New mountains to climb

I haven't written in a while, and it's because I keep waiting until I have time to put together a thoughtful, well-organized, insightful post about life. Well, I'm giving up on those grand hopes for the time being. Here's a somewhat slapdash life update, and it's worth what you paid for it.

A month ago exactly (August 13th) our Service Adventure unit for the year was begun. In that month we've hiked, biked, cooked, played games, watched movies, and made a home. We've found new friends in our community and in one another. We've laughed together. It's going to be a good year.

A few weeks ago, I started graduate school at the University of Colorado. I'm getting my master's in Public Administration with a concentration in Nonprofit Management. In some ways, I only settled on this path in January of this year. Specifically, on January 1st, I spent some time visioning for the year, and this was as far as I got. This was the only major new goal that mattered.

I did more research and found the MPA degree. A few days later I signed up to take the GRE and checked out study books from the library. By February I was working on applications and by March I had my top 3 choices.

In some ways, though, this has been along time coming. It really is true that living your life may not make sense as you're going along, but looking back, it seems that all the many disparate experiences pointed you toward one steady goal. It's that way for me, with this.

I'm commuting to the Denver campus every Tuesday for class and doing the rest online. This semester, I'm taking Intro to Public Administration & Public Service, Research & Analytic Methods, and Managing Conflict & Change. Two core classes and one elective, respectively. They all seemed very different on paper, but now that I'm three and a half weeks deep, they really do tie together a surprising amount.

The degree is 36 credits. I expect it to take me two years, give or take a little.

I have a desk now, complete with inspirational poster (a birthday gift from D). In case you can't read it: 

"We do not need magic to change the world. We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already. We have the power to imagine better." -J.K. Rowling

It's hard work, but it's so right for me. I love learning. After three years out, I'm ready to be in school again. As the daughter of a mom with a PhD and a dad with a master's, I have always imagined myself going to grad school. And the public sector is the perfect place for a relational idealist like myself.

I hope to keep writing frequently, but the reality is that with the majority of my school work taking place on a computer, my eyes get tired of looking at screens. At the end of the day, what I most want to do is collapse on the couch with a great book. Still, I do promise to keep updating -- I just can't say for sure how often.

What about you, friends? What's new or challenging or inspiring for you this fall?