Math is apparently not my specialty because when I wrote an entry or two ago that the summer semester was half-over as of Friday, it took a conversation with Lindsay today to make me realise that for anyone in the program planning to do it in one year straight (three semesters of five classes each with no co-op), the year is officially half over as well. (I'll give her the Classmate of the Day for that tip.) Hmm, who else in my cohort is doing the “Suicide Five” (as I heard the 100% accelerated version of this program described to me by a former grad before I got here)? I can't think of any off the top of my head but I'm sure there's a few of us. Definitely mixed feelings on this – we learn so much in such a short time doing it that way but I wonder if it's getting absorbed? A normal two year program might've been better for that but might've been worse too – I mean, could they stretch some of these classes out anymore than they already do? And in some ways, the accelerated program more closely simulates the work world – you have multiple projects on the go at all times, you get them done to the best of your ability in very short timeframes and then you move on to the next ones.
It's a minor
milestone but realising I'm half done the program (already) has put me
in a sort of philosophical mood. I often find myself thinking about my
classmates – where they'll end up, what their careers will be, what
it'll be like if we get together at an alumni reception at a CLA
conference in ten or twenty or thirty years except we're the grizzled
old veterans telling the new recruits about the “good ol' days.”
I know that day will come soon enough. I can't believe how fast the last six months have gone, how much I've learned, how many fun and memorable experiences I've had, how many cool people I've met. It's funny to think back to getting that acceptance letter in November and how excited I was, arriving at the end of December and how nervous I was, starting in January and how gung ho I was (that exhuberance dropped off a bit, I have to admit). The program's both as tough as I heard it was but also easier in some ways. I think I have a pretty big advantage having worked with books/authors/publlishers (and often by extension, librarians) for the past ten years but I also have some big weaknesses – my writing style isn't always the most scholarly technique being a big one. Another thing that's both a strength and a weakness – I tend to be very opinionated about, well, pretty much everything, and I'm usually not shy about sharing those opinions (this blog being a prime example – there's been one or three minor flare-ups about things I've written here.) Sometimes I wish I was more of a person who just kinda kept my head down and did my work and didn't make waves. But then I think “what fun would that be?” 
I guess that's it for now. This semester has also been incredibly top heavy and I think things will be (a bit) calmer for the next seven weeks. Then Shea and I already have our summer break pretty much filled with plans. Then it's final semester (nice to see the class list for fall is up already – perhaps some of those opinionated musings had some effect?) and then we'll see what's out there for me when I'm done.
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