I have been getting to practice time management and stress management techniques the past month. Not only has it been stressful due to difficult personal family circumstances, such as grief, job loss, and less social interaction with friends, it has been stressful in managing my different roles as wife, mother, friend, advocate and now student. Some of my friends are aware that I applied for a scholarship to go to graduate school. Although I didn't receive the scholarship, I did get accepted into a graduate program :)

So I had the dilemma of not being able to afford tuition, etc. yet wanting to see if I could handle taking on graduate school. As a result, I was advised to take one of the required initial courses to hold my place in the graduate program, in hopes of reapplying for the scholarship in the spring. The initial class is just a one and a half credit class but it is only 6 weeks in length. A fact that I failed to know when I registered. Needless to say, I am learning that time management is even more critical now.

I have actually been enjoying the course but incorporating it into my schedule has been more challenging. As my stress level goes up, my cognitive functioning seems to go down. But that is not stopping me from doing the best I can in both the class and my other responsibilities. Of course the busier I get, the harder it is to incorporate stress management techniques such as exercise and my weekly walks on the beach. I am doing my best to practice what I preach. Thankfully, the weather is cooling off so I am motivated to get outside even if it is just to get sunshine while reading my textbook.

My class ends on October 9th so I have to stay focused on the task at hand. I guess considering I have not been in college for over 20 years, I need to give myself credit no matter what the end result. I will check in again after my course is over but for now I need to go practice some stress management skills :)