Grad School By The Numbers

 

There has been rumbling in some quarters that I “try too hard and study too much” and I “do extra credit.” To respond to these notions, I’ve put together an educational post designed to shed light on the grad school workload. There are NO opportunities for extra credit in grad school. One earns grades from the required assignments and everything is graded on a rubric.

I’d like to debunk the notion that I “try too hard.” On my first assignment for class #2, I realized that I’d spent several hours doing the wrong assignment and then proceeded to quickly do the correct assignment and hand it in. I got the top grade. I was surprised to hear that this was not the case for my peers who were complaining that their case study papers were considered not long enough and there was not enough information provided in the case study to work with (but did you know about Google? It’s a very useful research tool). I do, however, put more effort into high-value assignments for instructors that have strict grading requirements.

This semester was one of my most difficult semesters ever for multiple personal and professional reasons. For the first time in my current job, I decided to take 2 classes because both are completely online (saving travel time) and one was easier. The second 7-week class ran concurrently with the first 14-week class and began in mid-semester when the first was well underway and major projects were due.

By the Numbers

Class #1

• 1,500 words weekly for several essay response questions and a journal entry
• 50 words weekly for discussion board
• 100 pages of reading a week
• 28 total double-spaced pages for final paper (plus reading and researching to gather information for paper; 15 pages minimum, excluding title and reference pages) 
• 12 total double-spaced pages for 3 short papers (plus reading journal article that formed the basis for the papers; 9 pages required, excluding title and reference pages)

Class #2

• 120 pages of reading each week
• 300 words weekly for discussion board
• 14 total double-spaced pages for final paper (plus reading and researching to gather information for paper; 10 pages minimum, excluding title and references)
• 8 single-spaced pages for business case studies
• 5 PowerPoint slides for group project (plus 3 conference calls and reading to develop slides)

The Result

My grade point streak continues!! I now have 3 more classes to complete and will graduate in December 2013 or May 2014.

Run for Your Life, Part II

It was the end of the academic semester and three months before our major convention. In addition to part-time staff, I had an intern last summer, but this time I didn't. And there are only so many hours in the day. The stress wrapped itself around me like a vise. I felt tense all of the time. I developed problems sleeping and would wake up before my alarm went off and start thinking about work. Getting back to sleep was impossible, so I just went to work. I developed problems with eating.

Out of all this...a really great thing happened. I once again decided to get on the treadmill at 4:30 a.m. to run and walk. Just 1.5 miles at first. Then 2 miles with a generous walk/run ratio. Just two weekdays. My "long" runs on the weekends were at most just one more mile. Running is always hard at first because there are a lot of aches and pains. It was the only time when the stress melted away. I felt like a million and sometimes the effect lasted for the rest of the day. And sooner - or later - running gets easier and 2 miles isn't so hard. I still have a tiny base, and I have no plans to do anything except increase my base little by little. Consistency is still a challenge. I've run two 5Ks this summer and I hope to find another one. I hope to continue.

Run For Your Life

Not long ago, I left a staff position at a large association that I’d held for 13 years and took a management position at a small nonprofit. I had stayed in my previous position due to many externalities related to being a married working mother and longed for a change. The new position was one that I’d said I’d hoped one day to hold on my graduate school applications. The career move changed my entire life, but left me wondering if it was for the better.

I’d previously worked about 40 hours a week, commuted two hours daily, and completed two graduate classes a semester. I ascribed to a philosophy of yin and yang—as I understood it—and counterbalanced work and studying by the equal and opposing physical activity of training for and running my third half marathon. However, my training plan and fitness level were modest. In my new position, I worked about 50 hours a week, commuted up to 3 hours daily, and completed a single graduate class a semester. As the pace of the job sped up and the months flew by, life got out of balance as I found it difficult to get back into a fitness routine and fended off minor stress-related physical problems. At my lowest point, after a difficult day at the office, I sprained my ankle getting up from the couch, and after sitting on the couch another month to recuperate, I could barely walk two blocks without getting winded.

I've greatly enjoyed the ups and downs of running and multisport. I originally started running to lose weight. Then I ran for various other reasons...

Reasons Why….

• I run because it’s a back-to-nature experience and I enjoy seeing the local ecosystems change with the seasons
• I run for the endorphins
• I run because I want to give it another season
• I run because it allows me to run away from my stress at the end of the day
• I run because it wakes me up in the morning (if I can get up to run!)
• I run because it allows me to review my class material
• I run because I think it might reduce migraines (of course, there’s no proof, but it’s motivating!)
• I run because I want to tri

But now, I'm not running to race or to have a racing season. I'm running for my life. I want to run because it's the only way that I can relieve stress.

I'm ready to ponder the central theme of Joanne Ciulla’s book, The Working Life: The Promise and Betrayal of Modern Work (2000), which focuses on the meaning of work, it's place in our lives, and leisure. Send your muse my way because that's the topic of my next paper.

Raise Your Hand When You Want to Change the Subject

Every semester, I always debate whether or not to mention that I'm deaf when classes begin, and so far, I've always let my instructors know that I'm deaf. Although I'm documented with the school's office of disability services as a student with a disability, I've never actually used any accommodations because I never felt the need. I simply let instructors know that I am deaf and will not likely use accommodations, but may do so if I face any unforseen challenges. What could be wrong with this picture?

