Overcoming Growing Pains
Posted April 12, 2022 by Elizabeth Poland
I am very surprised to say I am nearing the end of my first semester here at Simmons! It feels like a whirlwind, to be honest – I applied and got accepted in October, moved to Boston in December, and started school in January. I am very grateful for the people who have supported me in this big life transition from my parents to my boyfriend to the friends that I’ve made so far in my classes. I definitely believe I made a smart choice moving to the city a full month before the semester started, but nothing could have prepared me for the transition into grad school life. It might have been because I accidentally signed up for 4 courses instead of the recommended 3 or fewer, so I quickly started to drown in responsibility. About a month into the semester I had one of those existential crises where nothing I was doing made sense — why was I going to grad school anyway? Why don’t I just escape civilization? What am I doing with my life?
What helped me make it over this hump is something my sister said: just wait one more month. If it doesn’t get better or it gets worse, that’s when you can do something about it. If it gets better, then you know these are just growing pains. So I waited one more month. Turns out, she was right. I made some really great friends in my classes, learned how to balance school work and my personal hobbies, and explored some beautiful parts of Boston. I’ve completed assignments that I’m really proud of and am looking forward to the opportunities that will result from this degree.
I guess I just learn time and time again that life never goes how you expect it to and most times that’s a good thing.
Speaking of this sentiment, registration for fall classes has begun. I signed up for LIS 438: Intro to Archival Theory and Practice and LIS 446: Art Documentation for Museums, Archives & Libraries. The last class I planned on registering for was LIS 453 Collections Development and Management…I ended up 17th out of 18 people on the waitlist. Not ideal. While looking for a replacement class, however, I found LIS 532: Museum Studies, a course I hadn’t heard of before and am insanely interested in. I immediately signed up for the class. Even the smallest things, like not getting a class I wanted, can result in bigger and better opportunities.