One Class Down

This past week, I had my first graduate class of summer.  I took Research Methods, which I'm fairly certain will be the most difficult course of my Masters program.

Why spend a week of summer reading miserable research articles, you ask?  Well, it's because I'm fairly certain that we have created a downhill ride by getting this class out of the way.  Had we chosen to put this class off until the end of the program, we would have spent the next year dreading it.  Instead, we went in with the attitude of thankfulness... we were thankful to be getting it out of the way.

Amber and Tiffany were a group, and they researched cooperative learning.  Adam and Steph were a group, and they researched parental involvement.  I worked alone (believe me, I work better that way), and I researched ability grouping.

So many hours within the last week were spent reading.  Reading and reading and reading and typing and reading and reading and reading and typing and reading and reading and reading and reading and typing and typing and reading and editing.  Whew.  By Thursday, we were mentally exhausted.  Among the three groups, we had read countless pages of research articles and had written more than 100 pages of text.

But, friends, we are now officially done!  Can we have a moment of celebration, please?

YIPPEE!  HOORAY!  WOOT WOOT!

Thank you.

After getting this class out of the way, I have come up with a list of five things that I love most about my experience so far at Doane.

Drumroll, please........................

5.  1 week, 1 class, 3 credits, done.
The scheduling is so easy and convenient.  I can still schedule in all of the summer activities that I want.  If I want to spend a week in Wayne, America, volunteering for NASC's Summer Leadership Workshop, no problem.  I just don't sign up for a class that week.  And if I want to vacation with my family in Chicago, no problem.  I just don't sign up for a class that week.  And if I want to spend four straight weeks of summer taking four straight weeks of classes, which is the maximum Doane will allow without having special permission?  I can do that.  And I am.

4.  Free Parking.

For comparisson, at UNL, it cost would me $480 for a parking permit.  $480 is a lot more than free.

3.  Free copying and free printing.
There is no Google image with a sign that says 'free copying and free printing.'  You want to know why?  Because something that good just doesn't exist anywhere but at Doane.  I don't even want to think about how much it would have cost me to print off all the research articles I used in the last week.  Or to print off four copies of my 40-page paper for peer revision, plus printing one more final 40-page paper.

2.  Free coffee, tea, or hot chocolate.

 No need to spend extra time in the morning brewing a pot of coffee.  Doane provides it for you.  For free.  How great is that?

1.  That I get to spend more quality time with these fine people.

Words cannot express how amazing these people are.  They are some of my very best friends.... who also happen to be my co-workers.  And now, they're also my graduate school classmates.

What a blessing it is to have such a tremendous group of people whom you don't get tired of seeing.  Besides spending every day this past week from 8-5 in class, we also spent Monday night watching The Bachelorette.  And we spent Wednesday and Thursday night at the Cownies' house reading and working on our research papers.

And we may or may not have spent Thursday night celebrating being done with our class.

Being with these people makes me realized how much I am richly, richly blessed.  My cup runneth over.