Purple Line
Tonight was my first evening of grad school for this semester, which seems incredibly late to me. Since I began grad school last August, this image of watching for the train (or on my unlucky days getting on the platform just in time to watch it go by) has become such a common sight for me. Each time I step on it, I think of it as one ride closer to achieving a huge life goal.
When I began grad school I knew it was going to challenge me academically. What it didn't realize is how much it would also challenge me physically, mentally, and emotionally. I remember getting home from my first evening of class in August (a theory/philosophy class) doubting my ability to even be able to sufficiently understand, let alone complete the class work. I wish I had one tenth the calmness of Dane who told me to take it one day at a time. Throughout the semester I was reading a book of theory each week and writing papers all while getting up bright and early every morning to go teach my kiddos about art. There were several moments where the feeling of being overwhelmed/not having a social life started to take over. Each time Dane would remind me to take it one day at a time. By the end of the semester, I realized that a) I was, in fact, smart enough to go to grad school and b) I could do wayyyy more than I gave myself credit for.
When I attended my first class of the semester tonight I started to feel those overwhelming feelings start to take ahold again when I only could comprehend about 45% of the article the professor handed out. The only difference was this time there was a little voice in the back of my head that said, "One day at a time. You've got this."
To me that is a wonderful thought to end the first month of 2012 with and one that I feel will be repeated many times throughout the year.
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