Grad School - Week 1

Well, I am now officially a student. I can't believe I've been in Texas for 2 weeks already! This week was my first week of classes. I have 3 classes = 9 credits. Apparently, this is the average amount for a grad student. They warned us at orientation about the reading. They were not lying. I think I've spent on average about 3 hours a day just reading, sometimes more. For those of you who are not good at math - this is 21 hours a week. And that is just for 3 classes! So, yes, there is a lot of reading.

Week one of class went well. I think the most important thing I learned this week is from my Research Methods prof who said "You're not normal if you don't think of quitting grad school at least once a week." This has been incredibly reassuring. It seems at this point that I am constantly having to reassure myself that I am supposed to be here and that I am capable of succeeding. I consistently feel the need to prove myself to my professors as well as the other students in my program. I'm hoping that as the semester continues I'll be able to settle in and actually start feeling like I belong here.

I may have told some of you that one of the reasons I was excited about moving to Waco is because of a church here called Church Under the Bridge. This is a church here that meets under the I35 freeway (yes, the same one we have in MN), that was started as a ministry to the homeless population in Waco. There is an extreme dichotomy in the overall population of Waco. While Baylor as a private school tends to draw a student body from primarily affluent families, the rest of Waco is rather impoverished. In fact, we learned in church today that the among the black community 1 in 3 children in Waco are living beneath the poverty line. There are a lot of organizations in Waco working to address these issues and I'm hoping to be able to get involved with them in some capacity - possibly through attending Church Under the Bridge.

What I love about Church Under the Bridge is their embracing of diversity. We meet outside under the freeway in a ragtag gathering of folding chairs that look like they were saved from being thrown in the trash. There is not a clearly established row system so for the most part people pull up chairs and sit where and how they would like. The people gathered are from all walks of life - young, old, white, black, brown, rich, poor, homeless, students, professionals, vagabonds - everyone. It's beautiful.

Today the pastor spoke about caring for prisoners. He asked anyone who had ever been in jail or in prison to come to the front so we could pray for them and bless them as they continue to overcome their past. He made sure to acknowledge that we all our sinners, so their sins that had resulted in jail did not make them any worse than anyone else, but instead demonstrated how much more they had overcome in order to be in church today. It was really cool the way so many people were willing to come forward without shame to be prayed for. The pastor told the story of one man who had found Jesus while he was in prison and after he had finished his time was turned away from multiple churches because he didn't dress "right" before coming to Church Under the Bridge. It made my heart glad to be in a place where people who are often rejected by society are now being embraced as brothers and sisters. So that's probably my favorite thing about Texas so far :)

The other day I was walking back from class and I saw a little white dog running across the street up ahead of me. I looked around to see who it belonged to and shortly saw a girl chasing after the dog. She had no chance of catching up with it. As the dog started running straight toward me she yelled to me "Can you catch my dog?" I reached down and just scooped the thing up. She was so grateful. I thought to myself, "life in Texas is going to be an adventure." And it has been. I'll do my best to keep you posted on the adventures to come. Until then, you can assume that I'll be reading.

Oh, and I'd like to give an extra special shout out to Emily, Mike, Nick and Kea who have already sent me letters here in Texas. I love them all. I'm not going to beg, but if you like writing letters my address is 2620 South 3rd Street, Waco, TX 76706. I'd love hearing from all of you in any which way you prefer. Myself, I prefer receiving cookies ;)