Tomorrow = Big Day

Tomorrow marks a pivotal day in my graduate career for two reasons:

1) I am teaching college seniors for a full class period.

2) I am turning in my thesis proposal to be reviewed by the graduate committee next week.

I am stoked, tired, anxious, elated, and relieved all at once, and I know I will be even more so come tomorrow evening. Despite the fact that I've been working towards completing these two tasks for almost three years now, I didn't think I would ever get here. And now, well, I'm here (almost).

There are still quite a few things to do before the end of this quarter:

1) read two novels for my fairy tales class
2) write my research paper on a fairy tale-related topic
3) finish commenting on student work for my internship
4) lead the class presentations on the last day of class
5) write my paper about my internship experience
6) catch up on my posts on the internship message board

But all those things are small potatoes compared to what's coming tomorrow. I can and will handle them all. I might even do it successfully.

Blood, Sweat, and Tears

The winter quarter is officially over for me. After hours upon hours of work, everything is done, and I am a somewhat free woman. I am so relieved. I am so tired. I feel like I could sleep (and cry) for days.

These last few weeks have been really hard. I've started several blog entries, wanting to put my thoughts into words, but something stops me or pulls me away every time. In some ways, I have been more productive than I have been in a long time. In other ways, I have been just simply overwhelmed. It's definitely been a mixed bag.

But I am officially on spring break! My plans for spring break are to work (of course), relax, and just enjoy the small amount of freedom I will have. Next quarter I am going to finally be submitting my thesis proposal to the graduate committee, which means that I will finally start writing the damn thing. I'm also going to do my internship; I will be something similar to a teaching assistant in a class called Advanced Poetry Writing.

Despite how hard this quarter was, it was really rewarding. I truly kicked ass in my creative writing class. I was the old me again: I really gave it my all in true overachiever fashion. I suppose I was successful in my thesis planning class, although I didn't have the proposal finished by the end of the class. Whatever - I am still really proud of myself.

For the first time, I can finally see myself graduating with an actual Master's degree! I will soon be filing my grad check. Only two more quarters to go! I can't believe it. By the end of 2008, I will have my Master's degree, barring a disaster.

www.mylifeisridiculouslyboring.com

I have been so busy lately with what most people would probably consider uninteresting things, so I haven't really been writing about the current goings-on in my life. Here it is, in list form.

- Thesis proposal. I'm hoping to have a good enough version of it to send up to the graduate committee by the end of the quarter. If not, the beginning of next quarter it is!

- Creative writing. I've been hard at work critiquing my classmates' work and revising my own. Tomorrow the class will be workshopping a sequence of poems I put together, and I'm a little nervous.

- Mandy's bridal shower. It's coming together, but I can't reveal any more than that right now. The RSVPs are coming in though!

- Beauty. Mandy and I got pedicures today. We also got our eyebrows threaded. It was definitely an interesting experience that only took a matter of minutes. I would definitely do it again with someone who doesn't leave all my eyebrow hairlets all over my face like this lady did. Thanks, lady.

- Lack of beauty. Still struggling with the acne issue, though it's not nearly as bad as it was.

- TV. Currently, I'm watching (when I can) Firefly, the first season of Beverly Hills, 90210, and the fourth season of One Tree Hill. Don't hate on my TV show tastes; I pride myself on being well-rounded!

- Weight. Apparently, I've lost 5 pounds in the past month or so.

- Photography. I haven't gotten out to take photos in quite awhile, but I have been doing a bit of editing. Check out my flickr site if you're interested.

- Work. I have actually been busy at work. The days have been flying by and have made my professional life much more tolerable.

While some would probably find my life boring, I actually don't. I just really lack the skills to make it sound exciting, I guess. Well, whatever - there it is: my life right now.

Uncentered

I'm exhausted.

Around this time every quarter, I am feeling completely depleted. It's the end of week 6, so I only have 4 more weeks of class left (not including finals week). My class is not all that demanding, and I have enjoyed it so far. The class focuses on Eco-Poetics, which basically means we're studying different types of nature poems. My professor even had us each write a nature poem. I am not good at writing poetry on command - I usually wait until I'm inspired. But here's what I wrote:


The Center of the Tree

The tree stands solidly,
almost alone,
its center carved out and empty.
No one knows
about this hollow place.

The tree tells a story
about a door
to a garden
of forgotten mythos.

The life beyond this door
once sparkled,
untainted and unrequited.

And fires and wars and genocide
swept across the land.
And the center became
uncentered.
Time trickled on,
resilient.


So there it is, my poem-on-command. I'm not sure how to feel about it. I haven't had enough time to make up my mind. I don't think it's total crap, but I also am not sure exactly what I was trying to say. I have glimmers, but for the most part I just pounded it out.

Soon I'm going to have to begin my final paper, which always takes a lot out of me. I'm going to be writing on Ted Hughes' Crow, which is one of my favorite collections of poetry ever. I always jump at the chance to write on a new topic or literary work instead of trying to revise an old paper.

Also, I started rereading the series on which I'm writing my thesis, which is Neil Gaiman's The Sandman. I finished the first book and made a ton of notes in the process. Now I'm on the second book. I plan to have all 11 of them finished before school starts up again in January, because I'm going to take Thesis Planning.

I truly love being a student, but I am really burned out at this point. However, I'm pressing on because I am so close to being done. Wish me luck.