So, this is my last week of grad school.
…
correction:
SO, THIS IS MY LAST WEEK OF GRAD SCHOOL YOU GUYS OMGASDFASDFWEreralkejr;lwk232
I have been in school since August of 2009. I have not had more than a week’s break from classes in almost three years. I’ve been working anywhere between 1 and 27 jobs. My life is school and school is my life. It now appears that I am being kicked out of my institution, and I must seek greener pastures.
Ideally, those greener pastures would include A Full Time Job, but more on that nonsense later.
And even if I was to suddenly find myself with a smashing, 40 hr/week career job, I’m afraid that I am a busy body. Taking class and working eleven-million jobs has exacerbated the problem. I can barely watch a movie or play a video game or sit quietly on the couch anymore. I need projects, I need to keep moving, I am probably bordering on manic but my Brain! Must! Keep! Moving! otherwise I start to panic.
Well, this post is getting weird. Onto the good stuff. In order to shut up my panic-brain, here are some things I would like to learn now that I have a little time on my hands.
Learn how to knit
I have been meaning to learn how to knit for years and years and years. My whole family does it. I am jealous of the things they can make. My roommate took two classes and could suddenly knit entire outfits, she was such a natural. I, on the other hand, knit this square, and that was it.
I would like to try again, but in truth, knitting might not be high on my priority list. You see, the reason I keep quitting is not because I am so busy or have questionable talent, but because I am too broke to buy yarn. While I will have more time in the near future, I will not have more money. Conundrum.
Learn how to speak Spanish
A) I have always wanted to learn another language. I took two years of Spanish in high school and two semesters of French in college. I can therefore speak not-much-of-anything, but I feel I could pick up a little of either language with a bit of practice. I’m no stranger to language-learnin’. Why not learn the language that, oh, thousands of my fellow American citizens speak? That would be useful, huh?
B) You would not believe how many jobs I am getting boxed out of because I do not speak Spanish. I am a little perturbed that my fancy grad school education has left me somewhat unemployable in this manner! Anyway, this skill could be marketable for me, as well.
Learn how to run a 10K
Okay, so you are wondering “hey, Jessica, whatever happened to running a 5K? Well I will tell you: I have been able to run 3 very slow miles (with reasonable/limited amounts of walking) since about March.
But right when I was getting comfortable running 2-3 miles 4 or 5 times a week, I got really-really-really-busy. I stopped having time for quite so many runs, and on the evenings I did have off, I collapsed in a puddle of exhaustion.
I am not really making much progress, mileage-wise.
Anyway, I’d like to get my momentum back, and I’m thinking about formally “training” for a longer run. I spotted a little training plan on the Marriage Confessions blog that looked completely…. reasonable. I think this will motivate me to use some of my new-found free time to get off my butt and run regularly again.
Learn how to meditate
Some people are really zen and chill and they never grind their teeth or accidentally hold their breath or sit with their shoulders up against their ears. Some people can shut off the talk-talk-talking in their brain for more than 1 minute. I think those people are happier than me and they can do all that because they have learned to meditate.
Maybe this is not exactly true, but I feel there is likely value in being able to sit in silence and be. That is not a skill I have cultivated. I think it could help my Physical-Manifestations-of-Stress problems, as well as well as make me a less anxious (aka less snippy, less weepy, more pleasant) human being.
This will be hard. The idea of scheduling a half hour to “sit” just blows my mind. Sitting? What is that? I’m either on the go, crashed on the couch, or asleep.
Learn how to get married
I went through a brief “Plan-your-wedding-before-you-are-engaged” stage. Years ago. When I had more time to day dream. And had no idea how much things like weddings cost. Anyway, I would like to get married sometime in 2013, so now is the time to learn… and learn fast!
This is probably a post for another day, but I basically want nothing to do with wedding-planning, so this could be painful. Can we skip right to the cake-tasting?