A summary in bullets of my week so far:
Good

• Hearing about my wonderful reputation at former college
• Encouragement to come teach at former college
• Offer of collaboration on research project by leader in the area of research

• Overwhelmed by amount of home work
  
• Feelings of inadequacy
  
• Lost in the sea of research

Today is the big day--I'm taking the GRE. I'm not sure why, but I'm way more nervous then I thought I'd be. I'm generally a good test taker, but this test is killing me. It's not even the importance of it that is making me nervous because I have a pretty good under grad and grad GPA so I'm sure that will help balance out a bad score. Despite this rational knowledge, I am shaking with nerves. I even got sick at bowling last night and had to leave. I thought it was the stifling heat in the alleys that was making me nauseous but now, I'm thinking it must be this damn test. I know I'm not as prepared as I promised myself I would be. I've been staring at the GRE Prep books for months. I've worked on the vocab, but put off the dreaded math stuff until last week. The math is your basic Jr/Sr High math but it's been so long since I've done much of it that even the refreshers aren't refreshing. I plan to work on it a little more this morning before I head to the testing center, but I'm not sure how much it will help. I hope my nerves settle down once the test starts. 

So, I've been studying for the GRE. I have about 400 hundred words I'm trying to work into my vocabulary. I'm managing to learn a good 10-15 words each day. But here's the crazy part, instead of waking up with music in my head like normal, I've been waking up with a vocab word. Today's word was prevaricate. Weird.

This weekend I finished my winter term of classes. I'm so excited because I actually got an A from one of my favorite and toughest professors. AND--she recommended I submit my book review for publication. I expect to do well in my remaining classes, but it was my goal to get an A from Dr. Erickson, so I'm very happy to have met that goal. My thesis is coming together. My data isn't exactly what I wanted, but I'll be able to piece something together. The final draft is due May 5th and I will do my oral presentation on May 23rd. So, it's all downhill from here. Spring term starts Saturday. I'm taking my two final courses plus completing my thesis for credit, so my course load will be a little lighter than the 3-4 classes I've been taking. Oh and I picked up my cap and gown on Friday. Only 90 days until graduation!

Troubles Grow for a University Built on Profits

Here’s an interesting article from the New York Times. It’s about the rise in for-profit private colleges and the problems students are having.  This is another subject that I am quite passionate about. As lower-skill jobs are being eliminated and dislocated workers need retraining, we are seeing a rise in these for-profit colleges that cater to adult learners. I think some of the recruiting tactics are borderline predatory because they mislead low-income individuals into believing they will obtain their degree and high paying job. But the problem is that many of these “schools” are accredited to qualify students for financial aid and giving out degrees, but they are not accredited by a professional association. For example, my college is accredited by the U.S. Department of Education and/or some regional variation and  the social work program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. This means that my degree is social work meets the quality standards set out by the CSWE. It also means that my degree is valid and accepted by employers and other colleges nationwide (and worldwide). Now, let’s take the the University of Phoenix (the subject of the Times article). They are accredited by the U.S. Dept. of Education and/or some regional variation, but not with Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business which is the accrediting agency for business schools. So, when a student leaves U of Phoenix with a bachelor’s degree that person may have a difficult time getting a job in business because their degree is not valid with the AACSB. They may also have difficulty in getting any of those credits transfered to a traditional college. So, then they are left with thousands of dollars in students loans and no high paying job. It’s sad. It's worse when I know someone is enrolled in such a program and there isn't anything I can do to help them. It goes back to the old adage that if it’s too good to be true, then it probably is.

In an effort to avoid working on my literature review, I decided to sign, stuff, and seal all my Holiday cards. I still have to address them but I figure that can wait. Like a good student, Ben is diligently reading and taking notes for his Humans Developing class while sitting next to me on the couch. He doesn't say anything, but I know he thinks I should be writing my lit review. I did manage to write almost 7 er, 6 pages today, but was easily distracted by text messaging with Troy. The topic of said review is the effect of cost sharing programs on people living with HIV/AIDS. The topic itself is interesting, but I don't feel good about my literature which is probably why I am procrastinating. Either that or I just really hate my graduate program and don't care about the homework. Ugh!

I started classes this weekend. They seem to be okay. My cohort is really small--only 9 people. It's nice because the professors get to know you fairly quickly, but it's hard when it is the same 9 people. The work load is going to be quite interesting. Last year, I basically skirted by without reading very much. I only read what I needed in order to complete the required assignments. This year, we are actually being quizzed on the readings which means I'm actually going to have to read stuff. This is really going to cramp my procrastination style.

The reality of school is setting in. I got two syllabi's with a substantial amount of reading to do before classes start next week. I went to purchase my books today, but my bookstore account request hadn't been authorized yet so I ended with no books. I had to resubmit the paperwork again, so hopefully I can get my books tomorrow or Saturday. I've enjoyed my vacation and while I am excited to learn some new material, I can't say I am ready for the stress. I'll be starting my internship on the 11th which I am very excited about. It's probably the only thing keeping me motivated at this point. Hopefully, my classes are good otherwise it's going to be a loooooong ten months.