Thank You, Uncle Sam

Since this blog began I’ve been noting observations on my progress with balancing graduate school with the rest of my life. I have yet to achieve success in every area, but when it comes to balancing work, I don’t really have any issues. There is no juggling act, because work time is work time – everything else falls outside of the work realm and thus is balanced separately (school, social, volunteer work etc.).

Actually, it’s fairly easy to compartmentalize my professional life right now due to my current job situation. Earlier in the year, I began life as a government consultant which was a major departure from my jet-setting life in the corporate world. I no longer travel 4 days a week. I’m no longer responsible for managing a team. The pace is a bit slower, and for the most part, I’m able to control the exact amount of time I spend in the office each day. I still work hard, but in my contract the government has capped my hours 43 per week. Nowadays, I can complete my projects, impress my client, leave work before 7 p.m. and still get home in time for homework.

Government consulting is a pretty good gig, and for the moment it represents a pocket of true balance. I know it won’t last. I should be grateful.

So allow me to take my star-spangled top hat off to you, Uncle Sam, and thank you for helping me maintain equilibrium (in at least one area of my life) during these time-challenging times.

Number fifty-six

pythagorean theorem

It's all a proof for me. One one side, I see my vision and know exactly what I want - and that end result is far reaching. On the other, I reside in the elementary stages of progress to reaching that ultimate goal. while work allows me to build that network, school hones my skill set in the communication field.

Never that great at proofs, I always struggled in prioritizing. However, being able to apply exactly what I learn in the 32 degree room of Mary Grayden (third floor) has shown significant results at 1909 K St NW. I've been able to translate a full Earth Hour strategic plan into an FDIC Minority Outreach plan. I've keyed in on specific tactics that make sense and written my own collateral material as a result.

In essence, the two complement each another and the match of my passion with my talent continuously surface Monday - Saturday 9 to 5 (and in the wee hours). American University and Porter Novelli are secretly engaging in love affair.

I am grateful for the balance and hopeful that a squared + b squared = c squared.

imani

Define "work"

I think most of us can agree that we struggle with keeping balance between our work lives and our personal lives. I know that for most of my professional life, I’ve struggled with trying to have a social life of some kind while balancing a demanding job. (Is there any other kind of job?) So what happens when you throw grad school into the mix?

Mine is an unusual story. I’m in the weekend program for working professionals and I’m not working. I should qualify that statement. I’m not working outside the home and getting paid. I am working, however, at handling all the paperwork and legal documents that come with trying to sell a house in Florida and I am working at trying to find a new job. Trust me when I say looking for a job is a full-time job.

Every so often I go on the usajobs.gov website which posts the available jobs in the federal government and I may find one to apply for. It takes about two hours to complete one application. Despite uploading my resume, which I think is pretty clear, I must then turn around and answer anywhere from seven to 10 essay questions on the experience I have in various fields and how it correlates to the job I am applying for. By the time I complete one application my brain hurts.

It can be quite challenging to do reading and writing assignments for graduate school after completing 10 essay questions or running around looking for a notary public to notarize all the documents needed for a closing. Even though I’m not “working”, I find that I don’t do my homework until the evening. Just like my “working” classmates.

So how do I maintain balance? It’s like I’ve said for the last two weeks. Prioritize and sacrifice. Homework is a priority so it takes preference over my desire to go and see D.C. as a tourist. Hopefully, the Capitol will still be there once I graduate. And hopefully I’ll be “working” before I graduate.

Millicent

i heart my job...

Challenges can definitely arise when you have to juggle your 9-5 with school. Being a full time student wasn't an option for me, and honestly, I'm fine with handling both responsibilities. But, when are you crossing the line? Is it fine for me to complete homework while at my desk? Can I submit a press release, that I created for work, to my teacher as a class assignment?

