Graduation

I was in Salt Lake over the weekend to participate in Commencement and Convocation ceremonies. It was a little anticlimactic being done in December and getting my diploma but having none of the pomp and circumstance of a graduation event.

Which is why I'm really glad I came home for graduation because the event is all about celebrating and being reminded that I worked hard.  It's a nice distraction from the 8-5 daily grind of planning; there was a time when I was learning new concepts and was excited for all the possibilities that existed. It's good to remember that.

It was awesome to see my family and friends and Salt Lake City. I love them all and was so glad to be able to spend time with them.

Diploma Received!

The diploma arrived in the mail this weekend!

And I'm Done

Today was it. It was the last day of a lot of work. It was the day I finished my school work for a masters degree in City and Metropolitan Planning. I had to present to faculty and students the work I did for my professional project, which was a Transportation Study for Morgan County. I really enjoyed my project and was pleased to share my work with others. It's always nice to hear complementary comments about something you put a lot of work into.

I then spent time in the library finishing up a chapter on Poisson and Negative Binomial Regression for my stats class. It was tough, as this was a doctoral level course with extremely smart students all writing dissertations and generally being heads and shoulders above me on understanding what was going on. But I powered through and wrote a semi-decent chapter. As I logged off the computer for the last time and made my way outside to the bus stop, I couldn't help but look around and savor the last moments on campus. I spent a lot of time in the library. It's a comforting place.

After a year and a half of waiting patiently, then two years of school work, it feels good to be done. It's nice to follow through and complete a plan that was set in motion a long time ago, before I made the move back to Salt Lake, way back when I was in New York and discovering an interest and passion for cities. There were setbacks, there were miracles, there were times it was a slog working full time and doing school full time. But to be done, I can say now that it was all worth it.

And now all that's left is to get a job. :)

Feeling the Stress

I have two weeks of school left (technically three I guess if you count Finals week, but I don't have any finals, so...). Ever. This semester has literally flew by. I remember thinking back in August that I still had so much time left for my projects. But I don't.

And all of a sudden I felt stressed about it all. I've been very checked out and laid back (more than normal) all semester, so this is kinda strange. Maybe I'm afraid I won't graduate. Because that would be really, really sad.

Scholarship Luncheon

Remember how I received a scholarship for this semester? Well, because of that I get to attend all sorts of cool things. Today it was the annual Scholarship Luncheon at Red Butte Garden. I love when I get to mingle with cool people who are interested in what I'm interested in and want to help me land a job when I graduate. 

I'm really grateful to have gotten the scholarship. I know I'm not the smartest person in my program, but I'm passionate about transit, I work hard and I want to make the world a better place.

Semester End

As I walked out of the closing library tonight, after a rockin' PechaKucha presentation, I reflected on the semester and my sometimes unkind attitude toward it. It wasn't what I wanted it to be and I was kinda bummed about it for most of the semester. But really, it was a good semester. I maybe didn't learn about transportation as much I wanted. But I learned and that is always awesome.

I walked to my car, with the lovely Spring weather and a setting sun, and was really pleased with the semester. And I'm that much closer to being done.

Behind

I'm behind. On almost everything. I need to write papers. I need to research. I need to make presentations. I need to study. I need to call about internships. I need to call about doctor bills that I paid. I need to read. I need to sleep. I need to eat.

There's never enough time in the day to get it all done. Also, I'm a procrastinator.

Bad combination.

Paying for School

I opened up my school e-mail last week, something I do rather infrequently, to find that I had been awarded two scholarships for the upcoming school year!! One was a departmental scholarship and the other was from WTS: Advancing Women in Transportation. I was excited for the departmental one because it meant the teachers in the department thought about me when they were in their scholarship meeting (I'm on the Graduate Admissions Committee so I know this). I was excited for the WTS one because it was directly related to the field I want to make a career in.

Unfortunately, since I'm graduating in Fall semester and the Departmental Scholarship stipulates that the student must be enrolled in Fall and Spring semesters, it was revoked. Totally lame.

