Miles to Go
As of yesterday, I am officially on spring break.
In J-school parlance, however, this period is known as "the alleged spring break" or, alternatively, "spring reporting break."
That's because our only real break is from classes, which do not resume until Monday the 19th. We have a huge deadline on that very day, for example.
Now, I am of the mind that you have the big deadline on the Friday before instead of the Monday after, thus not robbing the break of its literal meaning, but no one asked to read my mind before setting the academic calendar. (Shocking, I know.)
Besides reporting and writing and deadlines, the other thing from which I am apparently not getting a break is falling apart. I'm pretty sure I haven't gone an entire day without dissolving into tears in several weeks now. I just had a pretty good jag about an hour ago.
Zach is very sensibly trying to talk me into just doing what I can to get through the next 67 days. You don't have to be the best student in the class, he says.
I'm just trying to stay in the class, I say.
Unfortunately, the effort required to be the best student in the class is not actually all that much more than what is required simply to pass. That may sound crazy, but the workload is so unreasonable that just completing every assignment is a gigantic undertaking.
In my conversation with Zach, I likened it to a marathon. I'm not remotely trying to finish first, I said. I'm not even trying to finish in the top 100. Even if I wanted to, I'm not capable of that right now.
But I still have to finish, and that means doing the full 26.2 miles.
And right now, it feels like I have 25.2 to go.
In J-school parlance, however, this period is known as "the alleged spring break" or, alternatively, "spring reporting break."
That's because our only real break is from classes, which do not resume until Monday the 19th. We have a huge deadline on that very day, for example.
Now, I am of the mind that you have the big deadline on the Friday before instead of the Monday after, thus not robbing the break of its literal meaning, but no one asked to read my mind before setting the academic calendar. (Shocking, I know.)
Besides reporting and writing and deadlines, the other thing from which I am apparently not getting a break is falling apart. I'm pretty sure I haven't gone an entire day without dissolving into tears in several weeks now. I just had a pretty good jag about an hour ago.
Zach is very sensibly trying to talk me into just doing what I can to get through the next 67 days. You don't have to be the best student in the class, he says.
I'm just trying to stay in the class, I say.
Unfortunately, the effort required to be the best student in the class is not actually all that much more than what is required simply to pass. That may sound crazy, but the workload is so unreasonable that just completing every assignment is a gigantic undertaking.
In my conversation with Zach, I likened it to a marathon. I'm not remotely trying to finish first, I said. I'm not even trying to finish in the top 100. Even if I wanted to, I'm not capable of that right now.
But I still have to finish, and that means doing the full 26.2 miles.
And right now, it feels like I have 25.2 to go.
posted by Jody Rosen Knower at 6:19 PM
1 Comments:
Dear Jody, Don't even think about the length of the marathon or the end of it. You just keep moving forward with a speed that remains possible to maintain. The end will happen - that is not where your eyes are to look. Look at what is right in front of you. Break it into manageable chunks and see just one of those chunks and work on that. The others will wait until you can attend to them. You will attend to them. You will get to the end. See only the task at hand, even if it means fooling yourself into forgeting there is more to follow. I'm totally with you in spirit. Ask for what you need. xo, Abby
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