Graduate School Sucks

That's not entirely true. Well, not always. I've had some memorable moments, really. And I've met some of the most beautiful, fun people — professors (well, Dr. Mastin, for certain) and people — classmates — who'll be my lifelong friends (like Kate and Nicole, both of whom I adore).

But tonight, it sucks, because we're headed into finals. On December 7, I'll graduate. And the irony of it all is that I'm really going to miss it.

Things/people I'm really going to miss:

• Clowning around when lectures get boring
• Hearing Kate and Nicole make fun of me for overachieving
• Flaster telling me I'm friggin' "brilliant"
• Kate referring to herself as my "other significant other"
• Kate calling it quits because she has to get up at the "butt-crack of dawn"
• Nicole's always-pretty smile, positive attitude and inner beauty
• Michael Freeman kissing my ass with, "Aren't you, like, 20?"
• Italian wedding soup from the Cyber Cafe
• Saving a seat for Kate
• Passing notes like we used to in high school
• Making fun of the geeky guys who were always crushing on Nicole
• Carpooling to Novi and seeing how fast we could get there
• Having conversations with Kate where we both dropped the f-bomb between every other word, and actually still understood each other
• The opportunity to have gotten to know awesome people like Laura, Danielle and Taren a little better
• Long, philosophical chats with Ketaki
• Dr. Teresa Mastin's grace, inner and outer beauty, and genuine desire to help students realize their dreams
• Pamela Brock's cheerfulness and encouragement — and that note she sent me: "I am happy to inform you that you have passed the Comprehensive Exam for FS07. Congratulations and good luck in your future endeavors! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!"


Things/people I absolutely will not miss:

• My assistantship work
• Excessively competitive and difficult-to-like classmates
• Former student group mates I was forced to work with who regularly demonstrated control issues, lack of self control issues, issues of intolerance for those who are different, Republican/ultra-conservative viewpoints ...
• Staying up late because I had to, not because I wanted to
• Somewhat limited income-generating potential (but those huge checks from clients were sweet!)
• Flaster spit-spraying my face whenever he spoke
• Flaster treating LaLeah in a patronizing manner and hurting her feelings ... did I mention that he'd spit on me?
• Cole's ADHD, toxicity, arrogance, poor leadership, compromised program, dysfunction, unhappy employees
• Research professors who attempted to teach us how to write/conduct research without ever having learned how to teach anything, let alone something as complex as ... well, research
• Having to spend so much of my time on studying and homework at the expense of my family (without whose patience and love I could not have survived and for which I am eternally grateful)

I'm sure there's more I could add to each list, but to be perfectly honest, I have so much homework I really have no business blogging tonight. LOL!

What will you miss?