Graduate school has been in the back of my mind since my Senior year of Undergraduate. However, all those years ago as graduation was nearing, I could feel it was not the right time to go (not least because try as I might, pinning down an area of study seemed impossible). So instead I entered the workforce, and found that I enjoyed the freedom of no homework, expendable income, and reading whatever I wanted. But in the last 2-3 years, I have increasingly given a Master's Degree consideration.
Last year this led to undertake the application for the program I have now started. Sorting out the particulars of the application, finding time to do the application, and determining how I would complete the program if accepted seemed to drag on for a terribly long time. Once the application was in, I felt relief that it was now in someone else's hands, but also found myself wondering whether I could have done better. Since there was no indication of how long the decision-making process took, I went about life without thinking too much about it. When I received an acceptance letter (albeit not quite in the fashion I had originally hoped for as I needed to complete the Post-Graduate Certificate first), it was a pleasant surprise that set in motion all the steps required to where I am now.
I have now had 3 days of classes, where I have attended 4 of my 5 classes for the first time. I have been interested to observe how my impression of the class from reading the course description and outline has changed after attending the first seminar/lecture. I found myself pondering the old adage of not judging a book by it's cover when yesterday I realized that the class I had thought myself most unlikely to enjoy was actually one of the two I have enjoyed most so far this week.
Two of my classes (so far, as one has yet to reveal itself, later today) are combined upper Undergraduate and lower Post-graduate. I find this brings an interesting dynamic to the group, but I also felt there was a clear distinction in knowledge, attitude and interest between the two levels of students. None of the classes are big (thank goodness!), and all are largely discussion based (rather than lecture, also thank goodness!), but I found it interesting to note the confidence or reluctance of various students in speaking up.
I am hopeful that by the end of this week, I will have enough information around course expectations and time requirements that I can work out a reasonable schedule that allows me to adequately juggle work, study, and class-time. I am still working out just how long I need to allow for my commute. There's no more than 15 min required walking time, and time on the bus seems pretty consistent at 20-25 min (give or take with traffic at different times of the day), but since I am not yet familiar with campus I have a slight paranoia of getting lost and therefore being late(despite most of my classes all being in the same room haha).
It has been an interesting week of ups and downs, in adjusting to such a dramatic change. Some technical difficulties have unfortunately caused some frustration on the work/study side but those seem to be sorting themselves out. Unfamiliarity with the area has caused me to get off at the wrong bus stop, walk the wrong direction, and rely on GPS far more than I would like to. Being in both a new city and a new program means I know virtually nobody (I do live in New Zealand, so there are people at the university I know, just not ones I see daily), and therefore do not always know where to turn for assistance or feel as if I have any sort of social connection. While I am always happy to find someone to ask for help, and know that I can and will make friends, it is interesting to reflect on the situation. As I was walking to the bus stop yesterday, I realized just how little I have talked in the last week. My job involves a lot of talking, not to mention it is a situation where I am comfortable with those around me so conversation comes naturally. However here, the majority of dialogue in the last week (from my side at least) has been pretty isolated to "Thanks." or "Excuse me, where is..." or "can you confirm when that is due?".
As we get a bit further into the term, and I become more familiar with Auckland, I hope to give you more exciting updates than this rather reflective one :)
Have a great week!
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Sunday, February 25, 2018
Cyclones, boil orders and road trips
This last week has been one of ups and downs with a bit of chaos thrown in the mix. Most of you probably already know this, but it was my last week of freedom before re-entering student life. This meant my to-do list before leaving home seemed to only get longer, no matter how many things I ticked off. To make matters worse, Mother Nature decided I should be busy at work too.
We are nearing cyclone season, so nobody was terribly surprised when Tonga and a couple of the other islands got hit by cyclone Gita. But we also knew that meant it was only a matter of time before we started feeling the effects here. So we prepped things at work with extra staff on, contractor crews on stand by, etc.