But the other one is still good, and last night I went to the WTS Gala where I was recognized for my Scholarship Award. It was very exciting being surrounded by women who all work in transportation. I spoke with the previous year's winners and had a good time. Everyone involved is excited for me and my future career. It was a very cool night. (Pictures were taken but they haven't been posted yet on the website.)

Being there last night was an exciting moment for me. I realized that I'll be graduating soon and will (hopefully) be working in my chosen career. I will be one of those professional women in transportation. Wow.

The School Debate

When I entered grad school last year my brother told me that guys were not interested in girls with Masters. Since then we've had many discussions about this topic. He claims that guys, especially guys in Utah, are intimidated by a girl with too much education, and that said girls will languish in single-dom. I steadfastly refused to believe this, claiming that I wouldn't want a guy who was intimidated by my education anyway. And he'd counter saying that I wouldn't find it in Utah.

My friend Summer and I discussed this same topic the other day. She concurred with my brother, saying that level of education is way more important to girls than it is to guys. She argued that it interfered with their natural desire/need to be the provider, and having a girl that could possibly make more than them was emasculating. Once again I tried to object, stating that plenty of guys want girls who are educated and that a Masters degree shouldn't dissuade them from asking me out.

There's a guy I know that has never asked about my school or what I'm doing. He asks about everything else, and when I mention that I'm busy with classes or doing homework, there are never any follow up questions. Yesterday this started to bother me, mainly because I did not want to be proven wrong, especially by my brother.

So I opened up a discussion on Facebook, and there were some great points made, many of them coming from dudes themselves! A lot of them said it depended on the guy, and that a guy would be insecure in himself to not appreciate a girl's educational achievements. One very interesting point made by my friend Jodee (a dude)made this great statement: Intelligence matters, not just the level of education completed. There are more than a few very dull minded people in the world with high level degrees. And my friend Greg made a good point that he doesn't care about a girl's education, but how she treats people, what she knows about events in the world, does she respect Veterans and others who risk their lives. Ya know, her character.

In no way do I think that getting a Masters degree means I am more intelligent than people around me who haven't. I may be more knowledgeable on the subject of planning, but certainly not in other areas. I struggle putting together coherent thoughts and sentences, and I have a hard time synthesizing large amounts of information. For me, getting a Masters degree was more a necessity; I was changing career paths and my Bachelors wouldn't get me anywhere. I could, on the slimmest of chances, get a job in a planning related field, but to move up at all and be considered a real planner I would need a Masters anyway. At that time (and still now) I had no prospect of getting married and knew I would need to support myself.

I currently do not have the option to have kids and be a stay-at-home mom. Even if I were married, I might still not have the option. Because other girls aren't getting their Masters (or already have them) does not mean they are not intelligent. Education and learning is life-long, and does not need to be in a classroom. It comes from reading and discussing, living and discovering, trying and overcoming. I think guys in general are attracted to that.

But on the point of guys being "intimidated" by a girl with a Masters degree, I still believe that any guy I would want to even consider marrying would have to think it was pretty cool. Are some guys intimidated by it, most definitely. Do I think the reason I am not married is because I'm pursuing a Masters, most definitely not. We just haven't found each other yet.

Planners vs. Engineers

This semester I am taking a class in Civil Engineering to get a different viewpoint of transportation planning and posit myself as a more viable hire when I graduate. Planners like to talk a lot, but it's the engineers that actually make stuff. My transportation class last semester was a lot of history of transportation in the United States, the various bodies that work on transportation planning, and lots of ideas about how better transportation options can improve quality of life and the environment. I loved it and learned a lot.

My engineering class is a complete 180 change. There were no introductions on the first day where you state your major and something interesting about yourself. The teacher just jumped right into it. We don't talk about people, but figure things out through numbers and formulas. Everyone has a PC instead of a Mac. I hope I come to love it and learn a lot.

My Baby

School is my baby. Most girls my age are posting about their kids and all the cools things they are doing. Since I don't have any babies or kids, you, dear reader, get a lot of posts about the most important thing in my life right now: school. I can already tell the Spring semesters will kinda suck, just with the way classes fall and such. I'm already way stressed out. I'm already super tired. I already wish I was done.

