Over the past two weeks of working part time and going to school part time something has become clear to me: I have almost no recollection of what it was really like to be a student. Because sparrows? This is daunting. Because of my honeymoon I lose a week of studying & time to work on assignments, so over the next seven days I have 200 pages of reading to mow down and 20 pages of writing to do for assignments.
This morning? I woke up at 5:30 am to start reading (and to hit publish).
I know. I’m considering contacting Starbucks and demanding that they sponsor me too.
So in light of this shock to my system I’m trying to remember what my previous experience of being a student was like and primarily why I just wouldn’t remember how hard it was. What I’ve concluded is that I was too concerned with BOYS to have any reliable recollection of what being a student was like.
The Facts:
- I did a 3 year B.A. in Politics (urban planning) and minored in Religion (Islam, for fun!)
- I also worked 20 – 40 hours a week at a Big Corporate Company.
- I had five 20+ page assignments due in the last month of school, plus exams.
- Against all odds and reason I got through and graduated as a ‘student of distinction’.
What I Remember a.k.a OMG BOYS!!!!!:
- I took theatre classes in my first year, and my Stage Carpentry T.A. was really, extremely dreamy. Unreasonably dreamy. And talented. He stage managed opera, keeping choreography notation on sheet music. Which he passed off like it was no big deal. And he was hella sarcastic, and a music encyclopedia. And used power tools.
- We started dating, and there was an excessive amount of drama in the department as a result. I was a first year student, I was his student, there were other older girls who liked him, I was an emotional mess, it was a gong show.
- I broke up with him 5 times in as many months.
- He came within 12 hours of moving to Florida, but came back to Canada for me (/swoon!)
- We moved in together in my 2nd year of university.
- I may have taken some classes at some point.
So when I look back at university, I think about meeting and falling in love with Mister when I was all but a speck of a 19 year old girl. And (how convenient!) I didn’t remember the 15 page course outlines that I’m currently facing off against until it was just a little too late.
However, come hell or high water or faulty recollection of three years of my life, I’m going to get this done. So I’m thinking that if having a crush helps blur this all out later, I’m totally game to develop an out of control crush.
So if you have a moment, please send espresso & Twilight posters my way- right now I think they may be my only hope.
{image: spaceship of tenderness to the moon}
{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
I don’t remember college that well either… I remember waiting in line to get my to get my student card… and then I remember walking up on stage and being handed a piece of paper that said my name underneath “electro-mechanical engineering”
The rest is a blur… but that is mostly due to the amount of alcohol I consumed and I think someone put something in my brownies.
I wish I could go back and do it all again (minus the brownies!)
.-= Woolly´s last blog ..Random =-.
I understand! My first semester of school, I worked full time and went to school full time. I kind of forgot how difficult it was. Now, I’m working full time, and I’m one class away from going to school full time. Luckily, I’m not in over my head … yet. :)
Good luck, m’dear. I’d send you an espresso, but it might get cold by the time it got to you. ;) You drink one for me; I’ll drink one for you.
.-= Megan´s last blog ..One of those Life Updates =-.
Awwww, what a cute story of you and mister. You will do splendidly with your course work. I recall most of the fun times I had in college but not so much about the homework or classes. You are incredibly dedicated to get up so early. If we lived closer I would definitely stop by with a fresh muffin and cup of coffee for you.
I’ll make you tons of espresso and americanos to last you all week. I remember stupid things from college – getting drunk and going to class once, have a huge ‘study session’ at someone’s house which turned into half of our class hanging out with a huge bong, and my super cool display window. That’s probably about it. Sad, no?
.-= Margarita´s last blog ..Fabulously Grown Up =-.
I am relating completely. I’m back to school part time, while working full time. Daunting is not the word for it, I’m leaning more towards terrifying. I hear many of the students around me talking about how hungover they are, and I just shake my head. Try working 40 hours a week and going to school for 15. I have a work-over.
.-= erica´s last blog ..You are my sunshine. =-.
Oh man, if camping looked anything like that photo, I’d be all over it.
As for school, I really can’t be much help. I only went for two years, but it was a blur of hospital visits and breakups and to this day I’m baffled as to how I graduated, let alone with the grades I did. I think sometimes school does become a refuge from whatever life drama we’re dealing with.