Despite these concerns, the work (for both commitments) must get done. My studies clearly benefit the USO, so they understand school commitments, especially if they aren't posing problems in my professional performance. My employer values higher education, and that makes the balance easier for me. Even though my direct supervisor doesn't quite get it (she made me travel on a Sat. when she knew about my class commitment), the USO appreciates my decision to learn, as its making them a stronger organization. They've made HR changes that include giving professional development credit for grad school classes and offering tuition reimbursement. These things make the task of work and school a little more bearable.

The stress of balancing won't last always, and the beginning really is the toughest part. May 2010 will be here before we know it.

-Patrice

GPO versus AP style guides: keeping my mental sanity!

Do I use serial commas or not? Should I capitalize government and federal? What about Senate-confirmed appointments? Are those capitalized even when the title doesn’t precede the name? Is embassy capitalized? These are just a few drops in a bucket full of differences between the Associated Press Stylebook and U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual.

The conundrum: keeping my brain from exploding from the laborious task of using the right styles for grad school and my government job (yes, I had to think twice whether to capitalize government in this situation!) When I started my job as a writer/editor for the Department of State’s Office of Inspector General, I had to forget everything I learned as an Army journalist whose bible was the AP Stylebook and learn to love GPO. My brain rebelled for a while and suffered migraine-like withdrawal. But eventually, the pain ebbed and like most change, I got used to it. However, that blissful nirvana came to a screeching halt when I started my second grad school course--public communication writing. All of a sudden, I was thrown back into the world of AP and forced to balance the teeter-totter of right and wrong between AP and GPO.

Fortunately, there’s a silver lining to this daily mental torture. Practice makes perfect, so constantly consulting both style guides not only keeps me on my toes, it also forces me to learn these differences. Eventually, I’ll only have to consult the books for uncommon style applications.

What happens when I’m done with grad school? Will I have to unlearn AP style once again? Hopefully by then I’ll have transitioned into a government job that shuns GPO and embraces AP. Meanwhile, I’ll stock up on Excedrin Migraine…just in case!

-Misha-

Thinking in “Units”

Not only has graduate school changed my routine, it’s changed the way I process things. Since I school started, I’ve made a concerted effort to focus on balancing my life. My goal has been to achieve the perfect equilibrium between personal time, work and graduate school. Despite my best efforts, or maybe as a result of my best efforts, I think I’ve swung pendulum too far in the wrong direction.

In the movie “About a Boy,” High Grant’s lifeless character divides his mundane days into half-hour time slots called "units.” During an instant message conversation this week, I suddenly realized I had begun to mentally compartmentalize my time in the same way. The discussion went something like this:

Chris: Hey, what’s up?
Me: Hey man…been meaning to call, but I’ve been busy.
Chris: Cool. It’s Lauren’s going away happy hour tonight. Sorry for the late notice. Can you make it?
Me: Ugh, no. Sorry, I have a bunch of stuff to do tonight.

On the surface, this appears to be an ordinary conversation consisting of a greeting, invitation and a decline to the invitation. However, between Chris’ invitation and my response, I had quickly calculated a simple equation:

Total 30 minute time units remaining in the evening (3) – dinner units (1) –
daily homework units (2) = social availability (0)

What’s wrong with this? Probably nothing, but the structure feels a bit robotic. Is my thinking really this becoming this segmented?

After pondering this dilemma, I have concluded that living in balanced time “units” makes an interesting character in a movie but lends itself to feeling like I'm living a vacant life. I think I need to rethink my approach. Maybe I should focus on finances like the rest of my fellow bloggers.

Number fifty-six

money...

Honestly, I’m not really feeling where graduate school is immediately affecting my finances. Like many of my peers, most of this expense is funded through student loans, so I don’t have lots of out of pocket costs. I do spend money on books, knowing the person I am, that money would be spent anyway on clothing or eating out, so it doesn’t bother me much.

