Back to School

Tomorrow, I head back to class to continue working towards my degree in psychology. I am taking 18 credits this semester and plan to finish my undergad requirements by Dec '06. To be honest, I am very excited to be heading back to class tomorrow. As much as I want this to be done and over with, I am enjoying the process. I am very greatful for this opportunity to go back to school and finish my degree.

When I was in college straight out of high school, I took classes just for the sake of taking classes, with no particular goal in mind. 6 years later, I had an AA degree and still no clear goal of what I wanted to do. I took a few years off of school, more because of a car accident than my issue of no direction, and healed (from the accident), travelled and hiked. I am glad I did this because taking this time to really think about what "want to be when I grow up" helped to set me in the direction I am now going in.

As I plan to go into the field of psychology, either in research or clinical, I have to go for my PhD - which means I am going to be in school for another 6-7 years after I finish my undergrad. I am looking at a graduating date of 2013 or 14. Damn. That's a long time.

As I head into this new school year, these are my personal goals:

1. Focus on my studies.
2. Keep my grades top notch (3.75 or higher) so that I can get into Harvard Grad school.
3. Get to know several professors so that I get great recommendations for Grad school.
4. Get involved with a research project that is run by one of the above professors.
5. Start preparing for the GRE test.
6. Get a job in town that pays more than $10 a hour, so that I don't have to keep going to work in the Twin Cities, over a hundred miles away. Gas prices. Yikes.
7. And one non-school related goal - exercise everyday to help keep my stress level down.