Kate and the MA Program (Some Reflection)

Around this time last year, I was on vacation but occasionally thinking about the "test" I had to take after the refresher course in preparation for the graduate program in economics.  That was the highlight vacation last year, but not the highlight "event" of my year (although it comes very very close to being the highlight of the year).

Now, I do not have (yet) the "highlight vacation of the year" since I could not afford a big one this time.  The graduate program has temporarily deprived me of real income, and hence the ability to save up for vacations (and gadgets!).  Yet, that deprivation has been negligible given the awesome year (school year, to be more correct) that I had.

For the past year, I've done things I haven't imagined I could do.  It felt good.  Even if at the same time, it made me know less about economics (the more I study it, the less I know about it), and still managed to hate writing papers. At least, it made me learn more about life.

It surprised me to find that I could have the character to survive my first year in graduate school.  It instilled a lot of discipline in stubborn me.  Of course I exude some aura of goody-goody nice girl, but really I can be as hard-headed as I want (well, at least in my standard of being good).

I am aware that I had (and still having) trouble in time management and sorting out my priorities (high priority goes to living it easy).  I'm not fond of doing hard work, I sleep late and get up late, I am lazy, and I procrastinate.

After a year in the graduate program, I am proud to say that I have improved.  I have done the hard work (at least, if that means doing a weekly problem set in statistics, doing seatwork for  11 hours, having an exam that is not graded point by point [be as rigorous as you can], answering a take-home exam that is more like a research paper, starting early doing a paper [but sadly, ended up cramming it again], trying to understand a proof that appears to be of no use to me except for exams, taking up economic history without knowing my history, answering an exam that appears like the compilation of the seatworks for the whole second half of the semester, spending precious money to study outside the comfort of my room and avoid the temptation to sleep, making the library my second home, making Starbucks my another second home, treating my home as a boarding house, missing my little sisters, drinking tons of cups of coffee [I prefer milk or tea or chocolate], and the list goes on).

Oh, I have even managed to put myself in danger.  I've witnessed a PDEA operation, with big guns and dirty words being shouted.  I've also walked past a street where just minutes earlier, a man shot another man.  I've also managed to ride a cab whose driver appeared like a crazy man with bloodshot eyes (according to Pinay) and treated the streets of Quezon City like a racing track.

And who would have thought that after a year in that School, I would wake up at 8:30 in the morning most of the time during summer break?  Me, who people knew was so fond of sleeping they could casually greet me "good morning" at one in the afternoon, gets up early (of course, early for me is before 9:00 AM).

I think I still am lazy and I still procrastinate, but I'm getting out of my way to straighten my path.  I've searched ways to push me do the little tasks on time, I've been more goal-oriented than before, and more forward-looking.  Although for this one, the process has started back to the time when I finally decided to earn my MA degree.

More than all those self-improvement, my life became more colorful with the bright minds and the wonderful friends I've met.  For that, I am very grateful.

Looking back, my first year was not stellar to make me an expert in economics, but it certainly made me live my life better (save for the unhealthy sleeping habit I had especially during the second semester).  LIFE-ENRICHING.  I like that word.

So what now? What would be the highlight this year? What "life-enriching" thing will I do?

;)