Grad School Bound

I have to be honest, even though I went through the agonizing process of studying for the GRE and applying to graduate schools when I first got to Argentina, the long waiting process has kind of been on the back burner in my mind. I just have too much going on here all the time to think about. So I was surprised when I came home after my run tonight to find out that I was accepted to the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy.

It just kind of slipped my mind that I had ever applied to grad school, and my first reaction was, "Oh yeah, I did that." But still, a smile crept across my face, and a weight was lifted. It's a relief to know that I've been accepted somewhere, even though I still have to wait to hear back from seven other schools. A lot has changed in the last couple of years. Before graduating from UMass I had no intentions of going to grad school, and now I will be going at some point in the future.

How I found out is pretty odd. In my Inbox the first email I saw was from Facebook telling me that my uncle had responded, "That's terrific!" to something on my wall. I had no idea what it could be about, so I followed the link and saw a message from my sister that the letter was sent home and I was accepted. A pretty non-traditional way to find out you've been accepted to graduate school, but I'll take it over a text message or the game telephone. Ironically, I was rejected from Maryland for undergraduate studies.

My first reaction is to email the people who recommended me and let them know, and then look back on what I wrote for my personal statements and see what I did to get in. I know, but I want to be sure it's not a practical joke. I celebrated quietly at home with some leftover chicken parm and spiral pasta, and then wrote this blog post. Let the good times roll!

All Study and No Play Makes Jon a Dull Boy

I am a tired man. I'm working long hours and filling in the gaps with grad school applications and studying for the GRE. It's really too much to be taking on at one time, and if I were a wiser man I would have studied for the GRE when I worked 20 hours a week in Ecuador, taken the exam when I was home in the states, and applied for grad schools before I had a job. Well, I'm an idiot. You live and you learn, but hopefully you only need to suffer through this experience once.

Filling out all of the application materials for a grad school is painful, and it's as bad as you can imagine when you are applying to eight of them. They are all online now, and some of them even use the same "standard" application system. Yet though they are online and using the same systems, you still have to plug in the same information every time, which defeats the purpose. All of these personal statements are basically the same but questioned just a little bit differently so that you have to write them all over again, and edit them all over again just the same.

Obviously this hard work should go towards something, should really show that if you're willing to fill all of this junk out and take the GRE that you are serious about studying for a Masters. But it's not enough to get you in. It's just so draining that it really gives me respect for those who work full time jobs and then study at night school. I don't know how you could find the focus to sit in a class after working all day, let alone find the time to study, eat, do laundry, figure out bills, and try to have some semblance of a normal life. The hope would be that it will all pay off in the end. If it does.

I walk out of the office now and instead of going home with a skip in my step like every day is Friday before vacation, I'm simply drudging along to get home, change, and start studying again or filling out more applications. I eat a quick and usually unimaginative dinner of pasta because it's easy and quick to cook, and then it's back to the books. I feel guilty if I quit for a half hour before bed to unwind with some TV. This won't go on forever, and once I take the GRE in Buenos Aires on December 12th I can breath. Once all of the applications have been turned in by January (one in April) I can actually rest and start enjoying myself fully (with any luck).

My time here is going by quickly so far, mainly because I am so busy. I didn't intend to come down here and throw everything on the table like I have done, but it just kind of happened. It prevents me from doing more enjoyable during the week and makes me feel guilty on the weekend if I'm not making the most of every minute, but I have to believe that it will pay off in the end. Otherwise, it's been a good waste of time.