Moms must feel this way,too, right?? And there IS an endpoint, when the kid starts sleeping through the night, or they can feed themselves, or they go off to kindergarten. Just like that, there IS an endpoint with school as well.

It's just the whole getting there.

The Best Semester Ever

This past semester was the best ever. Since my grad program is only four semesters, I'm including all my undergrad semesters as well (although I keep my two semesters at Snow College separate because, well, they were just special!). I had four classes this semester and was completely overwhelmed and busy most of the time. But I learned so much and had so many moments of, "Wow, this is what I want to do with my life." I had great classes and made some great friends. This semester really solidified a lot of things, and I'm hoping the trend can continue with next semester.

But for now, I need to catch up on some much needed leisure reading, Netflix-watching, movie-viewing, and sleep.

Almost Done

I have a couple draft blog posts, about being on the Graduate Admissions Committee and Bacon Day at work. They'll probably stay as drafts for awhile...

The last couple weeks have been crazy with school. I have a final on Thursday that I should be studying for right now. This class is super important to me and I want to do well in it.

Once that is done, my time will be filled with baking goodies, wrapping presents, visiting friends, and relaxing.

Hey, School Started!

Yep, summer has ended and school has started. I'm actually glad for this. I sort of flounder when I have nothing pressing to do, no assignments or homework or things I have to get done, no schedule that I follow. So while I had big plans for my summer, I didn't really do anything. And not a whole lot of the things on my list (I certainly didn't blog more!).

But now I will be consumed by school and homework and a schedule. Yay! My first class today has already started out great and I'm excited for all I will learn (it's Intro to Transportation Planning, the class I started taking 2 years ago before it was sadly discovered that I was not a resident. Luckily for me, though, the book I bought back then is still being used!).

Some things I'm looking forward to this semester:
--getting to leave work early for classes ("See ya, suckers!" is what I would say to my co-workers if I was mean and didn't like them)
--learning
--using my brain
--walking around campus (to hopefully help with the shedding of some of these extra pounds I seem to have found on my body)
--late-night paper-writing sessions!
--Fall Break (where should I go....)
--using my brand-new notebook and seeing it get demolished as the semester moves on
--meeting people who are as passionate as I am about the things I'm passionate about :)
--getting that much closer to graduating and getting a real, career job!

Domino Thinking

I don't really have anything to write about, but I was thinking today that my blog hadn't been written on in awhile. And that got me thinking about how when I lived in New York there always seemed to be something to write about. And that got me thinking about how two years ago at this time I was on the road with my sis traveling back to Salt Lake. And then I remembered how a year ago I was getting ready to apply to grad school and was stressing about the GRE. And then I thought about how five months ago I was starting grad school.

And here I am, sitting in my living room thinking about homework, New York, dating (I'm watching the Bachelorette), traveling, and the future.

What a Week

This last week has been brutal. Now that I'm at the end of it, I'm not sure how I did it. Sometimes knowing that pretty soon it'll be over, that the deadline will come no matter what, is a nice motivator. I spent many hours and nights (and days for that matter) in the lab. I stayed up late working on papers (that I sadly procrastinated) and projects that were contingent on another similarly busy person. As I rushed and worked and wrote and created, I felt I had time for nothing else.

But now, it's done. I spent today without the worry that I should be doing homework instead. And it was nice.

With my free time this summer, I plan (hope) to do some things:
--read more
--make my home cute
--exercise (we've proposed a Family Biggest Loser competition...)
--get a bike
--visit with friends
--outdoor concerts
--date (if anyone wants to set me up....)
--summer movies!!
--blog more :)

And as I reflect on my first semester of grad school, I see that there are so many things I have learned. I definitely underestimated how much work it would be. I exercised poor time management and procrastinated a lot. I hope to be better next semester. I have all summer to work on it.

April First

Guess what?! My new laptop arrived yesterday! It was very exciting, and I was up very late installing all sorts of things on it so it would be just like my old laptop. Which I realized was very old and outdated. But, I sorta miss it, mainly because it was comfortable and I had everything on it. Now starts the grueling task of transferring everything over.

