It's the end of the year as we know it!

School's out! Ok, not really. I do still have a few classes to wrap up. Most importantly,  I'm done with all of my final projects.  I have free time once again.
Now what on earth do I do with it?

I started this blog in the middle of finals while looking for a way to procrastinate. (Bright, yes) I started looking for Jewish blogs and started finding everybody. I plan to keep reading and I'm hoping to keep this going now that I'm just about done with my spring semester.
Here are seven things I've learned from my first year of grad school. 

1. I started out thinking: I'm all grown up! I'm an adult now. Yep, totally an adult.
Mom, hey Mom, watch me be all grown up! Abba, look at what a big girl I am.
Mom?
Dad?
IMMA?! ABBA?!
I'm not that far away, right? Can I still come home?  
Stuff I've learned: The older I get and the more I learn, the more my parents seem to already know.
(I would NOT have said this as an undergrad.)

2. I realized how much time I have. More exactly, I realized how much time I don't have and how much time I waste. Time I spend on blogs? This is valuable. Really, I'm learning so much and I'm just getting to know everyone. Can't I read one more post? Please? I read really fast...After I write that essay? Oh, ok then.
I've finally learned time management skills, and how (not) to procrastinate. I've turned into a consistent "A" student for the first time since second grade.
Stuff I've learned: Doing things at the last minute means that I leave important stuff out by mistake. Like a bibliography. ;)

3. I started out trying to end up in bed at midnight every night. Hah!
Two am means a good night's sleep. Over this past year, I've started waking up for Shacharit every single morning (except that one day when I accidentally set my alarm for 7:30 PM. Oops).  Except for Shabbat when I can't set an alarm clock and end up waking up in time for: Rabbi's speech.
Stuff I've learned: If you're the only girl consistently up for shacharit, then you make a lot of friends at breakfast.
More Stuff I've learned: I know I'm an adult when I want an afternoon nap. ;)

4. I started out trying to do everything this year.
Nope. I'm a grad student and I work part time. I hope my friends will still be there come summer and I'm available to hang out again.
Stuff I've learned: Shabbat is when I get to hang out and talk with friends.
More stuff I've learned: Saturday nights are for...sleeping!

5. I started out trying to avoid boys and shidduchim this year. Not that I'm not interested, just didn't want the hassle when I was trying to figure out grad school. I didn't renew my SYAS subscription (subject of another post). I didn't ask my friends to set me up. I wasn't seeing anybody. Yeah. I did wind up seeing somebody and it didn't work out.
Stuff I've learned: If a boy is interested, he really will ask you out.
More stuff I've learned: If I spend two hours on the phone talking with boy every night, I will be in bed at 5 am....and up at 7:30 am. Workload is no joke.
Still more stuff I've learned: If a person who keeps shomer negiah goes out with somebody who doesn't keep shomer negiah - expect lots of frustration from both ends.

6. I started out thinking of myself as an independent person.
My friends influence me more than I like to think possible. It's not just that I'm judged by the people with whom I surround myself, it's also that I pick up quirks from them as well.
Example? As an undergrad, I rented a house with three other girls. All of them struggle with depression, one copes with bipolar and another has ADD. I wound up seeing a shrink and getting diagnosed with depression co-morbid with anxiety. Which I don't have.
This disappeared once I limited with most of them. I'm doing well now, no meds, managing all my own stuff (which I was doing anyway) and am, in general, much healthier.
Stuff I've learned: Insanity really is contagious! So are smiles. And pillow fights.

7. I started out thinking that a grad school degree guarantees me a job.
This was the hardest one to realize.  As you may have guessed, I'm currently a bit nervous about my job prospects when I graduate. Not only that, but in today's economy, the only thing a degree guarantees is thousand-dollar wallpaper. Do your research before you pick your major (and grad school!)
Stuff I've learned: Kavannah in davening!  (Dear Gd, please get me a good job...)

To leave on a high note, here are some funny things I overheard in class:
"When in high school, if I'd put half the work into my studies as I did into avoiding the school dress code, I would have been an honors student!"

"Now that it's vacation, I'm sure that many of you are tired and want to catch up on sex."
(I'm sure the professor meant to say "sleep")

"I order you to think inquisitively!"


Night All,

 Sparrow