A Graduate FAQ

Let me paint you a picture: it's my final day of my undergrad career. My sleep-deprived ass is in the school library, running purely on the caffeine pumping through my bloodstream and the adrenaline of powering through 1200 words in four hours. I wrote an exam this morning, I have one more tiny assignment to do this afternoon, and I've just (miracously, with thirty minutes to spare), finished my take home exam. I save the document, close the program, and open up the web browser to submit the exam.

The file is gone.

I open every folder (every. folder.). I search the entire PC. I reopen Word to check the “Recently Opened” tab. Nothing.

Naturally, I ambush the circulation desk in a frenzy, limbs flying as I explain to the blinking clerks why my life is currently exploding before my very eyes. After ten harrowing minutes, the tech guy was called, and it was then I learned that Firefox has a top secret “temporary download folder” that is only accessible through the browser itself. (Firefox, please.) The document was submitted, I finished my last assignment, and then proceeded to go home and pass out for a little while.

But that was five weeks ago, and now it’s over. I’m officially* a University Graduate™. And as with any graduation, I’ve already fallen into the routine of answering the same sequence of questions over and over (and over) again. So in the interest of efficiency (and saving my sanity), I have compiled some of these questions into one location for everyone to peruse at their convenience.

(*pending my actual convocation on June 13th.)

How does it feel to be done?

In all honesty, I don't think it's entirely sunk in yet that I'm done, and it probably won't until fall rolls around and I'm not stuck in a classroom somewhere. (Or when November hits and the government starts taking its money back by force.)

What are you graduating with?

My five years of torture have earned me a Bachelor of Arts in English (with emphasis on Creative Writing) and a minor in Human Geography.

And what can you do with that?

• Editor
• Copywriter (ie: advertising)
• Technical writer
• Some kind of library job, although most require a whole other degree that I don't want to pay for.

What’s the minor good for?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Will you ever get a masters degree?

I'd be lying if I said I hadn't considered it. I learned a lot in my creative writing classes, and didn’t really get to dedicate as many credits to the craft as I would have liked. But let's cool our jets for like thirty seconds--I need a breather before I even THINK about jumping head first into another two years of mental breakdowns.

Student debt is also disgusting and I’m not really in the mood to double it.

Are you going to work for Disney again?

....maybe.

Are you published yet?

Hush.

So what's next?

I just...want a job. So somebody hire me. Please. P l e a s e.

In the meantime, I'll be here! Blogging away for anyone who cares to listen.


Until later,

- Justyne

19 University Rules (BEDS #4)

As you all know, I am a certified University Drop-Out. After attending UPEI for one year, I decided that it wasn't for me, and returned back home so I could focus as much of my time and energy as possible towards writing.

Well, while I was there I observed several things. Early in the year (the first half of my first semester, to be specific), I came up with the 19 Rules of University, which I posted via Facebook. (And occasionally Twitter.)

In celebration of my sisters' first day of school (HAHA), I have decided to share them all with you!

Some of them are helpful. Most of them are not. But I hope you enjoy them, anyway!

~~

1. Don't let your roommate go to the pet store to apply for a job. She'll end up forgetting the application and buying two fish, instead.
2. Coffee is your friend.
3. Don't let your roommate spend 850 dollars on a bike. Because then she'll keep it in the dorm, name it, and fantasize about going to the fair and riding the ferris wheel with it.
4. Your professors are totally allowed to e-mail you with extra homework. Don't be fooled.
5. If your roommate starts calling her bike her boyfriend, run. Fast.
6. Try not to drop your pencil sharpener on the floor. It'll break and spill pencil shavings EVERYWHERE.
7. Spending $40 on posters isn't a good idea.
8. Bookstores = doom. Enter one, and your entire budget is gone.
9. Walking to Dollarama in the rain isn't the best idea.
10. Your profs CAN and WILL assign homework on the first day of school. Be prepared.
11. Wanna annoy your roommate? Play Bop-It!
12. 10/10 times, your roommate is crazy.
13. Never listen to you roommate. Ever.
14. Take ALL of your stuffies with you. They're not safe with your family.
15. It's not necessary to know who you share a bathroom with in residence. Just knock before entering and everything will work out.
16. Don't drop your phone in the toilet. This should be self-explanatory.
17. It doesn't matter how many essays they make you write in high school; writing one for university will always be hard.
18. University profs seem to have an obsession with Times New Roman font. Because apparently, Calibri just isn't good enough for them.
19. Campus becomes a ghost town during Thanksgiving weekend.

Until later,

- Justyne

Motivation

We all know what it feels like to lack motivation. To put off a huge paper until the day before it's due, spend 12+ hours slaving away at it until it's somewhat decent, and swear that you will never let this happen again--that next time, you'll start it a good week before, and finish it with time to spare. And then you ignore your promise, putting through the torture of procrastination all over again.

Or maybe that's just me.

It doesn't seem to matter how good my intentions are in the beginning--I just don't have the motivation to start something until mere hours before I'm due to hand it in. It's not that I necessarily want to put it off. It just sort of...happens.

But that shouldn't happen in writing, right? I love writing. I should want to do it every minute of every day. It should be as easy as breathing.

Except....not really.

Am I the only one who has these problems? I do want to write, I really do. It's just....hard, sometimes. There's no motivation.

Last semester, I had motivation. Last semester, I was in a Creative Writing class. I had a new piece of writing due every two weeks. I was always writing, and I loved every second of it.

In November, I had motivation. November is National Novel Writing Month--or NaNoWriMo, for short--a global event in which writers everywhere drop everything they're doing and write a 50,000+ word novel in 30 days. I wrote every day in November, and I had a blast.

But now? I barely write once a week. I'm too busy worrying about homework, and where I'm going to live next year, etc etc. I just don't have the motivation.

But how do I find it?

Everyone has a different way to motivate themselves. Some people bribe themselves with chocolate, or do something special at the end of a busy week for completing a job well done. Some people don't even need any form of external motivation--they work hard just because they like to. (Ambitious jerks.)

For those of you who don't know, I'm a huge fan of the Sims franchise. I started playing the Sims 1 in 2005/2006, and have been hooked ever since. (And by "hooked," I really mean "slightly obsessed.") This past Tuesday, the Sims 3: University Life expansion pack was released. Needless to say I almost peed my pants in excitement.

Problem was, it was released during what happened to be the biggest week of the academic year. I had three papers due, a quiz to study for, and a presentation to start planning. Not exactly my luckiest week. Still, I wanted to play that game. Badly.

So I used it to my advantage. I used it as motivation.

I printed a copy of the cover art and taped it above my desk.

 Every time I felt stressed

or frustrated

or positively overwhelmed with the amount of work I still had to do

I took a post-it, wrote "Friday" on it, and stuck it up around my desk, among the reminders, to-do lists, calendars, and essay tips I already had clogging my work space.

By the time Friday finally hit, I had written the word 44 different times, on 25 different post-its, in 3 different languages and at least 9 different fonts.

And y'know what? It worked. It freaking worked.

I locked away my phone. I stayed off of the internet. And I got stuff done.

Amazing what motivation is actually capable of doing. Now all that's left is to figure out how I can motivate myself to this extent every week--and in terms of writing.

But for now, I'm not worrying about that. I've waited all week. I've been incredibly patient.

Now I've got some Sims to play.


Until later,

- Justyne