I have just finished day 2 of my Patterson School Orientation. I feel professional. I am a graduate student. In 3 semesters, I will have a Masters in Diplomacy and International Commerce. It's exciting to start a new program and get to take classes about things I am very interested in, like human rights and international relations. I have been meeting fellow students with similar interests (obviously) and it's really refreshing and slightly intimidating. These people sound so smart when they talk. Thankfully I feel that the Patterson School focuses on comradeship instead of competition. This is especially important when you are married to another student. Surprisingly, being married to someone in the same program hasn't felt awkward yet, but maybe that's just because most people haven't figured it out yet.
One thing that I have going for me is that I am old (aka I have experience and I have traveled). I have roughed it out in the real world. And I am ready to learn again. I do feel that my experiences bring a lot to the table. I know I have a hard time shutting up about forced migration or refugee issues. I really don't want to be that pompous student that keeps going on and on about what they do or where they have been or blah, blah, blah. Refugee resettlement is just so interesting and important that it's hard to keep my mouth shut. I need to learn better social skills.
Today, I met with my advisor Dr. Mingst and we went over my class schedule. I am still waiting to see if I can get into one class or not. My classes will be: PS 711 International Human Rights, DIP 777 Theories of International Relations, ECO 672 World Trade and Commercial Policy, and either ANT 431 Cult/Soc Subsaharan Africa or DIP 755 Middle East Politics. Pretty sweet, huh.
Well, classes start Aug. 26. More to come then.
