Settling into a New Routine

After a couple weeks of classes, I feel like I am finally starting to settle into a routine with classes, work, the grad assistantship, getting back into a studying routine and taking time for myself away from school.

I also decided to drop one of my classes and only take three this semester. After feeling so overwhelmed and stressed out the first week, I decided that it would be best for me to take a lighter course load. I think I will be able to get more out of each class and spend extra time on each assignment instead of rushing through them. It will take me an extra semester to graduate, but I think this will be the best way for me to be successful and get the most out of this program.

I also took into account how intense my graduate assistantship is going to be this semester. Aside from sitting in on my professor’s classes each week, there is a lot of prep each week between posting on the class Facebook page and updating the Blackboard site. I also anticipate that I will be assigned some additional projects throughout the semester. It is definitely almost like having another class worth of work.

I turned in my first paper of the year in my Principles of Strategic Communications class last week, so it feels good to have that first paper out of the way. Now I am crossing my fingers that I get a decent grade on it!

There is also a really interesting mix of students in my program. Most of them are coming straight from their undergraduate programs, and then there are also some who are a few years out of their undergraduate studies and also some who have been out of school for several years. Everyone is also really interested in entering a variety of fields after graduating…public diplomacy, corporate communications, non-profits, agency work, the arts, sports, etc.…so it is really interesting to hear about people’s backgrounds and interests.

I also love the American University campus. It’s very small, which is good for my non-sense of direction, so I can’t get lost too easily. The buildings are very reminiscent of the architecture of a lot of buildings in Washington DC.