First Week Jitters

It's always exciting taking on a new challenge. Right now I'm taking on two VERY big challenges (or adventures, as I'd like to refer to them.. sounds way less.. challenging :)) I am going to be a mother any day now AND I just started grad school.. because just becoming a new mom OR becoming a new grad student didn't seem like enough to bite off at one time (kidding). But luckily the lil girl has not yet made her appearance.. so I'm slowly getting my bearings and will hopefully have some idea of a schedule (read: plan of attack) for my course load before she does get here.


I think the most interesting thing I've found so far in this first week is that I'm not NEARLY as internet savvy as I always thought I was. Or, at least, I don't use the internet to its full capacity.. there's so many programs and "groups" and sites, etc that I never knew existed, much less used, before this week. And this is just the first week! I'm finding myself having to look up different phrases that were never part of my vocabulary.. again, something I've been a bit surprised by, as I've always been the person my friends, family, and co-workers turn to for help with their computers. I have to admit, it's caused a slight case of the jitters.. like maybe this was a bigger undertaking than I first had thought. But so far everyone seems VERY helpful, including my teachers and my classmates.. I'm really digging the collaborative style of these classes, where if you need help, you just post it! Someone will inevitably be there to help you out.. which is OH SO comforting. And I'm already finding myself feeling like I "know" my classmates, even though I've only read their profile, seen their tiny picture, or read their posts. This is a bit bizarre to me, as I've limited my use of social networking sites to only connecting with people I actually know-- so to know so much about someone (and them know so much about me!) and never have actually met them face-to-face is.. strange. But not in a creepy way, just.. different. so I guess that's good :)


The jitters have been bouncing between excitement and nervousness, but the more acclimated I get with the programs I'll be using this semester, the more they swing towards excitement and less towards fear. I love learning new things.. I'd be a student for the rest of my life if I could. And I feel some of the classes I'm taking (both now and semesters to come) afford me the ability to be a student for the rest of my life, because anything having to do with computers, technology, and the Internet is always changing.. there's always something new to learn. It's exciting to be using programs I've never heard of and actually finding my way around!


I'm excited for what's to come. It's been fun already with getting back into "student" mode-- scouring the internet for useful insight about a topic or intriguing articles that relates to discussions that are coming up in my classes. I knew I missed school, but this week has already made me realize just how much I've been missing it. It's like a natural high... I keep finding myself checking my email every couple of minutes to see if someone has commented or posted.. getting my fix :)


And I think I said "exciting", "excitement" or "excited" about a hundred times in this post.. can you tell I'm excited? :)