And so it begins...

Well…I survived my first day of graduate school…barely. Hour and hours of preparation, orientations and meet and greets admittedly did not prepare me for the avalanche of new information, new people and a campus that is the size of the small city that I grew up in! There were a few things that I managed to reflect on after my first day that I want to share in this, my very first blog post!

I am so excited about the work that I will be doing! I was presented with projects and assignments that will not only will give me invaluable skills moving into the world of careers, interview questions and endless cover letters, but will also allow me to leave a mark on the community. I am most excited to dive head first into these major assignments and show what I can do. This is also what I am most nervous about. This work matters. When I was writing endless undergraduate essays and assignments, that work only really affected me, and my academic success. But these assignments affect not only myself, and my future job opportunities, but the community, and the professionals who are relying on me for quality work. The importance of these assignments is a double edged sword, a chance to sink or swim.

This relates well to what I want to accomplish during the next year of this program. There are many different goals that I set before beginning this next chapter of my life. Personally, I want to be able to grow as a student. My undergraduate studies were successful, but I dedicated the majority of my time to my studies and did not have a balance when it came to socializing or taking care of myself. The importance of balance was emphasized over and over during the orientations, although admittedly somewhat contradicted by the sheer volume of work that was then assigned! Nevertheless, as a personal goal I want to be able to work towards this balance, and make my masters an enriching experience.

Academically, I want to be able to take every assignment and learn from it. Even having only been to one day of class, I can already see that there is a wealth of knowledge and skills at my disposal, and I think it is my job as a developing student to embrace that. I know there are going to be times when I don’t want to read for a class, or when I feel like I can’t do any better on an assignment, or when I really don’t want to revise my essay for the fourth time. My goal as a student is to remember during those times why I chose to pursue graduate level education, and in the end be able to continue improving the quality of my work. Essentially, I want to make an impact during my time in this program. I want to be able to explore things I find interesting and discover things I had never before considered (such as blogging, thank you Digital History!). So far, every person I have met and every class I have attended seems to be designed to challenge me, but ultimately help me achieve these goals.

When I was preparing to apply to this program, I received nothing but encouragement from my professors, mentors and friends. I heard over and over how suited I was for graduate school, how it would be challenging but it would be the best time of my life. I came into the first day with determination and confidence, and I left feeling slightly (ok, maybe more than slightly) deflated. This is going to be hard! However, I once received advice from someone that I held very close to my heart; if it were easy, everyone would do it. What makes it hard is also what makes it worth it. I am looking forward to seeing what this year brings, being part of the amazing community that is my program and moving forward into the world of public history!