Starting Strong and Staying Strong

Posted October 16, 2018 by Maria Reilova

A little over a month into my first semester of grad school and, oh boy, what a whirlwind! From really nailing down my commute in from Brighton, (never thought I’d be team bus over T) to learning how to layer (someone please teach how to scarf) so as not to over heat during said commute, these past weeks have been quite the experience. But enough about my struggles over the weather, let’s talk classes.

For my first semester, I chose to take the 3 core courses to get them out of the way before the snow hits too hard and I lose all motivation to leave my bed. This means that I’m enrolled in 407-Information Sources & Services, 415-Information Organization, and 488-Technology for Information Professionals. I was warned by my advisor before the semester that this course load would be tough with a lot of reading and a lot of assignments. Personally, I always feel more energetic and refreshed Fall semester since it’s a new school year and you’re coming off from ideally a relaxing summer. So with what my advisor said in mind I dived head first into my classes.

Now having a good number of weeks under my grad school belt, I can say that my advisor was most certainly right! These classes are very heavy on the reading and I have several assignments, some due on the same days! While this does lead to some very stressed out, over-caffeinated panics, it has also really helped me learn better time management skills and how scheduling every little thing you have to do makes a huge difference. I’m the type of person that needs visual reminders so I’m a huge advocate for getting yourself a whiteboard and loads of sticky notes (color coded obviously). Having all of my datelines visible every day can really help to conceptualize how you need to organize and prioritize all your work.

Another important thing I like to stress as well is that unfortunately, sometimes you won’t be able to finish all the readings or write the award-worthy discussion post you wanted to, life can just get in the way sometimes. This doesn’t have to completely derail you though! As cheesy as it sounds you just have to persevere, take it one day at a time if you need to, you are going to be okay! As someone returning to school after a few years off (feeling like I forgot a lot of the key skills required to study), this is definitely something I can never say often enough to myself.