Day 5: Lonely PBD Student

If there are other Post-Bac students in my classes, they are so not giving themselves up. Naturally I'm finding myself with somewhat different goals then most of the other students, who are taking classes to meet requirements for graduation, whereas I'm the mad one there taking the classes because I want to. I tell people I'm doing Social Policy Issues, and they give me a sympathetic look and wonder why I'm doing something so exciting.

Policy can be very interesting! Aside from being something I can disagree with others on, it can open up a whole new career field for me. I've always been very awesome at criticizing and telling people what to do, and here is the chance to do so tactfully, while working with other people to find the most equitable solutions! I could end up working anywhere.

Anyways...I'm taking four classes this semester, which means no one will see me again until this summer, and even then I'll be taking summer classes, but at least there, it appears I'll only be in school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There's just a whole lot of studying, and this semester seems to be a case of every prof believing their class takes priority, and therefore there is a ton of reading. In one class, it gets better...there's a ton of reading, and I don't know when to do them because there are no dates assigned. Like, wtf? I have three other classes that require my attention too, and I have to set up a specific schedule to make sure I'm keeping up, could you help me out a little and tell me X articles by Valentine's Day? Plus, how am I supposed to be keeping track of what applies to what class discussions? Boo.

I also learned something about getting to school. Currently, the shortest option is to take a 10 minute walk to a bus stop, hop that bus, get off at Lougheed Station and grab another bus up the Mountain. But if I miss that first bus, I'm hooped. It's such a random, infrequent run, that I can't just wait another 10-15 minutes and know there's another one on the way. It may be 20 minutes, it may be 30...so dumb. No, I have to make the 10 minute walk to Metrotown instead and grab a bus to SFU that takes longer and literally drives through every nook and cranny of Deer Lake Park, and past, I might add, two high schools, which makes the rides home super fun because of all the teenagers. Let's set the record straight here...when I was a teen, I wasn't like these kids today. I wasn't on my cell phone complaining to my friends that my dad was going to buy me a Lexus instead of the BMW 3 series car that all my friends have and that I want too. This is why I get irritated with teens today.

But I digress. School looks to be an interesting challenge so far. Unfortunately, it looks like the idea of a part time job to pick up the financial slack is going right out the window, but I am committed to getting the highest marks I can possibly achieve, and that means work. I need the grades to get into grad school, and to apply for scholarships, and most importantly, to prove that I'm committed to Grad School.

So far I like my professors, I'm excited about the content of most of the classes, and if I keep up with the reading, it looks like it will be a successful semester. But folks, don't forget to remind me to have a life every once in a while.