Who Said, "Grad School Isn't The Real World"?

OK, so maybe the unexpected craziness of our recent mid-term exams doesn't have the consequences of the "real world". But with looming deadlines and demands to perform with grace in the face of ambiguity, yesterday certainly required the coping strategies and flexibility of many "real world" scenarios.

Scene: Austin Texas, a place known for its relatively mild winters making it rather unprepared for snow or ice.

On the morning of 2 mid-term exams, Austin was hit with freezing rain, leaving traffic snarled and many schools and organizations opening late. Our Accounting professor, bless her, sent us an early morning email warning us off the roads and instructions on taking the mid-term online. Now, if there's one thing I learned in the 2 years I worked in IT, its that technology is great only when it works. There were many false starts and issues in setting up the online test, keeping our poor professor on the phone most of the morning with tech support. By the time it was fixed, we had just over an hour to start the exam before running off to our Information Systems (IS) mid-term.

The IS test. How do I describe it? It was a KILLER. My brain was numb when it was over. Perfect state of mind to dash home and wrap up the Accounting test before the deadline. Except the online test was still having issues, including not saving the answers from completed problems! Seriously. The answers were G.O.N.E. So once again, our beleaguered Accounting professor was on the phone with tech support and all there was to do was sit and wait. Oh yeah, and pray the answers it took me an hour to come up with could be retrieved.

As I waited, I watched the clock as it ticked closer and closer into early evening (had I really been doing this all day ?) and towards the time for my regular Wednesday night Krav Maga class. After such a harried day, I knew an hour of punching the heavy bag was exactly what I needed. But with the clock counting down, I began to doubt that I would make it. So I waited. And waited. And then I did what any reasonable person would do. I CRANKED up my iTunes and started dancing. Why not? I was already fully prepared for the test, so I could have spent that time fretfully watching the clock, or dancing.

I chose dancing.

That's when I decided I was going to Krav no matter what. I took off to class and got in a great workout - thank you guys at Fit and Fearless, you've helped keep me grounded after more exasperating days than this!

By the time I got home from class, the test was up and ready to go. But me, I went to bed. A fresh start was what I needed to complete that albatross of a test!

That, dear friends, is a day in the life of a graduate student. And you know what? It wasn't so bad. I actually kind of thrive on pressure (why else would I sign up for a program that goes for 2 years at a summer-school-pace?). Plus, at some point it dawned on me, all this was really, was an inconvenience. Nobody wrecked their car on the ice and we're all here to slog it out another day.

Function in disaster, finish in style. (Jean Harris)