Noooooo!!!! Week 9 is here :(

TOO MUCH TO DO.

This is the part in the quarter where I REALLY regret taking 4 classes. Still working on my international law and human rights paper (which is now at 11 pages), and have started the outlines for my 2 paper finals. Um…let’s not talk about the other paper.

I have sworn off FB, Twitter, Tumblr, pretty much anything that distracts me. 16 days until everything is due. Oh, no big deal. Just 4 papers.

Well, back to work….ugh.

Holy crap, it’s week 8

3 more weeks of class and here’s what I have to do:

1 paper for International Law and Human Rights: 15-20 pages (current project)
1 paper for Contemporary Slavery and Human Trafficking: 20-25 pages
1 take home final for HR Advocacy: Topics in NGO’s: 15-20 pages
1 take home final for HR and Foreign Policy: 12-15 pages

Oh, no big deal or anything. I’m sensing a lot of sleep deprivation is coming my way. Boo. I’m too old to not sleep.

On a more positive note, I’ve managed to secure an internship with a local organization called Project Education Sudan. I will be creating and implementing a project on girls’ hygiene for a village in South Sudan. I’ll be starting that in January and focusing on until June.

Unfortunately I still have not begun my internship search for the summer and State Department internships are due this week as well.

TOO MUCH TO DO.

I keep trying to remember I enjoy this life.

Obama and Student Loans

So Obama’s little announcement got me thinking about something that ails just about every grad student:

Student Loans (dun, dun, duuuuunnnnnn!).

If you’re considering grad school, chances are you are also considering a lot of debt that comes along with it. It is for this reason, you really have to decide if this is REALLY something you want to do, because you’ll be paying for it for a while. So a few tips for you:

- Study really hard for the GRE and you may get a little help with a scholarship
- Look at Fastweb and other websites that help you find scholarships
- Make sure you apply for FAFSA early – the earlier the better

Large amounts of student loans may seem overwhelming, but it is an investment in your future.

It’s not a pleasant subject to discuss, but it is necessary. Make sure you think long and hard about your decision and how you will deal with the financial aspect of it.

A Bad Week for Dictators

Now, contrary to popular belief that all human rights students care about are rainbows and unicorns, I was just as curious as the rest of the world about Gaddafi’s demise earlier this week. I actually knew fairly early since I got up at 6 a.m. to do some reading (not a joke). Even better, he died the day the topic of my human rights and foreign policy class was talking about humanitarian intervention and responsibility to protect (R2P).

I am curious about what’s next for Libya. I hope the peace process and transition to democracy goes as smooth as it possibly can. My biggest hope for Libya is that the TNC involves women in the democratic process.

Did you know that in all peace agreements, women are only 3% of all signatories? Considering that women represent 50% of the population, I find that abhorrent. This concept is currently an ongoing documentary series on PBS called Women, War, and Peace (which you can find and watch here: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/women-war-and-peace/).

It’s not an issue that’s often discussed, but it is so important that women are integrated. I’d go on about it, but I’m writing a paper on it, and well, then I’d be doing real work.

But, have no fear friends! Even though Gaddafi is gone, there are still plenty of dictators to be made subjects in YouTube videos. And now for your viewing pleasure, Kim Jong Il, to the tune of Party Rock Anthem.

Your work is never done…

I was giving myself mad props for not procrastinating on my midterm for Human Rights and Foreign Policy, but somehow, despite it all, I still ended up fixing my paper at 2 a.m. hours before it was due.

I can’t win.

But anyways, I don’t know about you, but while I’m writing a paper, I pretty much let myself and everything around me go. So after I submitted my paper, I had to rid my room of all the papers (seriously, it looked like a Professor threw up in here), catch up on my laundry, and start all the readings I neglected. I caught up pretty quickly and was super pleased with myself. When you’re in grad school, this constitutes as a life victory.

So now that I have another paper due in 2 weeks and it’s almost November, it means that internship deadlines are coming! Searching for an internship is like having an entire extra course because you spend so much time doing research, writing cover letters, fixing your resume, etc. I have no idea what I’m looking for specifically and have started an excel spreadsheet of possible options. You know, since, it’s a requirement for almost every degree program to have an internship as part of your ability to graduate and all. Of course, I must point out that it’s an almost absolute certainty that this internship will not be paid, since, after all, no one likes to pay kids in the social science world. If you ask my professor, Claude d’Estree, who teaches Contemporary Slavery and Human Trafficking, he would say that this is slavery. Haha. These are the things I think about now.

It’s also almost time to register for classes for next quarter, which forced me to figure out what I wanted concentrations in within my degree. I’ve decided upon 2 concentrations: Gender and Security.

So I was thinking, if you’re reading this blog, you may be studying for the GRE and getting ready to go through that painful process of applying to grad school. A word to the wise: if you’re using study materials to prep for the GRE, DO NOT USE KAPLAN MATERIALS. Seriously, I bought like, 3 books and they all had the same examples, which is not helping you. I also bought their vocab book, memorized 500 words, and almost none of them were on my exam. And if you can, take the standard paper test – if you take it on the computer, you can’t skip problems, or go back and correct them. Just throwing that out there.

One more thing: if you want to come to DU, you should probably know (unlike certain GOP candidates) that Libya is in Africa. Try not to forget that.

I’ve been neglecting my poor blog…

I thought it would be easy to keep a blog, because you know, when you’re procrastinating on your homework and writing papers, you’re online anyway, right?

It’s the beginning of Week 6 and I’m already in panic mode. 5 more weeks until the end of the quarter. Currently I’m trying to finish a mid-term for Human Rights and Foreign Policy, which is due on Tuesday. It’s the only mid-term I’ve had (which is only 5-7) pages, so I can’ t complain too much. What I am panicking about are the papers I have due in a few weeks; one for International Law and Human Rights in 2 weeks (15-20 pages), one for Contemporary Slavery and Human Trafficking (20-25 pages) by Thanksgiving, and my two finals which will also be papers. Time management is still the key.

So of course, I panic about these papers, and what do I do? Give up my Saturdays for something else. I recently started volunteering for SASAN (Students Against Sexual Assault Network), where I’m doing training on Gender-Based Violence (GBV). It’s pretty important that I do this for my career though, so I guess I can’t complain about that either.

And did I mention that I’m also starting to look for internships for the summer? *Facepalm.

Despite the overwhelming amounts of work, I’m still pretty happy.

Time Management

If grad school has taught me anything so far, it’s that you need mad time management skills.

With 4 classes, a job, optional speakers (that let’s be honest, you should attend), and career planning services sessions, it’s quite clear that if I didn’t have a planner, I would be in a tight spot. I’m usually up by 7 a.m. and the day is filled with the above activities.

I’m out of my mind busy, but it’s been manageable for the most part. We’ll see if I say the same thing after my first mid-term and 6 week class paper is due.

The last week and a half has been full of interesting human rights issues, making for intriguing class discussion. Between Troy Davis’ execution, the full repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and the Protests on Wall Street, there’s no shortage of material.

This is a short post, but homework awaits me. More to come soon.