What I'm most excited about with my new laptop is that it now holds enough memory for me to install ArcGIS on it. Yes, this is sorta dorky, but it's a computer program I need for my GIS class and having it on my personal laptop means I no longer have to go to campus to work on my project.

And that project is going to be a lot of work. So I'm glad I can do it at midnight, sitting in my pjs, while watching Buffy.

Excitment

My laptop will be arriving at the end of the week, when I will continue with my Blog Challenge (well, hopefully. Honestly, I write blog posts in my head all the time and this not having a computer thing has really been a downer). Right now I'm in the Marriott Library, gearing up to write a paper for one of my classes.

I just wanted a place to document the excitement I felt today. I left work early to meet with a professional who works for the UTA to ask for his help with a project I'm doing for my GIS class. I get really excited when I think about the future and all the things I'll get to do. He said he doesn't make a lot of money, but he enjoys what he does at the end of the day and goes home happy. That's all I really want. I truly get excited when I talk about planning and transportation with people. I currently hate my present work scenario, and can't wait for the day when I actually enjoy my work.

I also had a seminar class tonight. Our speaker was a member of the City Council (or something like that) and his whole presentation was on making downtown more transit, pedestrian and bike friendly. We talked about the new light rails, bike lanes, trails, increasing public transit. It's so interesting to me and I can't wait til I get to actually do it all for a living.

Grad School Is Different

You might have noticed that my blog posts are becoming increasingly few and far between. Basically, grad school is not undergrad, and it's definitely not SLCC. At SLCC I took five classes, and never felt that stressed. Most of my work was busy work. I have two classes less now but loads more work. None of my work is busy work. I never have to just read the chapter and then do the questions at the end. I never have to just color a map and memorize what's on it.

On Thursday I have to give a presentation on the ancient cities of the Southwestern United States, most specifically the Great Kivas of Chaco Canyon. It's super interesting, but, unlike undergrad, all the research is done on my own, none of it is covered in class. As my cousin Phaedra warned me, teachers expect me to do reading outside of class.

I have to read tons of articles, write nine-page responses to queries, be attentive in class, work on assignments, give presentations, and pretty much learn everything there is to know about being a planner. So yeah, it's a lot of work. What's that saying, about the things we really want in life are generally the hardest to get.

This is not meant as a complaining post. Just a post to remind myself that grad school is different.

First Week Schizophrenia

My first week of graduate school was a roller coaster of schizophrenia. I left work early on Monday and headed to campus to visit the bookstore and get my new UCard (my previous one had a picture from 6 years (!) ago when I first entered the U). That was all good. Then I went to class.

After class I felt super overwhelmed. Not necessarily by the class itself, but by everything. My utter non-excitement for the class, Urban and Regional Analysis, and the teacher. My work schedule interfering with my school schedule, my school schedule interfering with my work schedule. Fear that I would have to drop a class and then I'd be even more behind. The only thing that got me through Monday night was Rumbi and a Chuck rerun on t.v.

Then Tuesday came. I took the bus to school (less than 10 minutes!), and super enjoyed my class, City and Profession, and the teacher. Things were looking up and I was feeling exciting. I talked with a girl who was in her last semester and she gave me some good tips. I went home feeling really good about everything.

Until my Planning Theory/Ethics class Wednesday night, which sucked any sort of excitement out of me and replaced it with sheer dread. I've heard from numerous students to avoid this teacher like the plague, but unfortunately I need this class and no one else teaches it. And the class I could substitute it with most definitely didn't fit in with my work schedule. It sorta bummed me out.

I dropped the class I was not excited for (which is an either/or class and luckily I think the other one is more me) and added GIS for Planning. Even though this class takes up my Thursday night, I'm excited for it. First of all, I've taken a couple GIS classes already which should be helpful. And second, my teacher is quirky and cool. He uses interesting words and has a unique approach to GIS that I find him quite refreshing.

So week one down. Hopefully my emotions will even out as the semester goes on.