School Update

Grad school is going well. My instructional design class is held on Tuesday nights. I'm taking half time right now which helps with my getting better acclimated with my professional responsibilites at work. I have to keep a blog as part of my assignment-- it's posted on my links- Grad School or Bust.

Wednesdays are normally the longest day of the week , waking up at 4:45 in the morning and don't get home until 11:30 that night. My other nights are usually booked with school or other Church and social responsibilities.

My alarm is set to go off at 5:09 every day. Depending on my commitment level that day, I go to the gym by 6, do my scheduled workout, and then catch the bus at 8 am to be at work by 9.

I have Mixed Martial Arts on Wednesday nights and drive one of my classmates back to Sandy (a 30-minute drive) hence the lateness of my coming home. I don't mind the drive as I enjoy listening to him talk about his military experiences. With us cleaning up, we get done with class around 10:15 or later.

The following morning is often the hardest morning to wake up. I have to drag myself out of bed around 8 the following day. Exhaustion is a word closest to describing how I feel from being beaten and thrown around on the mat alot.

I don't mind getting punched on my face or getting slammed on the mat. We all get to experience it. It's actually a nice release. I need to work on my kicks (no not the Can Can kicks), but kicking with strength. But wait, et me clarify, the punches aren't full throttle just soft contact so before anyone thinks I'm crazy for enjoying getting punched...

And there are 12 guys and 1 young lady, most having recently graduated from high school. We have some students from Hawaii, and the local areas. We also have a licensed boxer, a nurse, and the rest are professional students. They are all quite impressive, fairly mature and responsible, outgoing and not stuck on themselves. One guy, Bruno, is from Brazil and the friendliest kid ever. I get a kick each time I hear him swear. I don't know why but it makes me laugh everytime I hear him use profanity. But since the first day of class, he hasn't been using it as much.

He was the first kid to welcome me to class. I thought I was late the first day since they already started, and Bruno with a big smile waved to me and told me to come join them. Turns out the instructor started early. Bruno is 6'2" and a personality that makes us all laugh. There are times when we get grouped together and more often than not, we get in trouble for talking or goofing off more than we should. But I'm not the only one that get's in trouble.

Rochelle, the lone female, is not at all a princess but our equal and at times reminds many of us of our little sister. But she gets in there with all the punches and wrestling that I forget that she is a very pretty girl.

It is amazing to me to realize that I am in grad school. Here is the same kid who barely passed high school, almost didn't graduate from college and yet here I am having a blast! I wasn't a slacker in high school or college but was never really satisfied in a box style of learning. There's been more than one occasion when someone would tell me I was smart but lazy. I hated that word because it was not an accurate statement or description as I worked my tail off. Turns out I'm not the only one that did not thrive in a school environment.

Despite of all these, here I am pursuing school again. It is just absolutely amazing. Many were right in telling me that grad school is not the same. It's more fun. I just can't believe I took 18 years of formal education. Maybe I'll consider home schooling my kids...