I’ve not had any time this week to even look at the internet so I don’t have a typical “Sunday Inspiration” post to share. I thought that instead I would share a bit of an update on how I’m doing.
My new schedule this semester is only two days a week, last week was the first full week of classes so I got a good chance to see how this semester was going to go. Let’s just say I have some LONG days ahead! My schedule looks like this on Tuesdays and Thursdays:
8am – wake up (that’s debatable).
9:35am – Social Psychology – so far I’m enjoying this class. I really want to get to know this instructor better. He’s shared that he works with the local pain clinic (not the one I have gone to), so I think he may have some really interesting thoughts and info to share.
11:10am – Learning Psychology – this is another instructor that is new to me. I’ve heard great things about her and she seems really nice. I haven’t really formed any opinions about this class (or her) yet, but I’m hopeful.
My morning classes end at 12:30pm and then I get a break for about a half hour before I report for my first stint as a lab tech. I have five sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays (one every half hour). It’s a two-part lab, so people come in on Tuesday and do the first part (about 20 min) then return on Thursday to finish (about 5 min). In between sessions I have anywhere from 15 min to 25 min to do whatever. Once I get people set up I can actually study during the sessions, which is really helpful. So far studying has been what I spend most of my time doing during these labs (and in between). The really nice part is that I’m in a room by myself (except when participants are there), which makes for good studying. That said, not having more than a 30 min break all day was a little taxing. I’m glad I made the decision to take my lunch and snacks for during the day because I’ve not yet really had time to even see if the cafeteria has food I can eat. Thursday gave me a little more free time since I finished my last lab at about 3:05 and didn’t have to be at my first afternoon class until 3:55.
3:55 pm – Technical Editing – This class is going to be very interesting not only in content but in structure. There are three parts to this class each week and each part meets in a different location. So on Tuesdays at 3:55 we have the main classroom time with lecture and exercises. My Tuesdays end after this class (at 5:15). Thursdays are a bit different. At 3:55 we meet with an engineering IPT (integrated product team) that we will be working with. Basically, we are working directly with them to edit their documentation. This should be a really interesting experience and a good learning opportunity. After this session on Thursdays we proceed to the Library for our lab session where we get to learn various software to help with the editing process. My Thursdays are very long, I finish class at 6:30.
I have a fourth class, Technical Writing, that I’m taking online. I’m not thrilled with this class, but overall I don’t think it will be very difficult. I feel like I’ve already taken this class 15 years ago, except that it was called Business Communications at that school (and it was a 200 level class instead of a 300, which is why I didn’t get credit for it).
After last semester I honestly feel like I can do anything. Adding everything up that I will have to do in these four classes, it’s still less than I had to do for Experimental Psych. Neither Tech Writing and Tech Editing really have any tests (I think they each have one grammar quiz/test and that’s it). The two psych classes are mostly tests with some small papers involved. That’s not to say this semester won’t be tiring, it already is. I’m just glad I was able to schedule everything on two days so that I have the rest of the week to recover, study, and blog (and to do a TON of reading, evidently).
It’s nice to have a light at the end of the tunnel. I was discussing what I have left after this semester with my husband and realized that I really have already completed the hardest part. I’ll do an internship over the summer for the Technical Writing program (my minor) and take one psych class (BioPsychology), then in the fall I will have four classes left, none of which appear to be incredibly taxing. One of those four will be my final general elective class and I can take it pass/fail; I have no idea what that class is going to end up being. The other three are a psych class (whatever is being offered that fits my schedule), Human Research (which is basically doing more lab assistant stuff and writing a paper), and one final class for the Tech Writing program that (based on the course description) appears that it will be pretty easy.
Then I’m done! I am so looking forward to December of 2015! This is going to be a great year! I’d love to know what your plans are for this year? What are you looking forward to?
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