Update!
I don't even know where to start... Just looked back at my post a month ago, and laughed at myself for not cherishing having time to breathe. Cause I don't anymore, y'see...
For the most part, everything is going well. Yesterday was a horrid day, but today's been much better. Grad school has been an amazing (mostly not in the good way) transition. I just keep stuffing information into my brain and hoping it sticks. Every week I have about 1000 pages of reading, between one and four papers, and sometimes a take-home quiz or IQ test administration and report thrown in. It's fucking insane. Got really discouraged because the first paper I got back was a 8/12.5 (and my friends were getting 10s and 11s, mostly - someone got a 6.5 and someone else a 7.5, so I didn't feel as awful as I could have), which kinda caused the emotional walls to break down (I cried in class - wheeeeee!), but I'm not the only one doing it. Apparently quite a few students have broken down crying mid-classes just dealing with the program-stress. Anyway, it caused a huge mountain of self-doubt... started wondering if I was just too stupid to be in a doctorate program, or just not diligent enough, which everyone pointed out was very silly to feel after receiving a poor grade on one small essay. Luckily, today my statistics quiz was returned, and I got a 91, so I'm feeling better. Note to self: stop staking self-esteem on grades.
Everything else, though, is great. Chris is has been amazingly supportive of me during this month-long adjustment period (and got me such a pretty diamond ring for my birthday!) - I really have to keep thanking him for being so damned good. I'm very lucky :) Really hoping things will work out for us after he graduates, and we can live together. I'm also making quite a few friends in the program - although with a program of 26, it's hard not to, I think. Also, my roommate and I adopted two adorable kitties from the humane society, who we've named Gypsy and Habibi, and they are definitely another source of joy... Habibi likes to climb up on our shoulders and perch there, a little like a parrot... he's kind of the type of cat who sleeps on your head at night. Also the type of cat who rips apart your favorite flip flops which you got in Hawaii... but I'll deal. And Gypsy... Gypsy is one of my favorite kitties ever. She's a little shy, but she has such a sweet temperament, and she's started greeting me when I walk into the apartment (Habibi always does... he's an attention whore like that).
Still really miss everyone in NYC... I feel really bad that I haven't gotten around to returning calls and such, but I'm still nailing down that routine, and searching for some free time. Please, please come and visit me if you get a chance!
For the most part, everything is going well. Yesterday was a horrid day, but today's been much better. Grad school has been an amazing (mostly not in the good way) transition. I just keep stuffing information into my brain and hoping it sticks. Every week I have about 1000 pages of reading, between one and four papers, and sometimes a take-home quiz or IQ test administration and report thrown in. It's fucking insane. Got really discouraged because the first paper I got back was a 8/12.5 (and my friends were getting 10s and 11s, mostly - someone got a 6.5 and someone else a 7.5, so I didn't feel as awful as I could have), which kinda caused the emotional walls to break down (I cried in class - wheeeeee!), but I'm not the only one doing it. Apparently quite a few students have broken down crying mid-classes just dealing with the program-stress. Anyway, it caused a huge mountain of self-doubt... started wondering if I was just too stupid to be in a doctorate program, or just not diligent enough, which everyone pointed out was very silly to feel after receiving a poor grade on one small essay. Luckily, today my statistics quiz was returned, and I got a 91, so I'm feeling better. Note to self: stop staking self-esteem on grades.
Everything else, though, is great. Chris is has been amazingly supportive of me during this month-long adjustment period (and got me such a pretty diamond ring for my birthday!) - I really have to keep thanking him for being so damned good. I'm very lucky :) Really hoping things will work out for us after he graduates, and we can live together. I'm also making quite a few friends in the program - although with a program of 26, it's hard not to, I think. Also, my roommate and I adopted two adorable kitties from the humane society, who we've named Gypsy and Habibi, and they are definitely another source of joy... Habibi likes to climb up on our shoulders and perch there, a little like a parrot... he's kind of the type of cat who sleeps on your head at night. Also the type of cat who rips apart your favorite flip flops which you got in Hawaii... but I'll deal. And Gypsy... Gypsy is one of my favorite kitties ever. She's a little shy, but she has such a sweet temperament, and she's started greeting me when I walk into the apartment (Habibi always does... he's an attention whore like that).
Still really miss everyone in NYC... I feel really bad that I haven't gotten around to returning calls and such, but I'm still nailing down that routine, and searching for some free time. Please, please come and visit me if you get a chance!