Posted on by bookreviews628

Grad School Update #2

Hello everyone! Sorry I have been MIA for a bit now. I just got back from an awesome weekend in NYC. I got to see Freestyle Love Supreme on Broadway. To make things even more exciting, I got to see Lin-Manuel Miranda, Chris Jackson, and Wayne Brady perform live together! Yes, I screamed very loudly.

I thought I would give some general life updates. I have been way too behind on my leisure reading, but I am working on it. Right now, I’ve been occupying my time with shorter novels I have found online. For all of you frugal book lovers, I found an amazing site called BookBub (not sponsored, I swear). It’s free to sign up. You select your favorite book genres and you get deals on e-books every day. I highly recommend you check it out. Typically, I am not an e-book person but I am always down for a good deal.

Anyway, grad school has been challenging in the most enjoyable way. I have certainly stumbled, but it’s been all a part of the learning process. I’m pretty darn busy outside of my classes. I also work as a teaching assistant for two College Composition I classes and I tutor at the Writing Center. Nothing crazy has happened so far. I really enjoy meeting a wide variety of students and learning about better ways to teach people. I am due to teach a course by myself at some point in the near future. It’s a scary thought, I’m not going to lie. I am thankful, though, that I have plenty of back-up to help if something were to arise. I had to take classes about how to handle troubled students or deal with traumatic student writing. It is difficult to anticipate what might happen and who might be in your class. I do think that I am more well-prepared than I feel I am. Getting to know the students and watching them thrive is so gratifying. I want to show people my passions. Hopefully, I can teach them to appreciate writing if nothing else.

As for my classes, I wanted to share with you what I have currently read. In no particular order, I have studied: Shakespeare’s As You Like It, John Lyly’s Galatea, Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II, and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Sprinkled amongst those, I have read some fascinating journal articles. Normally, I hated reading the outside material in undergrad but these have been incredibly interesting. I love being able to take my time to study the things I really care about. At the end of my two years, I have to put together a portfolio of my work. I’m dreading it while also being excited. I want to show off all of the skills I have acquired. I also want to talk about things I want to talk about and not things I am required to talk about. That’s the best part about grad school; being in a position to explore the possibilities and share your thoughts with others.

I hope you all enjoy this post. I am going to try to do something for Halloween but I currently don’t have any ideas. If anyone else is struggling with school, just know that you are doing the best you can and you should be proud of yourself.

Posted on by bookreviews628

Life Update: Grad School and Other Adventures in Academia

Hi everyone! I appreciate you all continuing to check out my blog, even when it gets a bit stagnant. Almost four hundred of you are willing to read my nonsense and I cannot thank you enough. I love checking out your stuff as well. Now, let’s get to the meat of this post: grad school.

I mentioned in previous post that I would be starting soon and I’m now on week three. Grad school presents its own set of challengers that I wasn’t entirely anticipating. I will say I do enjoy the company of my fellow grad students and the professors who are more understanding than they were in undergrad. Granted, I am just getting to know this whole new set of faculty. It is still nice having even less classes and having even more time to dedicate to my field of study. I’m also finding enjoyment in being a TA. My one class is very introverted and the other class is very extroverted. The professor I am working with has been nothing but understanding and given me many opportunities to do some teaching of my own. It has been a solid start to the semester.

As for the struggles of grad school, at the moment they are predominantly internal. Impostor Syndrome has been the hot topic when it comes to college. I’m sure many of you have felt that way too. It’s hard feeling like you’ve somehow cheated your way into the system when, in reality, you’ve worked incredibly hard to get to where you are at. It always feels like you’re one step behind everyone else, even the other people who are just as new as you. The cure to that is continuing to work hard and knowing that you’re doing your absolute best. Academia is not the most ideal career field to pursue. Then again, every professional field has its own challenges. I’ve learned to accept that it will be hard, but it will be satisfying and it will make me happy as opposed to draining me. Yeah, I’ll definitely cry but I’ll get over it and carry on.

Thanks if you have made it this far in the post. Obviously, not everyone cares for this and that is totally fine. You’re not obligated to read my non-review blogs. I should be coming at you with more book reviews soon. Hope you all have a good day.