.-= Sarah´s last blog ..Staying positive =-.
LOL! I just started following you and this post made me giggle! Congrats on honeymooning!!!
.-= Melissa´s last blog ..Gibber-jabber =-.
I just finished my masters in May so can totally relate. In college, I ws a full time student and I worked part time. In grad school I worked full time and was a part time student. Before starting grad school, I stupidly thought I’d feel the same as I did as a college student.
Totally. Different.
Good luck, though! You’ll get through it!
.-= Lisa from Lisa’s Yarns´s last blog ..Fall-la-la-la-la =-.
I can totally relate to this, unfortunately. I’m a junior in college right now and I’m inundated with school work so tough that it’s exhausting. I transferred to a private university from a community college & the two experiences are so different that it’s a little overwhelming. The amount of school work was like a shock to the system!
So, hang in there, & know that I’ll be downing Starbucks with you!
You are just too cute. You’ll make it through :)
.-= Alana´s last blog ..I think I attract the crazies =-.
OMG so that’s the story of you and mister? Sounds so beautiful, really. All those dramas only to have things so worth it in the end :)
I’m sure you’ll do fine with school, I’m already crazy for the past 4 years but i’m learning to cope with it :)
It’s funny that you posted this when you did because I just dove back in to Season 2 of Dawson’s Creek last night! Life as a student is a drama martini straight-up with extra essays on the side. The thing is … I’d like to think we grow out of it once we are through our late teens early twenties but I don’t think we do. My last two years in school were all about the emotional turmoil – good thing Billabong was open late though so I could get most of my homework done on time.
.-= Rugged Fox´s last blog ..good vibrations =-.
I was a HS teacher and it was SOOO awkward finding out that the girls have a crush on me. It was so bad that I had 3 sisters joined a club that I moderated only to see more of me.
On the bright side, at the end of the year, I found out I won best dressed. I dethroned another young male teacher who won the past 3 years.
.-= phampants´s last blog ..In One Month =-.
Haha, you totally summed up my main memories of uni there too…
.-= Paula´s last blog ..THE ACCIDENTAL NON-CONFORMIST . . . =-.
Too cute :)
All I did in college was study, study, and then study for some more.
.-= Marie´s last blog ..Flashback and Giveaway =-.
What a cute story! I don’t remember most of college due to excessive drinking…
.-= Kelly´s last blog ..23 Going on 45 =-.
i love the bit about you and mister, definitely brought a smile to my face. :)
hang in there with school, you can do it. i went back full time last semester and with working full time and a full course load, i was pretty close to losing my mind a lot of days. BUT! i made it and felt so accomplished, just like you will! :)
xo
.-= rachel´s last blog ..Aging gracefully… =-.
girlfriend, you can totally do it! don’t hesitate to lean on the blog community to vent because we’ve all been there before. Remember to take a few moments to yourself each day so you aren’t totally sucked into all school/work and no play (And so you don’t go batshit crazy and then we have to visit you in a mental institution).
Those 200 pages don’t stand a chance against you!
.-= Nora´s last blog ..-aholic =-.
my goodness, i miss school SO MUCH. enjoy it! everyday i wish I had time for a master’s. hopefully soon!
.-= AP´s last blog ..RSS Links Widget =-.
Mister was your teacher? Wow. Never saw that coming, but glad it worked out!
Sadly, I spent all my college time wrapped up in my boyfriend that I wish I had dumped him and experienced life a bit more. =/ We split up less than a year after graduating and I think about that often, wishing I could go back and change it. Sure, I loved him and our years together were fabulous, but I missed so much else as a result…
.-= MinD´s last blog ..This relationship may have to end. =-.
oh man i don’t think i’d be able to write 20 page papers any more. i was so obsessed with boys too and who was in my classes, it made the whole school thing a lot easier, haha.
.-= katelin´s last blog ..The perfect time(s) of the day. =-.
Aww that is such a cute story! School IS hard, and even if you’re not busy falling in love it can fly by in a whirlwind!! Enjoy your second time around with a little less distraction :-)
.-= Amber from Girl with the Red Hair´s last blog ..Wanna hear my voice? =-.
Oh my gosh, I can’t imagine going back to school now that I’ve been out of classes for so long. I don’t know if I can get myself back into that routine.
