Beautiful, Dirty, Rich

I almost backed out of going to class tonight. I begrudgingly got up from my nap and talked to FNNR for a little bit. In response to a request for motivation she says, "Go to school." No inflection, no intonation, no extra pep that would inspire confidence. My decision to actually go was the result of a few different reasons:

1. There has to be a more intelligent pool of people than whom I'm used to talking to at the BX. No offense to those who I work with; it's a side hazard of the retail sector. 
2. I couldn't think of anything else I wanted to spend over $1,000 "free" GI Bill money on. 
3. I just COULDN'T wait to be assigned an outrageously long paper to write. 
4. What else do I have going on? Fish Wrangler? The Sims? Throwing stuffed things around for my cats to chase?

So I went. And it was everything I anticipated. A small class (there are 9 of us - as of now), long reading assignments, a 15-20 page paper complete with 10 minute presentation... BUT there were some elements present that I actually missed from when I was in undergrad school. I completely forgot about pure love of learning. I love being in class and learning. I know, I'm a nerd, but it's true. The instructor was talking to us like we are, well, grad students instead of glorified high school students like in undergrad school. He used words like "holistically" and "empirical." This is probably racist in some way but it was pleasant to not have to speak slowly or figure out a simpler way to say something. There was no wait while something was translated or worse - translated and then further explained in Japanese. The professor was making intellectual jokes and I was getting them.  It was just nice to remember why I wanted to go for my Masters. 

Now... I'm nervous as hell about this paper. This class is, essentially, how to write a political science research paper. Ask a question, find qualitative/quantitative data, and draw a conclusion from it. I taught myself how to do that in my last class for my undergrad degree. I'm not nervous about my ability to do the work; I'm worried that I will procrastinate until the last minute and then turn in shoddy work. I think I have enough people on my case that that will be a minute problem, however. It's hard being loved like I am.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to enjoy getting my Masters. :) Ask me if that rings true when I'm in class 10 of 12...

Thanks for all the love you guys have thrown my way. You're awesome!