the saga

What happens when you work full-time, have a baby, and try to finish your masters degree at the same time? Chaos. Mayhem. Actually, even without Abby both of these words apply. I'm in my fourth (!!!) year trying to finish up what would be a two-year degree if I were working on it, solely, full-time. I expected it to take three. But then it got pushed back to 3 1/2. And now it's four. Years. 36 educational months. Seriously, am I mental?

No, just incredibly stubborn. I don't need a masters in English literature to continue teaching. I could do a mail-order 18-month job or stay up-to-date one "class" at a time in the summer when 1-week classes are prevalent. I could...but really, that's simply not my thing. To me, that doesn't benefit me and especially not my students.

So the saga continues, the 40-hour work week as well as an average of 18-24 hours devoted to grad work as well as frantic grading whenever I can. And this doesn't even account for grading that I can't get done at school. For the first time ever, I was on the verge of tears at school because of the grading. Am I nutters?!? Who does this? On purpose??!??

But I'm almost done, and that thought alone is so wonderful and so disheartening. I'm almost done, and yet there's so much to do yet. So I extended the torture just a little longer in lieu of some amount of sanity now. Next spring, I promise, I'm graduating. What purpose this whole exercise in seeming futility will have served remains to be seen. Let's hope for good things.

I look forward to reading for fun, to not driving to campus anymore, and to doing nothing constructive on Sunday afternoons. How will I celebrate? Any suggestions? Anyone want to donate to my Amy-just-finished-her-Masters-degree-and-now-feels-that-a-vacation-to-Hawaii-is-completely-and-utterly-warranted fund???