All I want for Christmas...

All I want for Christmas is to finish my course work!  Yeah, I'm looking forward to a break from the hustle and bustle of writing and reading and doctoral studies!  This has been an eye opening few months.  I was terrified when I started this program and I had no idea what I was getting myself into.  Frankly, I didn't know if I keep up with the pace and work of a Doctoral program.  It definitely has been a learning process.  I've learned to read, to write, to manage my time, and to ask for help!  I'm still working on the reading thing and I expect it'll take some more time before I can really get through a research article in a timely manner.  I've really learned a lot about scholarly writing and the process of putting together a paper.  I have some strategies in my pocket now that will help me over the next few years.  Managing my time has been a struggle.  Being an army wife, an often single mom (with a traveling husband) to 2 young girls 5 and under, a new Principal, and a 1st semester Doctoral student had been a challenge.  There were times when it seemed like I wasn't doing any of these things well.  I kept dropping all of the balls I was juggling.  As I got to the end of the semester, I took some big deep breaths and just relaxed.  That seemed to really help!  I started carving out an hour each night to do homework.  This seemed to really help keep the other balls in the air.  I'm looking forward to my next classes as I have a better idea of what to expect and how to handle the work.  

My journey has just begun!  I'm looking forward to the rest of the ride and the bumpy road ahead!