A Busy Couple of Weeks...

So, the last three weeks have been a little crazy for me…hence the lack of updates.  Had a couple of tests and quizzes, two presentations, and a paper due…I am glad that is all behind me and now I can take a little bit of a breather before the next batch of assignments come!

I also registered for my spring semester classes last week. Surprisingly, I always find this a little stressful.  Of course, I was in one of the last groups of graduate students to register, so I sat there watching my classes either fill up or almost fill up before I even had the chance to register.  Luckily, I was able to get into my capstone class and one elective class without a problem. I am currently on the waitlist for two other electives.  Keeping my fingers crossed that I get into one of them!  If not, I will take a different class that is not necessarily on the top of my list, but would still be really interesting. 

After nine weeks of classes, here are some of my general thoughts and observations on my grad school experience so far: 

  
-Grad school is all about time management

I have so many more responsibilities compared to my undergrad years…a demanding class load, graduate assistantship, part-time job, volunteer work and having some sort of a social life.

  
-Get to know your professors

From day one, including all the orientation and prospective student events that I attended, they have emphasized this so much.  I have really made a conscious effort to go to my professors’ office hours even if it’s just to ask a simple question about an assignment.  From my experience, they are really willing to help and get to know their students outside the classroom.  They also encourage us to meet as many professors in the School of Communication even if you don’t have them for a class.

-Make time for yourself and give yourself a break from schoolwork  

This is a BIG one!  It is also something that I have had to work really hard at.  I get so wrapped up in my schoolwork that I forget to give myself a break.  Even a little break re-energizes me in getting through a long list of assignments and projects.

Almost Halfway through the Semester

I am not sure how it is already the end of week six and I’m almost halfway through my first semester of grad school.  It has sure flown by quick!

Each week, I am getting more adjusted to being back in school.  I also feel like I am still trying to adjust my studying routine each week to make sure I am getting all my work done.  Even with three classes, the workload is still a lot to handle and keep track of everything.  While some aspects of grad school have been very challenging for me, I am already feeling so fulfilled by the process of learning everything I can about this new career area that I want to enter.  I can already see how all of my classes will relate to what I want in my career going forward.  I am also excited to be working towards something new after the last year or so of trying to figure out what was next for me. 

This semester, I am taking three of the four core classes required for my degree…Principles of Strategic Communication, Research for Strategic Communication and Communication Theory.  The classes do overlap each other a little bit as far as the content, so I have heard some of the concepts multiple times.  That is really helpful to me because this program is very fast-paced and there is so much information that we have already covered so far.  I’m not going to lie…sometimes I have a hard time keeping everything straight.

In the research and theory classes, we are going to start doing the groundwork for our capstone project that we will work on next semester.  I have had a pretty good idea of what my research project was going to be since before classes started.  It will be focused on social media and the sports industry and I am excited to really dive into the subject area and see where it goes.

Now that I am more settled in, I have also started to focus on some steps in preparing myself for my career once I am done with school.  I decided to join the school’s chapter of PRSSA (Public Relations Students Society of America).  During each of their chapter meetings, they have different PR professionals come and talk about their career paths and what area of the industry they work in.  At last week’s meeting, the speaker was a young professional who has worked in both a PR firm/agency and in an organization’s own communications department and talked about the differences in those environments.  I had never even considered the idea of working in a PR firm/agency, but after listening to her, it definitely opened my eyes to that aspect of the business.  I think I will definitely gain a lot of good knowledge of the PR industry through being involved in this organization. 

I also started working on re-vamping my resume for when I have to start applying for internships for next summer.  It is definitely a little daunting for me to think about going through the internship application process again, but hopefully it will result in a good opportunity for me come next summer.  I already have a long list of places that I want to apply to!

I am also still trying to figure out the balance of concentrating on schoolwork and taking time for myself.  I am not very good at “turning off my brain” to school-related responsibilities even when I am trying to take a break from it.  Working out/swimming at least a couple of times per week helps me get re-energized.  I am also trying to read a little bit for pleasure on the Metro everyday while commuting to and from campus.  My pleasure reading of choice for the next year is going to be young reader novels that I either didn’t read when I was younger or re-reading some of my childhood favorites!