Back in the saddle

After a five almost six month hiatus from blogging, I am back in the saddle. I'm taking a cue from my almost-20-year-old cousin Allison who is starting her sophomore year at Iowa State. She did a month excursion in Belize this past summer and blogged every day during her experience. She has picked the blogging back up now that she's in school, and I thought I would like to do the same. I won't write every day, but I will use this as a place to pen some thoughts as I go through my grad school experience.

And at this point I'll pause and say HOLY CRAP! I am FINALLY starting grad school!!!

Today is my first day of class for the Masters in Art Therapy program I'm beginning in Chicago. I have been working towards this day for over 3.5 years, from the moment I found out about art therapy on Marylhurst's website and said "Oh my gosh, that's what I want to do! That's how I can make the world a better place!" (I still think that sounds so corny, but it literally was what came out of my mouth). Every step of the way, I have known for a fact this is what I'm supposed to do with my life. Things have fallen into place, and the journey I've taken since leaving Charis Ministries and beginning prerequisite classes at the City Colleges of Chicago has led me to this point. I started working at Starbucks, I joined Al-Anon, I moved in with Audrey. Those three things alone have been life-changing, and have helped me grow into a mature self-aware young adult who is starting a career-driven graduate program today!

I am a little bit nervous. I printed off my syllabi last night, and oh man. This is going to be a tough semester! Every term will probably be tough terms, but because this is the first one, it feels more overwhelming. I have four main classes plus a professional development seminar. All four classes have a group project/presentation, and at least two have a final paper of 10-20 pages (the 20-page paper is a grant proposal, oh boy! I knew I'd never get away from grant-writing but a 20-page proposal in my first semester of grad school is a little much). However, my History & Theory of Art Therapy class has a daily drawing journal requirement, and I'm beyond excited about that. It'll help me keep my sketching skills sharp and will allow me creative expression on a daily basis.

One of my tendencies when I start to feel overwhelmed is to start to compartmentalize my life. I automatically want to limit my extra activities so I have time to study. I automatically want to change my mind about finding a gym/getting a gym membership and how often I'll work, so I have time for school work and my meetings. However, if I've learned anything the past 3 years in program, it's that balance is KEY. I have to have fun. I have to exercise. I have to work. And yes, I'll have to make sacrifices in order to have time to study, but that's okay. As long as I'm still taking care of me in the other areas of my life as well. I imagine I will not go to all three meetings every week. I imagine I'll find 2-3 days a week to fit in an exercise routine. I imagine I'll find the pockets of study time that work with my schedule. What do I do about step-work? Build it into social time, and have people I can meet up with to do step-work. Grad school can and will be manageable, as long as I don't tense up and freak out!

In the end, while it might feel scary and overwhelming today, I just keep remembering how excited I am to start this, how excited I am to learn, and how good it feels to be doing what I know I'll love and what I know I'm meant to do. Just for today, I will be grateful for the opportunity and be excited for what lies ahead.

Thanks Ally for motivating me to blog again! Love you kiddo.

Hugs, Briana