Business
I really should get better at updating this thing. I have had a lot of important stuff happen lately that I should say something about, if not because there are people who read my journal who would like to know then at least because I know from experience that getting it down on paper will help me crystallize my ideas and plans a bit more. The year plan for workouts is still top-secret, though.
Dear Livejournal:
As I recall, the last time I mentioned anything academic was to briefly tell you how horrible it felt to drop what I had hoped would be my flagship class last semester. What I neglected to tell you, perhaps because even to summarize it felt rather painful, was that subsequent to that failure I ended up dropping the rest of my classes as well. Not only was the financial backlash particularly vicious (I spent $1524 on those classes, and if I hadn't been so stubborn about it I could have gotten at least half of it back), but my pride was even more damaged than it was from the first failure. I suppose it was inevitable that, after trying to focus entirely on that Prose Composition class that I wasn't prepared for, I didn't have enough time to prepare for my other classes, though.
It has been about a month, I think, since I dropped the classes. Maybe a month and a half? It doesn't matter, really. On the one hand, the freedom has been nice -- I don't know how well I would have managed the past two trips to St. John's if I'd been taking things at the same time -- but on the other, the down time hasn't really made me feel any more capable of doing what I failed to do before. When left to my own devices, I have done what I have always done: I've made plans and not come even halfway to their completion, and I've allowed my distractions to take over my life. That latter condition, at the very least, is about to change, though - in just 10 days. But I'm getting ahead of myself a bit... back to academics for a second.
I had a revelation while in the City Dock bathroom on Croquet weekend about this whole Classics PhD thing I'd been after, the sort that it would have been nice to have earlier on but which my resignation on account of all my stubbornness-catalyzed crises allowed to arise. It was: I don't want a Classics PhD! At least, not yet. What I want, what I've been trying to get to in the past two years, is a chance to study Latin and Greek at a higher level - Latin more than Greek, even. So the initial preparation should not be equal in both languages after all, which is quite a relief. I have a plan of attack, based on the courses available next semester, which will prepare me for Latin-emphasis Master's programs and at the same time contain the brunt of the work on German that I will require for the proficiency exam. Of course, it will still be quite expensive - my Tuition Reimbursement doesn't begin until the spring semester, and I'm not going to wait that long to continue. But I think it will be more manageable, and I think it will work.
The other thing? I'm moving into a 1-bedroom apartment. My brother will probably be with me for the summer, but after that I'll be on my own, I think. It'll be fairly expensive, but with no car it should be in my budget. And I'll get to make absolutely certain I eat right! Here's hoping that doesn't kill the rest of my budget, since I've got things to save for and classes to pay for -- we'll see, though.
P.S. I feel I should mention to fellow Johnnies and ex-Johnnies that the St. Matthew Passion is on Youtube.