1st Week of School is Done: A Few Things I've Learned Already

This is the first capitol building in Iowa.  It is smack dab in the center of campus.  It is also the crowning glory of a very large, steep hill that you can't escape when you are going to school at the University of Iowa.  You can jog, skate, bike, walk, or take a bus, but up that hill you will go.  There is no way around it if you need to get from point A to point B and they are on either side of this sharply inclined pain in the ass.  But there is a lovely view while you move up and over that hill.

On top of the hill are all the cool shops, great food places, and the ped-mall.  It's where everyone goes when they don't want to stay in the library to study or  be in class.  It's always busy.  I've walked up and down that hill numerous times this week, and my legs are still shrieking.  


Here are a few things I've learned already.  At this rate, by the time I'm done in 2 years, I will have so much knowledge I may want to rule a small country:

*I do not look like a student.  This is good in many ways.  No one bothers me while I'm moving from point A to point B.

*The shorts young ladies wear these days are just too damn short.  Yeast infections must run rampant around here.

*Librarians are not what you think.  I believe I am riding the "cusp" of this new, crazy, information guru librarian wave.  Forget card catalogs, and instead think computer savvy, class teaching, information-culler and program-forming source of all knowledge.  That is what a librarian is today.  Oh.  There are also a gazillion different types of librarians.  I have yet to meet one who has the same title as another.  They work everywhere!  

*Iowa has the most public libraries of any state in the United States.  Sweet.

*I am too old to go to 2 classes twice a week and work full time to come home and have a cocktail.  These are firmly placed on the Friday/Saturday night dinner menu for the next few months.  No drinkee for Susie.  At least not during the week.  

*Graduate school is hands down so beyond different than undergraduate school.  All I can say is it involves projects for class, lots of reading articles, and always, always, looking at ways to connect with others in your field.  So far I will be attending a conference (and writing a paper on it), interviewing a librarian, job shadowing a librarian this semester, giving a book talk, leading a class discussion (a whole hour and 20 minutes--power point may be used--did I tell you I don't know power point?) keeping a reading journal, reading one book a week from several different genres, learning to write computer code, and having group projects in class, too.  This is just the tip of the ice berg.  I also have to write a 20 page paper and a 7 page paper.  And I think a 3-5 page paper, too. 

*There aren't enough calendars to keep track of all this stuff.  I am deathly afraid I will miss some crucial due date.  I would like a personal assistant to tell me what my day will require every morning while serving me coffee and a chocolate filled croissant.  

****All I can keep saying to myself is have faith.  This is a marathon and I will remember to hydrate, snack to keep up my energy, and take rest breaks when needed.  But I will get through it and learn a lot in the process.  Have faith is my mantra.

I am now off to bed, so I can let my brain rest.  

**One more thing.  All this new learning stuff is making my brain have some crazy ass dreams at night, populated with people I've never seen and colors that would rival Oz.