Already?!?! How time is flying by! Two months from today will wrap up a major phase of life… grad school. Graduation is December 15! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I can hardly stand it! Although I’ll still have 3 major exams to take for licensure, they will be spread out over the next couple of years and homework as a whole will disappear. I can read simply because I want to again!
Here are the things I’ve learned about myself over the past 2.5 years:
- I am crazier about organizing, planning, tabbing and color coding than I ever imagined possible.
- I really am a good student when I see the long-term benefit and feel the weight of the responsibility of how I learn and choose to value remembering information. It paid to take those 10 years between undergrad and grad school to better know myself, my interests, my abilities and my goals. I haven’t wasted thousands (and thousands and thousands) of dollars on something that I might or might not do something with… I know that I know that I know my calling and how I can best help people through ministry and counseling.
- I can be disciplined working from home… but it can also be a slippery slope with Pinterest so easily available… I also really enjoy being home with Tony during the day. We may be in separate rooms, on separate floors, but it’s nice to so easily stop for lunch and hang out for a bit during the day.
- As much as I’ve despised gas prices and the extra early mornings or late nights due to having to drive an hour or so to classes, meetings, internship sites, etc., it’s allowed me some much needed quiet time during the days for prayer, podcasts, reflection of thoughts and processing of clients or the day’s events. Especially now, I’m loving all the fall landscape during my drives!
- I’m very blessed with a supportive husband and parents/family who have set me up to succeed during such a phase as this. I am thankful beyond words for their help during these past years.
- As long as 2.5 years / 61 hours of classes and internships have felt… looking back, it has flown by. I feel as though I still have great things to learn and years of experience to gain before I feel fully comfortable and competent. I guess that’s why they require 3000 hours of supervised practice before the state will grant you a license for independent counseling, haha… there IS more to learn!
- Balancing part time jobs, classes, internships, family and friend time is difficult. I’m not perfect at it. Prioritizing and learning to say “no” and when to take time for rest has become an art. Marriage will look different in a couple of months (due to scheduling, primarily), free-time will look different, availability to friends and family will look different… it’s exciting and a bit intimidating all at the same time…
So I can’t help but wonder what this next phase will look like… what I will look like? But for now… I guess I’ll get back to studying… 🙂