Apartment living lessons learned

Over the weekend I was talking with a 2nd year grad student from the program I just graduated from about living in an apartment. It was fun mutually complaining about space and sharing the little bit of space you might get with a room mate. Which lead to the I think I need my own space to really be successful in grad school. I am the biggest advocate for having your own space where you can move about as you wish.
Here is my list of why you should live alone while in grad school:
You can live acording to some mythical clock so you can finish projects
You can eat when, what, and where ever you want
You can wear pjs all day even if you aren't sick
You can alternate between writing, having a dance party, and back to writing in 15 mins
No one wants to hear you talking in your sleep about Chickering's 7 Vectors
You don't have to explain your obsession with postit notes
You can leave books all over the floor
You only have your self to blame when you procrastinated

Now here is a tip on where and what to look for in an apartment close to campus:
Be close but not too close - any where that has more students then non students gets a little out of hand.
If you walk up to the leasing office and there are beer bottles in the planters, walk away.
Never move to a unit that has any major destractors within ear or eye shot (pool, tennis court, volleyball, community laundry, main entry gates, major streets)
Check out the community at random hours of the day just to get a feel for it.
Make sure a grocery store (or in my case a Target) is within walking distance.
Meet people who live there
Walk around after a tour, you see different things when you are on your own.


I have horror stories of apartment living and shopping. I have had crazy neighbors. But through it all I learned and lived. Good luck!

After a crazy semester... I am done!

Way too much went on this semester. I am exhausted. I passed Comps, finished my eportfolio, had Rites of Passage, and Graduated! I can't believe it is over just like that.

At the beginning of May I never thought I would make it this far and now it is over and gone! Wow! It goes by so fast!

Hopefully I can continue this blog as I move into job searching so I can document my transitional experiences!

Comps & other scary sounding things

So I haven't blogged during this experience as much as I wanted to. But I think I might need it now. I am taking my Master's Comprehensive exam in 14 weeks. All the course work, reading, memorizing, and notetaking leads up to that moment. A little dramatic, but true!

I am thinking about how to best prepare myself.

I wrote a note during our first class meeting this last week that said "Organize notes and readings by themes - Like student subpopulation, student development theory, research methods, and courses - Then cross code with post-its."

This made sense then but now as I sit here with my notes, 8 colors of post-its, and 4 binders, I am thinking I took this too far!

My first class meeting was our seminar course (ie prepare & practice for comps). The next course is our fieldwork course. Our fieldwork profs, sense the tension in the room, asked what was up with us. We all went around sharing how we felt overwhelmed and underprepared for Comps. They went on to tell us that we know the material. We just need to strengthen our connections. So I draw from my Psych undergrad days that it is like practicing anything. The more you do it the easier it is. Much like muscle memory, I need to get back to finding & building connections.

Maybe these notebooks aren't the craziest idea. I probably should just dial back the complexity. I will let you know how it goes!

My Comps study group has committed our Saturdays to each other to work together refreshing and I think we will need to delve back into using Google Docs to collaborate.

This post by @KevinRGuidry is a great example of the collaborative benefits of Google Docs (http://mistakengoal.com/blog/2010/07/26/quals-and-google-docs/)

Conferencing!

So next week I am heading to a regional conference (NASPAWestern Regional Conference) in Portland, OR.

I am super excited! I loved NASPA Western Reg in Long Beach in 2008, so I am thinking this is going to be great! Plus I need a break! Just over the midterm hurdle (although I didn't have any!) and looking to something refreshing!

I just checked the weather and it is going to rain the whole time! Shocking for Portland, I know!

So I have been researching what to wear and how to pack it all! Thank goodness for the ladies at academichic (http://www.academichic.com/)! They have so many great posts and two espeicallly about conference wear!
http://www.academichic.com/2009/03/19/academichic-travels-a-conference-with-e/
http://www.academichic.com/2009/04/02/the-spread/

Enjoy and pack light!

Stress is a state of mind...

My eye was twitching for 3 weeks straight. Probably due to all the things I have been trying to juggle at the same time. Fortunately some of the most stressful things have been working themselves out. We just finished a big event for one of my class projects. It was great to help the community and work with my cohort but I am glad that the day is over and now all we have to do is write about it.
I have found that stress and grad school seem to go hand in hand. Which is exciting (insert sarcasm)! So now I stress about work, school, papers, family, friends, group work, money, coworkers, pretty much anything! To say I am a worry wort is an understatement! I feel it is in my bones to worry! After all I am an older sister who at a young age developed a concern for others as well as an fear that I missed out on something!
So in the spirit of missing things I am have recently been feeling super nostalgic and missing the undergrad experience. Maybe it is because I felt like that was a challenging time but in reflection it was an exciting time. Grad school is exciting and challenging. I am having a great time getting to know my class mates.

So now I resolve to enjoy grad school.
To be over involved. To not get bothered by the stress. To be in the moment, enjoying it.
Because you are only in grad school once!

Not from a cookie cutter

Today I helped a some fellow Student Affairs graduate students by letting them interview me about leadership. I remembered being in their shoes last year... I can't believe it has only been a year since I started grad school. It seems like a lifetime ago and yesterday all at once. I had so many reflections all at once.
They asked about my philosophy of higher education, which is that no one should feel education is not an option and no one route is right. My path to where I am, I feel, was predestined. Every experience feels purposeful and has led me to where I am.
They also asked what do I hope to see in higher education in the next 5 years. I said that I hope the system as a whole will be more inclusive and embracing of diversity. I hope it is a broader converstaion then ethnicity. I hope we can talk about and support all types of students because these are the ones we serve. Students are publicly and silently coming from so many experiences. Dealing with issues like race, culture, gender, sexual orientation, religion, mental health, veteran status, undocumented status, alternative education, special needs students, on top of what is already being faced in the field of higher education can be over whelming and leave students feeling unheard and unsupported. I feel like people see me and think they know all they need to know, but like any other person there is so much more then meets the eye. I am not from a cookie cutter and I shouldn't expect students to always be from a cookie cutter.

Am I destined to always be one step behind?

In my morning blog reading, I read a post by Tavi (@StyleRookie), a fabulous teen blogger who I wished I was half as funny as! Tavi was talking about her joy to be "one of them" with her iTouch and then low and behold the new latest thing is out! I can relate to this. I constantly feel like I am one step (or in some cases one mile) behind the latest and greatest. Every time I get a phone, iPod, computer, flash drive, or car then next best thing is announced in a manner of 2 weeks.
For example: My first cell phone was this hurky nextel all black thing that was about 2 inches thick and no color screen. I was soo happy to have a cell phone but then I looked around. It was like I had a Zack Morris cell phone. Everyone had their Razrs and could slide them in their pockets. I wanted to slide my phone in my pocket, but the stupid rubber grip would get caught and then the phone fell to the floor and bounced bringing even more attention to my huge cell phone! Then I noticed that they could take pictures and send them to friends... What? When did phones do that? After some time I got a new phone the Razr but then it wasn't cool anymore. Then my mom gave me her Blackberry Pearl. Finally I was cool! Then it stopped working and I had to go back to the Razr! NOOOO!!!!! It was the sadest day ever. Within a matter of days I was at the store buying a new Blackberry and I realized why I never have the latest and greatest. It cost too much and the first gen products tend to have so many issues.
I am still using my first gen Blackberry Pearl Flip but it is having problems now too. I am sure I will be getting a new phone soon and I am still undecided about what to get. I am sure that it will be fun and most likely not the coolest thing ever!