When I began grad school last year, the school gave me a breakdown of how many hours of work each class was going to amount to. I was taking the max number of credits that I could, so it was no small number of total hours. I was also working my full time job, in addition to some part time work. The school is also about 45 min. away with current traffic conditions, so I had a bit of a commute to class everyday. I began to realize that I would have very, very little free time.

The other day I did the math on how many weekly hours I actually had available during that 1st semester. Here’s how it finally broke down:

Number of weekly classes: 4-5 (14 units)
Weekly in class hours: average of 14
Weekly hours for assignments and readings as specified by the college for the number of units I was enrolled in: 60 (roughly 15 hours per week per 4 credit class)
Weekly hours spent working full time job: 35
Weekly hours spent planning for work, working part time job, or other responsibilities: 8
Weekly hours spent commuting: 7
Target goal for weekly hours sleeping: 56

Total numbers of weekly hours outlined above: 180
Total number of hours actually contained in a week: 168
Total number of hours available for free or personal time: -12

No wonder I was losing my mind.

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I don’t want to go back. Please don’t make me go back. You don’t know what it’s like out there. Please don’t make me go back…

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I sat in my grad school class one evening listening to the professor lecture on a given topic. She was a stern teacher. She had a certain tone that ignited a sense of fear in all of us. She was strict, authoritative, and terrifying. I dreaded going to her classroom every week.

And then one night, in the middle of a lecture she stopped what she was doing and made an obscure reference to Pokémon. The whole class was caught a little off guard. This seemed odd and out of character for her. She was after all, an old and frightening woman. She had no business knowing anything about Pokémon. I shook my head to myself and chalked it up to relatives of some sort. Maybe she had purchased something Pokémon related for a grandson. Yes, that must have been it.

But then she continued on her Pokémon themed digression.

“I liked Pokémon Red, and Yellow, but it frustrates me that they keep making different versions and I have to get them so that I can get all the Pokémon!”

Wait…what??? Was my heartless grad school professor really talking about Pokémon? Was she really talking about PLAYING Pokémon??? How was this even possible??

The class sat dumbfounded in complete shock. Our collective mouths hung open without exception. No one knew what to say. I thought for sure we were all hearing her incorrectly. Or maybe this was some kind of clever ploy. Yes, that must be it. She was punking us. This was some kind of test–the kind that only strange frightening teachers would do.

The teacher who was always so stern and cold clasped her hands together in delight and looked up towards the sky with a deep satisfying sigh.

“I really like Charizard. Charizard is my favorite.”

The student next to me started taking notes. Surely this would be on the final exam.

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In my first week of grad school I had 4 classes.

3 of them were spent playing grad student bingo.

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When I began grad school last year three out of my first four classes felt it was really important to play icebreakers. These teachers’ game of choice apparently was “people hunts!” We were given a bingo grid and instructed to go around the room and find classmates who filled various categories. So I’d spend my evening asking who had been on a trip lately. Or who owned more than 10 pairs of shoes. Or who liked tomatoes. In grad school. This was made even more ridiculous by the fact that all the students in the class were the same as all the nights before. So by the third night of being handed the same bingo sheet and asking all the same people the same stupid questions I was most definitely reevaluating my grad school decision…

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When I first started this website so many years ago I made a lot of comic strips complaining about college and the cost of higher education. Now, so many years later, I am still complaining about college and the cost of higher education.

Some things never change…

The post The More Things Change… appeared first on Raccoon Toons.

When I was in elementary school, choosing what to wear on the first day of school was always a big deal. It usually involved a lot of thought, planning, and a special trip with Mom to the young man’s section of Mervyn’s. The new freshly purchased clothes would be specially laid aside the night before. Morning would arrive, and the new clothing would be gathered and worn. A photograph on the front porch was mandatory to commemorate the illustrious occasion.

Somewhere around the time I was in junior high school (and after my parents had their third and fourth child), the first day of school magic seemed to lose it’s luster. Apparently you can only fill so many family photo albums with pictures on the front porch before the whole thing starts to feel stale.

The post First Day Of School appeared first on Raccoon Toons.

Don’t be fooled. It’s all part of my master plan.

The post It’s All Part Of The Plan appeared first on Raccoon Toons.

I didn’t believe it either.

The post Studying WHAT?? appeared first on Raccoon Toons.

My grad school classes started back up again this week. The long and perilous journey continues. Pray for my soul.

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