Thursday, April 30, 2009

Slowing Down

After moving at the speed of light all semester, I am finally getting the chance to slow down. I still have one more final to go - my Anthropology final on May 4. I will have the whole weekend to study for that.

It's good to be able to move a little slower! I was finally able to join the Phi Alpha Theta (history honor society) gang at the Mellow Mushroom last night for trivia night. Our team was in second place until the final round when we bet it all and lost it all. Such is life. It was fun, though.

Slowing down has also allowed me to see that there are things in need of my attention - my house, my dogs, relationships. It will be good to give attention to those things/animals/people that need my attention before I have to gear up again in July for summer school.

Got some great news about financial aid. I qualified for a $2,000 Pell Grant for next year. That will definitely help. I'm also having to use more student loans, but that's okay. If I stay on top of my studies and continue to do well academically, I may qualify for more scholarships.

Slowing down, however, has felt more like the sensation one feels when an airplane lands - the pull as the plane dramatically slows down while the pilot practically stands on the brakes and the flaps are at a full ninety degree angle to the wings. Slowing down from this semester has not been a gradual process.

Still, it has been good not to have to head to the library every night or stay up late typing a paper or reading. Just when I get used to this, I'll have to "take off" again. Ah, such is the life of a college student! Stay tuned . . .

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hate how after the single minded focus on an essay or assignemnt the house comes back into view. Mine neededa thorough overhall last week, now all I can see is the neglect of the past 3 months.

Well done on the financial aid, In the US there seems to be much more aid available - part-time students in the UK get nothing, nada, not a penny. The assumption is that P/T students work, or have a partner to support them. I saw a scholorship for my MA course on the Uni site, but its only for full time students, I could transfer to a full time course, but realistically, it's not physically possible with 3 daughters (a 14yr old & two 11 yrs olds). There are calls to start offering P/T time students (repayable) funding but it's an even longer way off now with the present economy.

flit said...

I'm enjoying my first week "off" after a busy semester followed by a couple of weeks of whipping off more than 100 pages of essays and marking for 130 students... it's quite the adjustment to go from totally run off my feet to .... nothing.

The first few days were harder - now I'm finally starting to relax and enjoy my time off.