Things got dark, windy and rainy on Tuesday afternoon, and by Wednesday morning full chaos was reigning. I would like to say it was organized chaos, but when the phones and RTs go non-stop for 14 hours, things can hardly stay organized. To top it off, all of New Plymouth and the surrounding areas were on high alert for water conservation and under a boil order. This is because the severe winds caused a tree to come down and damage the in-take pipe at the water treatment facility. We were fortunate that our part of town never ran out of water, but many others were not so lucky. So by Thursday afternoon, work was getting complaints not only of the electricity still being off, but what were we doing about the water?? (Even though that has nothing to do with us!).
Just to keep things interesting with all of this, Thursday was my last day in the office until June. I finished packing my bags Thursday night, loaded the car Friday morning, and hit the road for Auckland. Weather and traffic both behaved themselves, so I got here by lunchtime. I checked into my student accommodation, which turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Everything is spacious, tidy, and comfortable. Of course, I am not thrilled at sharing a kitchen with people who have varying standards of cleanliness, but I was pleased that my room was already clean, and has adequate space.
Successes over the weekend include figuring out my bus route and getting a student bus pass; finding a Farmers market; locating 2 grocery stores, a sushi place, and a cheap burger joint :) And this morning I ventured down to Queen's Wharf for a wander around a Japanese festival. I also encountered Spiderman wearing a pink Hello Kitty backpack, a man wearing a purple felt suit jacket, and an establishment called "Edinburgh Castle: Dim Sum, BBQ & Accommodation." All in all not a bad way to spend the first weekend away from home, even if things do still feel a bit unsettled. Tomorrow morning at 11am marks the first class in my new adventure to complete a Post-Graduate Certificate in Musicology so that I am eligible to complete the Master's Degree program. More student life updates to come!
We are nearing cyclone season, so nobody was terribly surprised when Tonga and a couple of the other islands got hit by cyclone Gita. But we also knew that meant it was only a matter of time before we started feeling the effects here. So we prepped things at work with extra staff on, contractor crews on stand by, etc.
Things got dark, windy and rainy on Tuesday afternoon, and by Wednesday morning full chaos was reigning. I would like to say it was organized chaos, but when the phones and RTs go non-stop for 14 hours, things can hardly stay organized. To top it off, all of New Plymouth and the surrounding areas were on high alert for water conservation and under a boil order. This is because the severe winds caused a tree to come down and damage the in-take pipe at the water treatment facility. We were fortunate that our part of town never ran out of water, but many others were not so lucky. So by Thursday afternoon, work was getting complaints not only of the electricity still being off, but what were we doing about the water?? (Even though that has nothing to do with us!).
Just to keep things interesting with all of this, Thursday was my last day in the office until June. I finished packing my bags Thursday night, loaded the car Friday morning, and hit the road for Auckland. Weather and traffic both behaved themselves, so I got here by lunchtime. I checked into my student accommodation, which turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Everything is spacious, tidy, and comfortable. Of course, I am not thrilled at sharing a kitchen with people who have varying standards of cleanliness, but I was pleased that my room was already clean, and has adequate space.
Successes over the weekend include figuring out my bus route and getting a student bus pass; finding a Farmers market; locating 2 grocery stores, a sushi place, and a cheap burger joint :) And this morning I ventured down to Queen's Wharf for a wander around a Japanese festival. I also encountered Spiderman wearing a pink Hello Kitty backpack, a man wearing a purple felt suit jacket, and an establishment called "Edinburgh Castle: Dim Sum, BBQ & Accommodation." All in all not a bad way to spend the first weekend away from home, even if things do still feel a bit unsettled. Tomorrow morning at 11am marks the first class in my new adventure to complete a Post-Graduate Certificate in Musicology so that I am eligible to complete the Master's Degree program. More student life updates to come!
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| Parnell Farmers Market |
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| Shops at my new neighborhood |
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| My new school |
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| Making rice cakes |
Taiko Drumming:
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