3 september 2025
My first day of graduate school hit me like a truck.
I did enjoy going to our department mixer, though- it was a good chance to get to know some of the other students, as well as the staff: though there was a larger amount of PHD students than I expected. A friend of mine who's already been through the grad school gamut mentioned that that was fairly typical, though, as apparently there's a greater push to attend those sorts of events from their supervisors. (
I spent about two hours extracting and organizing syllabi to make note of duedates, complete with colour coding. It's kind of incomplete, as some due dates are only revealed further into the semester, but for the most part, I've got the bulk of that information organized: both per class, and a master reference copy, so I can be sure that I'm keeping on top of what's rolling my way. It took a pretty chunk of time, but it'll be well worth it, when things get more frenzied. That random advice to make a spreadsheet for this information was excellent, rather than overloading my Google Calendar, which I primarily reserve for class notifications to get me going where I need to go. Very handy to pull up and examine, as well as notate. That's one thing I think I'll keep digital, due to needing to constantly edit it, though I'll consider keeping a monthly tab of items from it in my paper planner.
Speaking of which, thank goodness for the bullet journal system's flexibility: I really took advantage of being able to expand out daily tasks as needed, to pair alongside my weekly view. I'm looking forward to spending time with it this weekend, to set up next week's weekly setup- might experiment with the format I have right now, but limiting my to do list to a few items a day has been pretty sunstainable, so far. Much easier to read and track, as well.
I'm very tired. Well worn out, but in a satisfyingly academic sort of way- I'll sleep well tonight.
I also went on a little coffee date with a friend today, which was lovely. We have plans to hang out during my birthday week, and I'm very excited to meet the pet kitty I've heard oh so much about. It was nice- we chatted, mostly about House, how life has been treating us health wise, updates on the pets, and the general fuss of moving. Mostly House. It was very sweet, to have it mentioned that I'm known to 'have good taste in media.' And I'm looking forward to exploring town a bit more with said pal. :-)
I'm also on campus for quite a long time on Thursdays: so I'm packing a yummy little lunch for myself, and some treats- granola bars, a strawberry Pepero, as well as a booster of caffeine (some match and dry sugar to shake in my drink container like a maniac). I've been enjoying going largely phone free, as of late.