I started my master's program this week and I've probably done more reading and writing in these past four days than I did in the last four weeks of spring quarter.  I've never taken summer classes before, so I didn't realize that in a five-week course that meets twice a week, each session is the equivalent of one week in "normal" quarter time.  But of course there are still only twenty-four hours in which to get all the reading and assignments done, so it's pretty intense.  I'm enjoying it, though, and our readings and discussions have reassured me that I am in the right place, preparing to be a teacher and do what I love most.

So far there have been a few huge shifts in the structure of my school life, and both seem to be reversions to high school.  First of all, I am in class for a good five hours a day, and one Tuesdays and Thursdays that's five consecutive hours.  I did that winter quarter and it was absolutely ghastly, but mostly because it involved racing from Denney Hall (central campus) to Parks Hall (the western butt end of the Medical Center) in cold, nasty conditions.  It's not so bad now because all of my classes are in Arps Hall, and in the same two rooms to boot.

Second, instead of being a nameless face in a department of five hundred, I am one of just thirty-five in this year's M.Ed cohort.  Maybe this is reaction to four years in the largest department on campus, but I love being part of this small group.  I am actually learning the names of people in my classes, and it's possible to actually get to know them.  Yesterday before our afternoon class a bunch of us sat around playing Apples to Apples (a very revealing game, by the way) and had a great time.  I can actually bake brownies for class now because it doesn't mean making siz dozen...and baked goods are the fastest and easiest way to make friends.

So all in all, the master's program is a bit like high school reloaded, only this time I am determined to be more successful socially!