First Day Jitters

Today was the first day of the new semester for my Master's program. I was both excited and scared to begin my second semester. Unlike how most of my classmates feel, the winter break was long enough for me. I didn't have the desire to spend one more day in my apartment being unproductive. Granted, I was working on my resume and cover letter because you know I need a job right. (If you know anyone hiring, let me know!!!!) But other than that, I spent too much time thinking about things that I can't change. And since pondering on life's little mysteries won't help me get ahead in my program, I was happy to return to my passion.

During my train ride to campus this morning, I felt like a seasoned vet, just pass me the 2nd quarter ending shot and swoooosh!! Sorry, that wasn't the best basketball analogy but you get the point. I had been through one semester of graduate school so I felt prepared to close out my first year strong.

One of the main things I learned was NOT to buy all my books before the semester began. Instead I make sure to do the following before heading to Amazon:

1. Sit in at least one class to decide whether or not I was even going to stay enrolled. Last year I bought all my books before school started but ended up switching one of my classes before the second week. I was stuck with books totaling $100 to return.

2. Read over the syllabus to see how much the "required" book in question is going to actually be used. Last semester I spent almost $500 on books I didn't even really use. Imagine how much I fumed by the end of the semester. I WAS HOT!!! I'm happy to report I spent a little over $200 this year. *pats self on the back*

I also learned that I don't necessarily need to do ALL of the readings for each class. It took several weeks last semester last year for me to figure this out. Of course at ** thousand dollars a year, I want to get as much out of my program as possible but there is no way I'm going to spend all of my free time reading material that doesn't pertain to a paper I'm working on or a subject I'm interested in.

Welp, one week down, fourteen to go. I'm praying that I don't repeat mistakes made last semester. So far, so good.