I am nearing the end of my last semester of classwork in my master's program.
For those who don't know the extent of my masochism, I enrolled in a full-time master of arts in English program last semester on top of a full-time job, two kids under six and a busy family life. So far, it has been going well.
Now that time has passed and hell on Earth has arrived.
Last semester I took two classes and it was manageable so this semester I decided to do three classes because who needs sleep, right? I have one month left. During this time, I have to complete two large research papers of 6,000 words each, a 30-minute presentation and seminar, an 8,000 word short story that has a plot and a story and some sort of point (it currently does not have any of those things), two response papers of a page each and three peer reviews.
When I list them like this, it makes me want to run away.
I have a sticky note above my desk that says, "Remember why you started in the first place!" The note is written with purple felt and has a few stars and hearts decorating the edges.
I think I grabbed the note on one of the Positivity Days at the university when I was feeling substantially more optimistic than I do right now.For the life of me, I have no idea why I started in the first place and I have completely forgotten how to write academic research papers.
This always happens in the final days leading up to the end of the semester. I research my topics, get myself organized and stare blankly at the wall trying to remember how to start. This is not a good feeling. Eventually, panic will set in fully enabling me to get past my inner critic and just write. Depending on how good my outline is will depend on how many times I will have to rewrite and adjust my paper. I am hoping for good outlines and I am more than a little intimidated by the length of these papers. I do not believe that any of my undergraduate research papers were even close to this length so I am hoping that the muse of graduate students ends up being kind to me because there is not enough time to worry any more about it.
Wish me luck for I will surely need it.
