April 16, 2007

Graduation

Well, the reality of graduation seems so much more real now.  I just finished addressing my graduation announcements.  Graduation can come none too quick, that’s for sure.  I cannot believe all of the projects that I have left to complete in the next two weeks not to mention studying for my finals.  I should have been studying for my finals or writing my senior thesis instead of writing invitations!

Did I mention that I’m now holding a part time job that goes full time upon the end of my classes AND that baseball season has begun for my boys?  I think I can, I think I can, I think I can….I should feel very lucky though that I have landed a job before graduation.  My experience as a research assistant on campus qualified me for a position that requires a Bachelor’s degree and two years of experience.  My two years experience was during my last two years of undergrad and I’m close enough to earning that Bachelor’s degree that they let me have the position.

If there is one thing I can stress?  I KNOW it’s hard to juggle it all with a family but DO get involved on campus.  I received the Chancellor’s Scholar Award scholarship that paid for my final year in college due to my involvement on campus and my grades.  If you have to choose between being less involved on campus and graduating sooner or being more involved and dropping back to part time I would suggest part time college with campus involvement.  I was paid by the university for my research projects in the form of fellowships, the activities I was involved in all qualified as lines on my Curriculum Vitae (this is an academic resume for those of us who have no work experience to report), and all of the experiences showed that I was a dedicated, dependable person who was worthy of employment even though I stayed home with my children for 12 years.

I’m also excited to report that last week I was awarded as one of the Outstanding Students of 2006-2007, I won Outstanding Psychology Student of the Year 2007, and even though I didn’t make it into a Clinical program for graduate school, something even better has happened…I have been tentatively offered a position in a neuroscience PhD program locally.  I have mixed feelings about it because I will have to give up my new job in a few short months to enter the program, but the opportunity is one that I would be crazy to pass up if it comes to fruition.  I guess the only thing to do is just ride it out and see how it goes.  For now though I must start writing a term paper!