Survived Year 1

I feel the need to apologize for my lack of posting, but I'm really not sure what I would write about if I made this a weekly thing. Maybe I'll start up a new goal of trying to post once a month. Anyway, here's the latest scoop on the happenings in my life as a doctoral student.

I survived the first year of my coursework! This past semester has been rough. One class was really interesting and enjoyable, but the other two were a struggle to say the least. For both classes I just didn't have a clue how to make the professors happy. I met with one of them for almost every assignment over the course of the semester, and I still struggled to do anything he liked. My distaste for theory has definitely been confirmed, so I think I'll stick to theorizing pedagogy and teaching in my field without dabbling in any of that other theory. Perhaps the most important takeaway from the semester is that of gritting your teeth and just pushing through, which I think is something that I'll have to continue to do while earning my degree and maybe even beyond that.

In other news, I presented at a conference in March and have been applying to other conferences as well as trying to get something published (more news on that as I hear more). I wish I had more opportunity to enjoy the conference, but homework called to me (the conference was during midterms--yikes!). The conference actually took me just a few hours from home, and I was able to visit with friends I've been making in the field and even friends from my MA at a wedding. I'm hoping to get more out of conferences this year, but the cost to attend is pretty much killing me.

Speaking of cost, I just moved in with my boyfriend. He's in the program with me, and dating is actually very much something I resisted at first. I want the focus to be on my education and not have the stress of a relationship. So far it seems to be working fine and, getting to the cost point, I'm going to be saving $300+ a month on living expenses. That's pretty major when your income is like mine.

Also related to money, I don't have a summer job. I thought I could get something in on campus, but that fell through. I'm waiting to hear back from my second job tutoring to see if they could use me during the summer. Otherwise, I'm trying to do some freelance writing where I can. Soon I think I will have to resort to applying to anyplace that will take me during the summer months.

Overall, I think one of the most significant burdens from this whole experience is the financial burden. I'm already stressed about school and keeping up with that work, plus I'll begin teaching two classes in the fall so I'll be worried about my students, but I also have to worry about paying the bills. The easiest expense to reduce would be the cost of an apartment, but I don't really want to live in an unsafe, unclean place. The financial burden lends itself to holding another job, which increases the school-related stress. I just don't see a way out of the loop.

Enough of the downer stuff. I still believe I'm on the right path despite the stress along the way. I find the reading, researching, and writing to be really rewarding. Then next semester I'll be able to influence my own students and hopefully encourage their own development. I've already begun planning for the course, and I'm really excited to see where that goes.

But, if anyone has any bright ideas in regards to my financial situation, I'm all ears!