.-= Jessica´s last blog ..Something positive: a love list =-.
I love that picture! Also, I didn’t realize that you met Mister that way. Such a great story, especially knowing how everything turned out :) Happy almost anniversary!
.-= Lindsay´s last blog ..MIA =-.
That is such an awesome picture! I am pretty certain that if I went back to nursing school, that I would flunk. Ahhh!
.-= Molly´s last blog ..The Plague =-.
I love how this brought out the story of how you and Mister met. So endearing. You’ll get through this only this time rather than having him distract you in class he can help you with studying at home and perhaps join in the coffee drinking.
.-= Meghan´s last blog ..Its Time To Face The Problem =-.
I can kind of relate – but it’s high school for me that I don’t remember. I don’t remember doing homework or ANY papers! I don’t know if it’s because college was the big WOW and I definitely do remember pulling all-nighters and typing papers that probably didn’t make sense when I was half asleep and friends contacting me in the middle of the night to help deal with other friends who were drunk. I do not miss the homework and work, but I do miss having friends everywhere & knowing that I could talk to someone if I needed to at 3AM.
I love this little ditty on how you met Mister. I’m not sure I knew this about you! It reminds me of an experience I had in college. Where I went to school, we had to take two physical education classes before we graduated. Everyone else used to banter over their HOT TA’s. I never had hotties lead my classes. Until my senior year when I took golf. And my TA? Hot. And that TA took a liking to me. And we might have started dating ON THE LAST DAY OF CLASSES. And that might have freaked my mom out (hi former teacher, I won’t fail out of school because of him!). And he might have worked in a bar where over the course of that next summer, I might have laughed at all the girls from said golf class who would come in and oogle over him. And I’d just sit pretty at the end of the bar, knowing full well who he was going home with at the end of the night. Those were good times.
.-= SoMi’s Nilsa´s last blog ..Replay =-.
Woah yeah we’re post twinsies! You’re at the point I’ll be at in a few weeks, going papers??! whattt? I’m taking a tax research class that fulfills our general writing requirement for the degree, so I’m envisioning long technical memos in my future. Yuck. Good luck with your class though! It will be over soon enough; just have to power through it!
I love how you call us ‘sparrows’.
:)
.-= doniree´s last blog ..The Cocktail Question =-.
Ugh, I realized when I went back to grad school that I ended this madness for a reason!! A valid reason I am fairly certain. I wish you luck with all your 15 page syllabi. :)
Also, did you take that picture in heaven? Because seriously, I want to live there for eternity.
.-= abby´s last blog ..surprise attack. =-.
Wow, when I look back at school I remember all of the fun I had and two of my ex bf’s. It’s easy to forget about the hours of studying that you do. Regardless, I miss college!!!
.-= AuburnKat´s last blog ..Plan B =-.
Enjoy school! I so miss the buying of new supplies and the and the anticipation of assignments! I really looked for espressos…do chocolate espresso bars count? =)
.-= Elizabeth´s last blog ..An early birthday =-.
I totally understand where you’re coming from on this one. If I were to start a graduate program (or just a class or two!), I would be in for a major shock. Why is it that when we’re there for the first time around, it’s so easy to put things off, but still somehow find the time to make everything happen?
If you need a proofreader, I’m here. (Woohoo, journalism majors!) And, if nothing else, I’m sending positive thoughts and some espresso (or other liquid energy) your direction.
.-= E.P.´s last blog ..Just what someone with allergies needs =-.
ohhh, this is so cute!! i really really loved reading this. you have a wonderful way of writing that really draws me in, and also makes me laugh. love it!
.-= Lisa´s last blog ..soul meets body. =-.
I wish you luck as you embark on this journey! You made it through successfully the first time (even with a pretty big distraction!), so you’ll do it again this time. I’d definitely send some espresso your way.
I graduated from college 3 years ago, and I’m thinking about going back for my Master’s degree. It makes me a little nervous, because I think I, too, forget what it’s like to be a student!
.-= Samantha´s last blog ..Bits and Baubles: The Moving Edition =-.
Hahaha, girl, I TOTALLY HEAR YOU on this one! The amount of cute guys is excessive in here (tell your sister to be careful, haha), so it’s SOOO easy to get unfocused!
.-= Andy´s last blog ..We did WHAT? =-.