Will we still remember everything we learned in school? (vitamin c)

well it's fair to say that i have been more than slacking in the blogging department. but here i find myself at Christmas break with some time to kill. so instead of having one huge long post, I'm going to try to break up the last 6 months into bigger life events. looking back in chronological order, i think of my graduation.


last may, i graduated with my bachelors degree in exercise science with an emphasise in exercise physiology. i still can't believe i have a college degree. i immediately started graduate school so i feel like i haven't accomplished anything because I've been in school non-stop. but looking back, it really is a milestone. the ceremony wasn't particularly moving. i remember it was actually pretty anticlimactic. when we were lining up to get our degree, we just walked by the front row of students. we weren't on a stage or raised or differentiated in anyway. it was just weird. plus, the cameras were set up wrong, so my face didn't even appear on the big screen.


looking back on the day i think the thing i remember the most was being hot in my black robes and looking like a mushroom with those dorky hats they make you wear. I feel like they make you look really fat; I'm not a fan of any of my graduation pictures (high school or this one).


I also remember my dad forgetting where he parked the car. of course i was miserably hot and wearing heels and we were walking back and forth over the same block. my dad was trying to describe to me what he saw when he parked the car and i told him it was one way, but he was dead set that it was the other way. after walking back and forth and growing more and more hungry and frustrated, my dad finally decided that he would find the car and pick us up. so my mom and i sat in the shade until the car was finally found(my mom had a picture of us waiting on her camera). after that we went to cheesecake factory (YUM!) and all frustrations were soon gone.
and.... that's really it. it was interesting because some of the people i graduated with and had had classes with were just so excited. they were the first of their family to graduate and their entire 40+ family members had come to the ceremony. but for me it was just the stepping stone to the next level. i had already been accepted to PT school so again it just felt anticlimactic. during my undergraduate work, i had a handful of hard classes, but i still got A's without too much effort. i had a few tests and classes that i studied and worked for countless hours for, but it wasn't too hard.

and then there's grad school. holy molly. every single class is insanely hard. i feel like i put more work into this one last semester of grad school then i did my entire 4 years of undergrad. it's not only the level, but the amount. last semester we were required to take 18 credits, next semester its 20 or 21. during undergrad, i usually took 18-22 credit, but i was able to filter which classes i could put on the back burner and do minimal effort to still get a good grade and which ones were top priority. but now, all of my classes are intense and top priority. it's just... insane. i found this quote that i really like:
•The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet. -Aristotle
I know that if i stick with this program it will be worth it in the end, but it is the hardest academic thing i have ever done in my entire life. so... that was my graduation experience. one degree down, one to go!