Sunday, February 04, 2007
A Break Point
Spring classes start tomorrow. I'm not really looking forward to it, which is somewhat unexpected. In the ideal world that exists somewhere in the back of my mind, I should be excited to be back into the regular academic groove after a full month and a half off from class. I should be enthusiastic to learn new things. I should be happier about the intellectual stimulation the new semester promises to hold.
But I'm not. I'm really not.
One major for reason for this is that I haven't really had a true break. Between December and now I was responsible for the completion of three papers. I've finished two of them. The third has been steadily consuming increasing amounts of my life since I started it in mid-January. I've switched topics three times. From Monday through Wednesday last week, I handwrote a seventeen page outline before scrapping it in favor of another approach to the topic. Yesterday, I stayed at the library from 9:15 or so in the morning until approximately 11:00 at night. I only wrote ten pages. I'm still not done.
And now I have classes starting again. How I am expected to finish this paper while reading for three graduate classes, I'm not sure.
Making matters worse is the discovery that I apparently am responsible for completing a large amount of reading for my Tuesday morning class. And writing a reading response about it. All of which I would have learned had I not assumed the late registration deadline meant that it was acceptable to register during the first week of classes.
So all in all, I am feeling more incompetent than intelligent these days. Maybe I'll be able to finish the draft of my remaining paper from last semester in the next few days. I sincerely hope so.
Honestly, I feel like I need a break. A real break. Like a week or two where I don't have to think at all. But I'll get no sympathy on that point, so perhaps it would be best to let it drop.
Spring classes start tomorrow. I'm not really looking forward to it, which is somewhat unexpected. In the ideal world that exists somewhere in the back of my mind, I should be excited to be back into the regular academic groove after a full month and a half off from class. I should be enthusiastic to learn new things. I should be happier about the intellectual stimulation the new semester promises to hold.
But I'm not. I'm really not.
One major for reason for this is that I haven't really had a true break. Between December and now I was responsible for the completion of three papers. I've finished two of them. The third has been steadily consuming increasing amounts of my life since I started it in mid-January. I've switched topics three times. From Monday through Wednesday last week, I handwrote a seventeen page outline before scrapping it in favor of another approach to the topic. Yesterday, I stayed at the library from 9:15 or so in the morning until approximately 11:00 at night. I only wrote ten pages. I'm still not done.
And now I have classes starting again. How I am expected to finish this paper while reading for three graduate classes, I'm not sure.
Making matters worse is the discovery that I apparently am responsible for completing a large amount of reading for my Tuesday morning class. And writing a reading response about it. All of which I would have learned had I not assumed the late registration deadline meant that it was acceptable to register during the first week of classes.
So all in all, I am feeling more incompetent than intelligent these days. Maybe I'll be able to finish the draft of my remaining paper from last semester in the next few days. I sincerely hope so.
Honestly, I feel like I need a break. A real break. Like a week or two where I don't have to think at all. But I'll get no sympathy on that point, so perhaps it would be best to let it drop.