I became deaf just before middle school. Now I'm in grad school and can finally hear the teacher in class with my cochlear implant without the need for additional assistive technology or other accommodations. Do I hear everything? No. There's always a student in the back of the class in the cornter that I can't understand. And I'm sure that I miss a thing or two that the teacher says. But to me, being able to understand most, but not all, of the instruction and dialogue is good enough and I'm happy with what I do hear. One of the reasons that I wanted the cochlear implant was because I knew one day I would return to school and I thought the implant would make it easier -- and it has. I'm thrilled to be able to sit down in class and understand the teacher.

However, not all the instructors seem to react so positively.

In one class, I would raise my hand and not get called on. Then I wrote a paper in which my grade was 20 points higher than the average grade in the class on the project. After that, the teacher began to call on me.

This semester, I got an A on my paper. I had my hand up numerous times during a discussion in which I had a lot of opinion. I was called on just once, although others in the class were called on repeatedly during the conversation.

I don't like to blurt out responses in class because I prefer to clearly have the conversational ball.
But what does it take to get called on and participate?

The solution to this situation is:
a) Nothing. It is all in my imagination.
b) I should disclose my disability only if I need an accommodation.
c) Do my homework and keep quiet in class.
d) Stop writing multiple choice questions!
e) None of the above

Grad School Math

I take that back. I don't think I have the grad school blues. School is actually the easiest way to feel successful right now. It is unbelieveably easy. I barely study. I get good grades. I wrote 4 papers in 4 weeks, and then just showed up to present. The only thing that mattered was whether I cited peer-reviewed journals, and for the most part, I did.

I am surrounded by students who have easier lives. They have a short commute to school and home. They get off at 3-4 p.m. in the afternoon and then they go home to refresh themselves before coming to school. I commute 3 hours a day - on non-school days. I don't want to think about how much time I spend in a car on schooldays.

I work 8-12 hours a day and I still feel that I am drowining in the deep water. And then I contemplate trying to take 2 classes next semester and trying to add a 4 hours of studying every night to that schedule, with more on the weekends. Everyday, I wake up and think about how I'm going to finish and everyday it's the one question I can't answer. To be fair, next semester I'm taking an online class and a Saturday class, but I'll still need to actually study, unlike this semester. I also know I'll need to take at least 2 more semesters of 2 classes to gradute in the next 1.5-2 years. I try to balance and accommodate eveyone else's needs and then I wonder how I'm ever going to meet my own.

Let's do the grad school math:

10 hours work - and I still feel as though I'm drowning
3 hours commute on a non-school day. 4.5 hours on a school day.
3-4 hours of studying each night for 2 classes. No weekend work despite the work buildup!!
2 hours get up and care for son
1 hour eat/talk to spouse
= 19-20 hour day

Grad School Blues

I always compare grad school to running a marathon. Right now I'm at the half-marathon mark. Halfway through. The point where it doesn't get any easier--and there's still 13.1 more miles to go. It will be a long, slow journey. This year, I've committed to taking just one class so that I wouldn't be so busy during my youngest child's last year of high school. And then there's the new job, which doesn't leave as much time for going to school.

I finally got an idea for an area that I would like to explore, if I were taking an independent study. I developed a research question from reading the textbook before class started, which I scribbled on an envelope. This is my last elective, and I'd been eagerly anticipating it since I registered last spring. Given the subject matter, I envisioned learning about best practices in developing marketing messages. I visualized an interactive assignment around personal selling.

But all the hope, dreams, and excitement were crushed when I read the syllabus. The entire class revolves around writing 4 papers (just one more than the undergrad students taking the class), and completing a group assignment. The topic is interesting--but the syllabus completely uninspiring. It's only the first class and I'm already making plans to work ahead so that I can get this class over with. I've got the grad school blues. And I'm piled higher and deeper.

So Much Change

My entire multisport life has been a complete wash. In the past, I've been able to get back to multisport during the summer and use the time away from grad school to get back into shape. But this year, I've been swept away with a busy new job, grad school, and then a work-related summer conference. I signed up for three races - two before I took the position - and I think I'm going to forego all of them.

There have been some highlights. My husband and I and our youngest son took a weekend trip to Snow Hill, Maryland. The highlight was cycling from Snow Hill to Berlin. It was 50 miles roundtrip, but for the most part, the miles were easy because the terrain was flat. We followed parts of the Seagull Century route, which made me want to do the Seagull Century. The only difficult part was heading back at the end of the day when we were tired and facing a strong headwind.

Our kid and a friend cycled to Ocean City, accompanyed by a girl who asked if they needed "a partner in crime." She was an experienced cyclist who took a water pack and had clipless pedals, so I though she was a good match. Their journey was longer, and they also faced the headwind. It was an awesome, enjoyable trip--something that I put together at the spur of the moment, and thoroughly enjoyed. Sometimes the weekend trips are the best.

For the most part, I spent the summer trying to get back into running, but never quite doing it. I'd eat an ice cream cone and read the latest issue of Runners World. But I'm still trying to get back into running, and I hope to succeed, even as the school year begins. I have no vision of racing....right now. I simply want to stay in shape, enjoy the stress relief, and get some semblance of worklife balance. I actually feel grumpy if I can't get a bike ride in during the weekend. And there's never a time when I see a cyclist pass me in D.C. that I don't wish that I was riding my bike. This effect is only intensified when I see someone riding clipless.

It doesn't help that my husband has an ankle injury. He's been to an othopod, PT and had xrays and an MRI. But he's still experiencing pain and injury that affect his everyday life. We have another appointment coming up, and I'm crossing my fingers that we'll get some better answers.