The Busiest Day Yet: First Day of Classes

Things you are told when you start a doctoral program: “assuming you don’t drop out or flunk school, you will get a doctorate”. Things you are not told: you will have days when your classes are from 9 am to 8 pm. And that is my schedule this semester for 2 days of the week. Monday was my inauguration to the 8-week summer semester. But I was excited. My classes were supposed to be fascinating: among them were Advanced Assessment and CBT.

8 am: Running in the morning isn’t easy (I always prefer to exercise after I’ve eaten), but I was proud that I did it right after I woke up. On the way, I listened to a few podcast episodes and encountered my sister, who has also become an early morning exerciser (so early that even the birds aren’t awake).

Then, I came back, with just enough time to shower and put on the first outfit I could find. Poor people in my 9 am class 😂. I relocated downstairs and cooked oatmeal with the zoom class in one hand and a pot in the other.

11 am: My advanced assessment professor has a “strong conviction that syllabus day should be a short day”, as she put it, and so it was that we were dismissed an hour early. At this point, my mom put me on the phone with a Fidelity representative. He used fancy financial jargon to explain what a SEP account was and why it wouldn’t count as a deduction for my taxes.

12 pm: After that, I had an assessment club meeting. The club is still in its earliest stages of development, but I am its vice president, so I attended a leadership meeting where we welcomed the secretary and discussed each person’s responsibilities. Mine include scheduling guest speakers (the most exciting part), checking the club email weekly, and creating meeting itineraries. Then, I had my second class, during which I finished up my fourth work report.

4 pm: Driving to the park is the best thing to do during a break, in my opinion. And I had a break from 4 to 5 pm. I ended up reading at the park and got ambushed by two large, cute dogs in the process. One of them jumped onto the bench and started vigorously licking my hand. The owner introduced her as Lucy. Lucy was an extremely friendly dalmation.

5 pm to 8 pm: My third class was interesting. The professor freely admitted to being “blunt, sarcastic, and using colorful language”, a trifecta that I was nervous about, being the sensitive girl I am 😂. But his class seemed promising, and I liked how he taught on that first day.

By the evening, I was completely tired out. I read in bed until I fell asleep. I think that first day was one of the busiest (and best) days I’ve had in a while.