Hellooooooo, crunch time! It's here, and it's crazy! I am wondering if maybe my professors sit together and cruelly try and see how many pages they can get me to write in a single week... Actually, though, I'm impressed by how well my classes fit together as far as the subject matter we cover in class. This week, two of my professors focused on higher education accreditation. Since I knew little about the topic, it was great to be able to focus two classes' worth of my attention on it to really wrap my brain around the concept.

Crunch time means not only lots of paper writing, but lots of reading. As the days get shorter and shorter, I'm worrying about my ability to stay up and get work done when it's dark outside. Luckily, I'm managing quite successfully as of now, with the help of my trusty lavender pot of snowflake tea! Yesterday, I was thinking about how lovely it is to sit in a comfortable spot with a blanket and tea and some great reading, and I realized that if I become a professor, then my office will be very much like the place that my room is now...a place for comfort and tea and great books! And, to top it all off, lots of visits from students! It's just looking better and better!

I also would like to tell all future GSE students one thing that I have learned recently, and it is this: It is very easy to allow yourself to get distracted from the myriad readings that are always before you. And sometimes you should let the distractions happen (last night, I made turkey chili, for example), and other times, you shouldn't. And when you learn the difference, your life will be relatively blissful!