(Yes the title is a White Snake reference - in honor of the PATS)

I attended the first of 2 classes at Harvard this week to mark the kickoff of semester #2. Tuesday’s Human Development class looks like it will be extremely interesting - the 2 profs are engaging and extremely knowledgeable. The only down side is that it starts at 7:30 pm! Makes for a loooong day. And the very next evening is the ProSeminar in which I will be refining my thesis topic and diving in deeper to the literature review. I am excited but weary, as I find more and more of my energy and time and money is being poured into my professional life, with little left for the personal. The apartment hunt is put on hold, the spa vacation remains a travelocity bookmark, and my view of the gym seems to be more of my monthly statement these days. I promised myself (and that Guy upstairs) that I’d take better care of myself this year in my “new age” bracket, but there just aren’t enough hours in the day or dollars in the bank! Keep on keepin on. I’m just one of those people (schmucks?!) who believes that hard work, sincerity, and passion will pay off some day.

“Things been a little tight, but I know they’re gonna turn my way.”
- the boss

I’m obviously posting some news way after the fact, but I needed a wee time out from my computer screen every evening after work!

I managed to get my research paper in on time, and I just found out today that I got an A- in the class! Whoopee! I learned how to conduct qualitative research and analysis…and that I have soooo much more data to collect and literature to review before I can even propose my thesis. I was aiming to have it proposed by Feb 1 and done by Nov 1, but I’ve got further refinement of the topic to do and I want to keep my sanity during the study, so it looks like it will be instead a March 1 2009 graduation date. Sigh. The Neverending Story of the Masters continues! I did talk to my advisor at Harvard for over 2 hours last Thursday and left feeling inspired and focused on the journey ahead of me.

In other news, I turned 30. I joined the 20-10 age bracket last Sunday at the Patriots game. And well last Saturday too at Ole in Cambridge over gourmet Mexican food and margaritas! I was so touched by the support and appreciation by my loving friends and family!!

Lastly, I am finishing up Term 2 at TBA, which means it’s September all over again for me next week.  I am super excited about the Media Seminar videos…the kids are taking so much pride in their work and polishing the PSAs up in the edit room with voice-overs and beats (which often results in free-style raps about class and Spice Girls dance routines, both much to my delight). My mantra is “work hard, play hard”, so if students are able to get the work done, they can and should have fun too. My freshman work so well together in web design class - there are at least 3 in each section who walk around and help their classmates out. And the advanced web students were reportedly “sad” and “gonna miss you miss” when they realized they had just 2 classes left before the final launch of their client’s web site. I am so proud of how every student has found a way to contribute, to listen, to trust, to manage, to creatively solve a problem, to help, and to take pride in and have fun with their work.

I snapped this photo through the window at my desk today. I have been glued to the desk lately as my pilot study paper and presentation is due this Thursday! So today’s cancellation of school was indeed a gift. One of the “perks” of the job I guess! I will have next Monday off as well for MLK day, which is also a gift because I will need to recover from witnessing yet another AFC Championship battle in Gillette Stadium. Never fear, Patriot Nation, I have been present at all 4 of the last 6 AFC Championships that the Pats have won (one of which the Pats were not present at either, actually).

Speaking of Gillette, I won a Gillette-sponsored contest on Facebook! My “Get your game face on” video won me a JVC camera, a Brady Quinn autographed football, and a Gillette shave kit. I’m psyched! Its taking a while to redeem the prizes from “fulfillment at facebook” though, so I guess I’ll just have to wait for my shaving cream. ?! (you can view the video here)

OK I need to vent here…

I have been enrolled in the ALM ET program at the Harvard extension school for going on 2 years now. I have been paying out of my own pocket $850/course to get my masters degree. Why do I need the master’s degree? In order to have the “PERMANENT” stamp of approval on my record. Why do I need to become permanent? In order to (a) increase my salary lane (b) stay at my school if I ever took time off (c) be “allowed” to take on certain responsibilities of which I am already capable and pretty much doing (d) be eligible for tuition reimbursement. Yup, I need to pay up now in order to not pay later. But Ill be done with my coursework by then and wont get any reimbursement for what I took as a provisional teacher in order to become permanent. Sigh.

When inquiring today via phone to HR about tuition reimbursement, I was told that all I need to know is “on the website” and nearly hung up on. I was logged into myBPS, and on the HR home page but the doc was not there. In an ever so patronizing way “Uh-yeeeah-aaah”, I was led through the Superintendent’s page (cuz that’s HR?!) and a series of illogical clicks to finally get the tuition reimbursement word doc open - off of the bps web site, NOT in the portal after all. “Uh-yeeeah-aaah” its actually not “on the web site” at all! Exasperation. Sigh. Blech. Done.