In the less-immediate scheme of things, graduate school will have a huge affect on my finances, i.e. future financial decisions like purchasing property and vehicles, minimum salary requirements, prospective jobs, etc. With the realization of having to pay back more than $20,000, I’m now making wiser decisions on how I save and spend. While school debt is often seen as “good debt”, it’s one debt I’d like to get rid of as soon as possible. In a perfect world, I’d graduate from American with my wonderful degree, apply to a few high-paying jobs and be offered a position making triple my current salary, allowing me to pay off my debt quickly and pain-free. Hey, everyone has to dream, right? ;-)
- Patrice

Visa - Keeping me where I want to be.

Last week I said that if I really wanted a social life, I would have to make it a top priority. Well when it comes to finances, graduate school IS my top priority. It goes without saying that pursuing a master’s degree is expensive and I, like most people, don’t have $30,000 lieing around. But where there is a will, there is a way. My way was going to be to sell my house in Florida, pay off any debts, bank some of the money and use the rest for school.

What I didn’t build into the equation were all the unknown variables - and Murphy's Law has revealed a few. It turns out the decision to go to graduate school is costing me a lot more than $30,000. What are the extra costs?

First I quit a very good paying job in Florida to move to the D.C. area to attend school. My plan was to find a job here with education benefits to help defray the cost of school. What I didn’t count on was that I would still be job-hunting a few months later.

Next the sale of the house has not gone as planned and I’m paying for my apartment here and the house in Florida. Ouch!

So how have I survived? First thank God for a savings account. I'm down to fumes but I’m holding out. Next, thank God for plastic. Visa’s tagline is “Everywhere you want to be.” Well I’m adding “Keeping me where I want to be.”

The financial challenge of graduate school goes beyond just paying for classes. It’s forcing me to pay for an adventure, but it’s still my top priority. No regrets.

Millicent

Nickel & Dime or Priceless?

Tupac expressed it best, "tryna make a dolla outta fifteen cents..."

Who knew his lyric would play such a dominant role in the fall of 2008 - years after his death. Yes, the enrollment into graduate school has literally raped my pockets, but the current economic climate isn't quite healing those wounds either. The crisis that we are facing in America has taken a toll on how I cope with financial obligations. I've come to a crossroads where I don't know where to go. Walk with me:

Tithes (at least 10% of income)
Rent - $900
Utilities - $200
Cell Phone - $110
Metro (Had not been considered as I relocated from a pedestrian city) - $160
Car Expenses (note, gas, and insurance) - $520
Food - friends and family's leftovers
MA in Public Communication - Priceless

Given any other profession (medicine, business, engineering), I'd be at peace with repaying my post-graduate loans. However, where is the peace in the non-profit world? If I saved every dime of my income for a year, I still would not be capable of offsetting my student debt incurred from graduate studies.

Nonetheless, the interim requires me to continue loving PB&J, tap water, cereal, vintage clothes from mom, natural hair styles, mini vacations to VA, and no consumption of cable TV or internet at home. I must admit, the value that I've witnessed thus far has been priceless - it's allowed greater focus on school and more time for meditation. Exactly what I need at this ambiguous crossroads.

imani

Balancing good fortune and the unknown

“They” say money doesn’t fall from trees. However comma, thank the Lord, money has been falling from the Department of State’s training budget tree and right into my school account. One of the perks of working for Uncle Sam is his gracious willingness to help his employees better themselves through education. Of course, the catch is this self-improvement has to be directly related to the employee’s job. Luckily for me, public communication relates to my job as a writer/editor. I’d like to think it also has something to do with my somewhat exceptional persuasion skills, both oral and written—a significant part of the stack of paperwork I have to fill out for each course involves justifying how the class relates to my job and convincing the powers that be that there’s a strong element of WIFM (what’s in it for me) for the organization.

