Grad Schools!

So I'm back at school (have been for just over three weeks) and everything is going kind of crazy! I had all of these grand delusions of having a peaceful and relaxing semester because I only have four classes, and none of them are MIS classes. Hah! Not true...

I decided that I am going to apply to grad schools this year instead of working first. So my boyfriend and I and our friends Patrick and Karissa drove up to Chicago (yes, from Tulsa) over Labor Day weekend under the premise of looking at grad schools. Or at least, grad schools was the cover story we gave our teachers so that they wouldn't yell at us for skipping class on Friday. It was also about having fun! But the trip started out pretty disastrously. About three hours into the drive we were in the left lane on Route 44 when someone merged into us! JonMarke was driving and to avoid being hit full on by this car he was forced to swerve into the ditch between the two directions of the highway where we spun around and skidded for about a quarter mile before coming to a stop. Luckily, no one was hurt and the car wasn't damaged at all! Like, no cosmetic damage either! It was a pretty scary experience all in all, but the rest of our drive was fairly uneventful.

The rest of the trip got steadily better from then on (I mean, how could it not!). We spent Friday visiting grad schools (University of Chicago and Northwestern), we walked all around downtown Chicago on Saturday and ended the night at an improv comedy club, and JonMarke and I got to have brunch with my cousin Alison and her husband Kirk on Sunday. So all in all it was really great. We loved the University of Chicago and the city itself, and we really liked the Northwestern campus but unfortunately the admissions woman who did my info session was having a bad day or something. I was really unimpressed and she seemed very haughty and uptight.

The visit got me into the 'grad school mode' though and I have spent the entire week since being back working on applications. I've started writing essays, which is by far the hardest part for me. But luckily my boyfriend is an English major so at least for "englishy" type things he is super useful. And my mom has looked over a bunch of stuff for me too which is really great.

Unfortunately the first application is due on October 1st, which is just two weeks away, and I found out today and yesterday that all of my classes are at the point where large projects and tests are coming up, you guessed it, within the next two weeks! So it's a bit hectic trying to get my essays finished in time to have my mom and teachers and friends look at them before submitting them and study for tests and research industries for Management class and try to have a life all at the same time. But I'm sure I'll figure it out!