Adam Oster, Novelist

Before I disappeared off to a hotel for a few days, I had a number of articles all prepped to go. Things that, for the most part, didn’t exactly apply any longer. Like one where I talked about how I kinda missed the quarantine. Or about how loud things were. Suddenly, after spending a few days by myself, they felt, well…wrong.

Another article I had in the hopper was one complaining about school. It wasn’t much. Neither, do I expect, will this one be. But it was all about how the light at the end of the tunnel felt too far away and how I just wanted to be done and how I really really really didn’t see myself making it until the end of September before I was actually completed with school.

This one has become a bit outdated as well, as I just, right this very second, applied for graduation, which, barring any unforeseen incidents, will be happening at the end of March.

I’ve been kinda flying through my courses this month so far, and where as I generally get through three courses in a 3 month period, I got through three in a one month period. So, yesterday, I reached out to my advisor to add two of the four classes I had left to my term, and today, while looking through the expectations of these two classes, I found myself thinking this really stupid thought. Why not add all four?

And so, as of right now, I’ve signed up for four additional classes for this term, meaning I will have doubled my previous record of 3.5 courses in one term, and assuming I can actually manage that (which, I’m honestly feeling incredibly optimistic right now), I’ll be done a whole six months earlier than scheduled.

To be fair, I had never really intended to take those full six months, so it’ll only be three months sooner than I had personally planned.

I’m incredibly excited at the prospect of being so close to being done with school. Like…super excited.

But also, pretty darn nervous.

I have 52 days until I have to be done with all of these classes. 30 assignments to complete for these 4 classes in order to be done with them. And they’re all kinda hefty classes. Considering I typically only do school work on weekdays, I actually only have about 38 days left. Which means I have to complete approximately .57 assignments per day for the next two months. I’ve been averaging about 2 assignments per day for the past month, but those assignments were a bit easier. These are all pretty time consuming efforts.

I can do it, but I might be absolutely wrecked by the end of it.

Yet, if I do manage this, I’ll be done with school by April and these three-ish hours per day I’ve been spending for the past 2.5 years on trying to gain a piece of paper will suddenly be mine again.

And…I’m a little nervous that I won’t know what to do with myself.

But that’s Future-Adam’s problem. Today-Adam’s problem is trying to figure out how the heck I schedule out my coming months where I can actually complete this coursework without going legitimately insane…while also doing the work for three of these classes with the same professor without him getting annoyed with how much work I’m pushing out in a brief period of time.

Oh, the problems of a 40-year old college kid! 🙂

But, I did apply for graduation today. So, that’s something, right?

Also…why do I have to pay to graduation? How is that $40 not included in the price of tuition? That’s like an amusement park charging you to be able to exit the park, isn’t it? I suppose the difference here is that people are typically excited about leaving school, not as much about leaving an amusement park.