| week one, over & done |

I finished my first week of graduate school. This whole getting your master's, teaching kindergarten and volunteering at the hospital thing is no joke. Breakthrough discovery, I know.

Here's what else I learned:

• Mills has a beautiful campus. And it's mine for the next 2 years.
• My cohort grew. There are students from Japan, students from Portland, students with children and students who just graduated from undergrad.  
• Child Life is a hugely competitive field. Enter: anxiety overload and (at times, pathetic) attempts at practicing mindfulness. 
• Sleep is gold.
• Free reading won't happen. And those books on my bedside table are just a tease. Instead, I have $$$$$ worth of rented textbooks from which I can read (read, read and read again) about teaching, familial relationships, child development, children with special needs, the hospitalized child, administration and totally complex (and also totally necessary) medical information. 
• Packing a lunch the night before is also gold.
• Birkenstocks are ideal for a sand, mud, and paint-filled playground.
• Befriend your professors. Especially the ones who have kids in your classroom. Go to office hours, do the reading, participate in class every once in a while. 
• Don't sit next to the same people in class. 
• Introduce yourself to the IT staff before you do anything else. They know your computer a whole hell of a lot better than you do. They also know you are poor. 

***To my friends and family, thank you for checking in on me this week. Your support is everything.***