another event worth mentioning…a friend of mine from the program asked me to train for a half marathon with her. I laughed at first, mainly because I wasn’t expecting the question at all, but after thinking about it for a good 24 hours afterward, I told her I’d definitely be interested. I’ve actually thought about doing this before, but never found the motivation/time/energy to actually do it. We might do a 5k first and train over the summer…but either way, I’m starting to get really excited thinking about this! 

Now that I’ve given you all a random update of my life, I think I’ll get some shut eye. 🙂 

Smiles.

You know what’s awesome?

Being told by two different individuals, at the same party, but completely independent of one another, that they’ve noticed how much weight you’ve lost since August. 

The main reason this makes me feel so good is that I was a complete glutton while home for the holidays (who wasn’t, though, honestly?) and thought I’d completely fallen off the wagon. Apparently not! 

Edit: Since I’m such a skeptic, I actually took 30 seconds to hop on a scale at the gym yesterday and realized that I’m back down to my “high school, running cross-country/track weight.” Hells yes.

Do Work, Son.

Forgive me for the title of this post. 

Remember all that work I was complaining/whining/crying about? Well, I’ve still been struggling to get it done. Every day, I tell myself: “Okay, today’s the day! You’re going to dig yourself out of that hole you’ve made for yourself!” And here I am again, on tumblr. 

I have my first quant midterm next Friday. And on that same day, I get to give a 90 minute presentation in my Industrial Psychology class. Oh, but no worries. It’s actually only a 30-40 minute presentation. The rest of it is leading class discussion. 

*deep breaths*

Not to mention I signed myself up to give another presentation (albeit, a much shorter/less involved one) in my OHP class the following Monday. 

*deep breaths*

But you know what? I am going to feel amazing after January 24th. Until I have to start working on my papers. But let’s not think about that right now. 

Also, I currently have a draft of a post saved that I’m up in the air about publishing…it might be a bit too “gah, I’m a graduate student, afkaffjakkfj;afka…” melodramatic. Or maybe it’s just me being real. 

…And here’s where I quit whining and get back to the books and figuring out my life. 

This is How I Relax…

A bubble bath sounds nice. But I’ve never been good at taking baths. 

So what do I grab for reading material? 

My Industrial Psychology reading assignments.

This is my life. And somehow, I’ve come to accept it. 

Week One

My first week of classes this quarter is over. Whew. 

I still haven’t completely adjusted to being back. I’m finding that I’m more homesick now than I was when I first arrived in Portland back in August. I’m sure that has something to do with the fact that I knew I’d be home for Christmas the last time I left…when this time around I’m honestly not sure when I’ll be back in the Mitten. 

As far as classes go this time around…I am about to have my ass kicked. I only have class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays this quarter, but that includes my multivariate quant. class and two (yes, two) four hour classes. I can’t even begin to comprehend the amount of reading I need to do in the next 48 hours (because of course, I barely did any of it throughout the week). For just one class, I have about 97 pages of research articles to read, and 5 book chapters. Bahhhhh.

And so of course, what am I doing? Sitting here updating my tumblr, and clearly not reading. Dumb. 

2010 in a Nutshell

2010 was easily one of the most eventful years of my life, filled with incredible highs, and incredible lows. Here’s just some of the things the past year included:

-Finishing the graduate school application process.

-Flying for the first time ever – and twice in one month!

-Visiting grad schools.

-My final semester as a Resident Assistant, and as an undergrad at Central Michigan University.

-Being accepted (and rejected) from graduate programs.

-Choosing to leave Michigan, and my friends, and my family for graduate school. 

-Mutually ending a three and a half year relationship, and dealing with the heartbreak. 

-Giving a Last Lecture in front of about 200 fellow staff members. 

-Graduating with my Bachelor’s Degree. (Including sitting outside in hail and freezing temperatures with my best friend and running out of the ceremony early.) 

-Coordinating Leadership Camp, which included leading an incredible staff of 20+ individuals, spending 2.5 weeks completely immersed in the Social Change Model, and watching the same 20+ individuals completely transform about 300 high school seniors.

-Letting myself start to heal.

-Saying goodbye to everything and everyone I knew. 

-Moving 2,400 miles away.

-Starting graduate school.

-Living on my own (as in, no roommates, in my own apartment) for the first time. 

-Meeting an amazing group of people who have quickly become dear friends.

-Turning 22. 

-Finishing my very first quarter of graduate school. 

-Returning home to visit for the first time since moving, and realizing how much things have changed (and how some things never will) since I left.  

Winter Break

It’s amazing how much can happen in 2 and a half weeks. And how quickly they can go by! Here’s a quick rundown/recap of my adventures in Michigan: 

I spent the first four days or so just vegging on my father’s couch, which was much, much needed. The first non-family member I saw while being at home was my ex-boyfriend, who I met for lunch a few days after getting back home. Things were a bit weird obviously, but it was definitely nice catching up. I spent a wonderful three days with my two best friends, in which we traipsed all over the state during our adventures. I had massive amounts of restaurant food while catching up with people I hadn’t seen in far too long. I spent a lot of time with my family, while still feeling like I wasn’t spending enough time with them. 

Christmas was…interesting. Santa brought me a concussion this year. I managed to pass out during Midnight Mass with my family. In passing out, I hit the back of my head on the wooden pew, and then on the floor. Which led to me spending Christmas morning in the ER with a concussion. No lasting damage, thankfully. It obviously could have been a lot worse.

My last week in Michigan was by far the busiest…since I was trying to fit in seeing anyone and everyone while still seeing my family. I think I managed to be successful (for the most part). 

New Year’s Eve was low-key, spent with friends watching the Red Wings, skyping with a friend that was stuck elsewhere, and watching parts of I’m Still Here (If you haven’t seen it…don’t bother. Yikes.) and old South Park episodes. Honestly, I didn’t think I was going to make it to midnight, I was so tired. 

On New Year’s Day, I said goodbye to my friends, had lunch with part of my family, and spent the evening flying back to Portland. I walked into my apartment at 12:30am, and less than twelve hours later, woke up and moved into a different apartment. Talk about a tiring weekend!

I commented more than once that it seemed as though my last few days in Michigan during this past visit eerily mirrored my last days at home in August. I saw the same people, in the same order, in nearly the same places for the last three or four days. And had some very similar conversations. Strange. And I must admit, I think I’m more homesick now than I was in the first four months I lived here. 

Attention, Tumblr-verse:

I’m alive. And well. (Mostly). And back from vacation. And back to the grind.

Meaning I will be updating you all on my adventures soon. I moved into a new apartment yesterday, so I’m sitting in a mess of boxes right now.

Maybe when my life is back together, I’ll post a few little run downs of my time in the Mitten State.