But like “they” also say, all good things must come to an end. The department’s fiscal year 2009 budget hasn’t been approved yet, so we can’t spend more than we did last year this time. We’re on a “continuing resolution” until March or April. That’s going to be next to impossible considering we just hired a slew of new employees. Unless training money can only be spent on training, I will have to find another tree to shake to pay for grad school. Welcome to reality, right? Oh, and did I mention the new policy that came out last week places a $3,000 per fiscal year cap on tuition assistance? Needless to say, I'm already maxed out for the year! Regardless of what happens, I’m extremely grateful for the help I’ve gotten so far, and any debts I rack up from now on will be worth it.
-Misha-

A Lesson Learned from Nik Wallenda

Wake up, go to work, bill hours, volunteer, answer personal emails, return personal calls, get together with friends and family, enjoy hobbies when possible, eat, sleep, repeat. Managing daily life is a balancing act that often feels like a complex high wire routine. Usually, I maintain a pretty good equilibrium by ensuring each element gets the right amount of attention to make the rest of the routine work. Unfortunately, when things get hectic and I start to lose balance, my social life is the first element to suffer.

When I started graduate school this year, the social impact was immediate. Suddenly, the majority of my already limited free time was spent attending class, reading and doing homework. Free Saturdays were reduced to once a month, and open weeknights became a rarity. My equilibrium was off and along with trying to remember how to be a student again, I realized I was faced with a dilemma of how to maintain a social life and attend school at the same time.

While pondering the solution, a revelation came to me from a very unlikely source. A few weeks ago I was sucked into watching a seemingly ridiculous segment on the “Today” show where “famous” daredevil Nik Wallenda performed a live, death defying hire wire stunt. At one point, a sudden gust of wind nearly blew him off the wire. Nik paused for what seemed like an eternity, then successfully completed his walk. Later, when asked about how he overcame the near death experience, Nik indicated he simply had to refocus, rebalance and get moving again.

Now, I wouldn’t say that Nik was oozing with wisdom, but thinking back on this I did learn a lesson – harmonizing my social life with graduate school is all about modifying my routine, regaining my balance and moving forward. It’s that simple.

Number fifty-six

Am I still alive?

How does graduate school affect your social/family life?

It depends. First of all the question is to define which one will be affected the most. Then, once you have figured it out, make a comparison analysis to stimulate your thinking and, more importantly, empower yourself to achieve and retain at least one. In my case, it's family life. The challenge is not only balancing your life, but more importantly, keeping your life together with a million dollar smile! Now I have to answer a difficult question: Do I still have a life?

As a working professional, husband, and father of four children, I am obsessed with earning my second Master’s degree. I am lucky to still be married. My goal is to NOT get divorced while I am back in graduate school. Already my wife has complaint about my obsession (I THINK MY WIFE IS JELOUS OF GRADUATE SCHOOL), this normally happens on Fridays night for I just can’t go out and have a social-married life with her. For my advantage, she has already earned her Masters degree so she is not complaining about the fact that I am earning a Master's degree, but a second one. I know, it's hard to believe. I have brought this concern to my attention and I can only find one answer: I LOVE graduate school! Graduate School is a way of life and I love it!

- ID #27

"Make It Work"

balance - the ability to carefully weigh two or more lifestyles.

it exists. i live it. i embrace it. in fact, right at this very moment, i'm pondering on how my life would unfold without a very important friend (VIF) who's celebrating perhaps the most insignificant birthday of her life - twenty something - right now. longing for a glass of wine, italian aromas, and family style atmosphere, i instead sit here in pursuit of a lifelong dream - my MA. but Tim Gunn has taught me how to, "Make it work."

since september, life has been unpredictable: new job, new school, new home, but old friends. it's been phenomenal and entering back in the metropolitan area with a whole new attitude has indeed sparked some self awareness. there was a time when "social life" meant football games, parties, amusement parks, and drinking. but throughout my transformation, i am pleased to know that social life is not an escape route, but rather purposeful interaction. so on those off days (which i force myself to carve out), i may gather with friends or family around an intimate table in a cozy setting, sip pumpkin chai, and discuss the victory of an incredible man (obama)- the opportune time to share what i've learned and how it applies to our casual conversation. that's my new social life.

there's this great book that i think clearly defines what to do when in doubt of socializing, "Eat,drink, and be drunk in love." it's the book of Song of Songs (The Bible). in essence, the marriage of the two - social life and grad school - has stimulated my mind and elevated my relationships. what's not to love about the balance of grad school and social life. they're inseparable.

