New Haircut, New Blog Post.

Ok, I've been reminded that I have been remiss of late at updating my blog. This is due to the fact that 1. I've been busy reading and studying for class and b. Reading and studying make very boring topics to blog about, unless you are interested in hearing my thoughts regarding autoethnography. I doubt that you are since, well, I'm not even that interested in hearing my thoughts about autoethnography.

That's not to say that I am not enjoying my studies. In fact, I am enjoying them very much. They are challenging and I'm learning things that I never expected to study, but then again I wasn't really sure what I was getting into when I signed up for grad school. Grad school is definitely a whole new world in comparison to my previous school experiences. First of all, I am only in class for about 8 hours a week. Two of my classes only meet once a week, which means I have plenty of time outside of class to....read. I know I've talked about the reading already, but hey, that's pretty much all I do. The other big difference between undergrad and grad classes is that now the professors actually expect you to start thinking for yourself. In the past I've always been told what to learn and then am expected to be able to regurgitate all the information I've been told to learn. Now I am given material to learn and then asked what I think about it. There are no more multiple choice questions or fill in the ______ . I have to start having original thoughts and then learn how to communicate them. This is somewhat difficult because I have to overcome my fear of not having the right answers and instead justify the answers I have. There's not outline of what I need to know. I'm on my own to discover what I need to know.

I have been blessed recently with a new job. I guess it's not really new anymore, but I haven't blogged about it so it's new to you. I am working as an office assistant in the Premed office at Baylor. This job involves answering the phone (maybe 2-3 times a day) and helping students who come into the office (about 5-10 any given morning). The rest of the time I just have to be available in case they have some task for me to complete, like finding a battery for a wireless mouse. This gives me plenty of time to....you guessed it - READ! I really feel like I am working in a glorified study hall where I'm getting paid to study. I'm not getting paid very well, but hey, I'm getting paid nonetheless. The other benefit of this position is that it has the potential to turn into a graduate assistantship. A graduate assistantship has become my holy grail, my one goal outside of studying, because a graduate assistantship would pay my tuition and provide me with wages (better than what I am currently making now). For all of you out there praying for me, please pray that I can receive one of these positions so that it is affordable for me to remain in school. It looks like the office I'm working in will offer me this position in the Spring, so all in all, I think it's a good situation for me to be in.

Oh, and as per the title of my blog today, I got my haircut. I love getting my haircut. I would get it cut every week if it didn't cost money. Today's haircut was a new adventure for me. For about the past 8 years my friend Patrice (whom I love dearly) has been cutting my hair and doing a fabulous job. Patrice lives in MN, so she obviously is not an option for me right now. I am rather particular about my hair, so I asked my roommate Annie if she could recommend someone. She has never gotten her haircut in Waco, but she did have a friend who had given her the card of a stylist after Annie complimented her on her haircut. As I was desperate for a haircut, and will not by in MN in the near future, I made an appointment with Crystal and hoped for the best. I love it, so I guess it turned out ok :)

Speaking of being back in MN, for those of you anxiously awaiting my return, as I'm sure you all are - I will be home for Thanksgiving!! Not only will I be home for Thanksgiving, but I will be in MN the whole week (Nov. 21 - 28). So mark your calendars and pencil in some time for me.