Definitely!

Definitely!

I finished all my assignments for my third semester in the MSSW Program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Now, I wait for my final grades, more like one final grade in one class because I know I passed my two others. And thus far, this was my most challenging semester, and repeatedly asked myself the last three months why do I do this to myself. This fall semester, I enrolled in three classes, worked at my full-time job, and started my sixteen hours a week practicum. Moreover, this semester I deprived myself of sleep and ran on a steady diet of caffeine, sugar, refined carbs, and fat (I love donuts), and followed a strict exercise regimen of sitting on chairs and typing on keyboards. But on the bright side, I accepted an employment-based practicum towards the end of the semester. I traded my full-time job for a part-time job. I know this does not make sense. Why go from broke to broker? If you felt what I did this semester, you would understand. I jumped at the chance of having more study time. Being a first-generation graduate student and coming from a Hispanic family, gauging the challenges workings towards higher education are unfamiliar. It is more difficult to understand the reason for pursuing a graduate degree when I can be working and making more money and living comfortably (eight hours of sleep a night). Enrolling in graduate school sounds irrational. So, why pursue a graduate degree? Because I have this sense of community and guilt. I have an opportunity to attend college and address systematic inequalities encountered by my family, peers, and community. It was an opportunity that my friends and family would not want me to pass up. Has the stress so far been worth it? Definitely!