On break in graduate school. Ah, friends, here we are at the onset of a new semester. Three days in and I already feel the pressure of looming deadlines, the stress of having so much to do so soon. At the same time though, I feel the excitement of being back in class, of learning and thinking and challenging myself again. Always a mixed bag.....

I'm taking 18 (yes, 18!!) units this semester. (The average is 15). This means that I'm only taking one additional class, but something tells me that additional class will bring a lot of additional work. My reason for doing this relates to India. I would rather bulk up my load right now than have a super-busy schedule my final semester here. It's a slightly presumptuous plan, being that I don't know yet whether or not I have been accepted into the India program, but this is my way of willing it to be. :) I am a health concentration with a child, adolescent, and family health subspecialization, which only complicates the matter more. There are a number of classes that are only offered in the spring semester, and being that that will be my last semester, I'm thinking I'd like to have more time then to job-hunt....but why am I going into all of this detail? I'm boring even myself.

One of the best things about break, friends....doing anything I wanted, guiltlessly. I read, I watched movies, I caught up--albeit just a bit--on pop culture. And I did all of this without that gnawing, nagging feeling in the back of my mind, that "I should be reading. I should be studying" feeling. It was beautiful. I got together with friends from school. We had a day of The Wire episodes. We went out for yummy dinners. We danced. We shopped. It was also beautiful. I visited friends in DC, I went to a family reunion in Utah, I played with my nephew, I prayed that time would slow down but sadly it never did, bringing me ever so quickly back to this student life. It feels good, actually. Real good.

Gotta run, friends. I'm at field and have a meeting with my field instructor. Oh, I have a new position here at Sinai Hospital. More on that soon.

Take care.