Speak soon; off to my reservations.

-fifty one

Graduate school and a social life - an oxymoron?

According to Succeedsocially.com achieving a social life is fairly simple if you have the basics. They are:
• A fairly decent personality
• Knowledge of how to make friends
• Enough guts to invite people out fairly easily
• Enough internal desire to have a group of friends
• You like other people
Let me add one more item to the list:
• You aren’t in graduate school

Graduate school not only provides you with the opportunity to further your knowledge. It also keeps you busy and in some ways provides an escape from your current reality. It is demanding and time consuming. Graduate school is an excellent excuse for not having a social life. However, suppose you didn’t have one before?

Truthfully, I believe it is possible to have a social life when in graduate school. Like everything else, it just needs to be a priority. The challenge is I have so many priorities. First and foremost is to find a job and close on my house in Florida. Next is to do well in school and keep up with the assignments. Then there is taking care of my dog and myself, finding a good yoga class, finding a good church, maintaining the car, etc. The list of priorities goes on, so where in the list of priorities should “having a social life” fall?

I cannot blame graduate school for not having a social life. It’s just one more priority I need to consider. And if I really wanted a social life I could give up my facebook time. Then again, a social life is so highly overrated.

- ID #54

Social Life? What the heck is that!?!?

Here's an example of how hard the balance REALLY is:

After rushing to get dressed and bathe/feed my son before dashing off to the 7:45am church service (that I was late for), I was reprimanded by my mother because I was late to my little sister's cheerleading competition. When I got home from the competition (that I had to leave early), my husband was pulling out of our garage because he'd gotten sick of waiting for me to get home (from the competition) so that we could take our son to a birthday party. To make matters worse, I was forced to cancel a business meeting with a long-time friend because, as expected, the birthday party ran over it's end time. Oh, and I have to ?.. (was that confusing?)

This, unfortunately, is the story of my life. Sometimes I wonder why, at the age of 24, God gave me so much responsibility. Then, I realize that He did it for a reason. Playing the balancing game is tough, but with careful planning, it can all be done. While I refuse to cut down on family time, I've limited social time to every other week, and my real friends understand that school makes it harder for me to hang out as much. They admire the fact that I'm dedicating time to making myself better. At the same token, I've made it very clear to the hubby that when I do decide to go out with the girlfriends, I don't expect to hear any flack from him. We are both in school, so we understand the importance of breaking free from time to time.

Graduate school is not only a commitment for me, but it's a commitment for everyone around me. Once the entire familial circle commits to the positive change that school will bring, all those involved will have an easier time adjusting. I know its made things easier for us.

***That's a pic of my son on Halloween, dressed as Barack Obama. We were sure to be home by 9pm, so that I could read and prepare for class the next morning.***

#23

Balancing the blame: Social life and grad school

Social life? Ha! What's that? To be fair, though, I have to admit I didn't have much of one even before I started grad school. Now that I have even less time to come out of my bat cave to mingle or, God forbid—date, I'm comfortably and convincingly using grad school as a scapegoat for my suffering social life. When my friends and family (who are all out of town) ask me if I ever go out, I say I don’t have time because I work Monday-Friday, go to school every Saturday, and do housekeeping on Sunday. I say “comfortably” because honestly, I don't feel deprived or like I'm missing out on anything. I'm perfectly happy with my monotonous, routine-based life that consists of work, home, and school. I’m very busy with these three elements, but so are my cohorts. If some of them balance all of the above AND have a family to take care of every day, then I can most definitely find the time to come out of my hermit shell and reacquaint myself with society. Enrolling in grad school was a step toward digging myself out of this socially-deprived coma I’ve been in since returning from Iraq the second time. Now I have to find the courage to shift the blame back to where it belongs: me. But that's the easy part! Once I’ve accepted the blame, I have to work on the hardest part of it all: actually DOING something about it.
-Misha-