well, the original title of this post was "reflections after a WEEK back in school"... if that tells you something about how this semester in school has been...
CRAZY BUSY.
hence no time to write many blogs - which is the reason this post went from being about my reflections after 1 week back in school (when i started writing the post way back in mid-January) to reflections on a whole semester.
it's way more time consuming & that was a surprise. "they" (government or someone?) passed new laws about graduate schools having to require 3 hours of extra work outside of class for every 1 hour in class. that's a bummer & = about 100 extra hours outside of class for each of my 3 classes each semester. that's 300 extra hours (not to mention 90 hours in class) which if spread over about 10 weeks is 40 hours a week... basically like another full time job.
no wonder i didn't blog as much as i wanted or planned to.
it was a really beneficial semester overall. i took 9 credit hours/ 3 classes & i survived it just fine. (most days). learned a ton. i feel like i'm "better" in many ways than i was before the semester kicked off.
for one thing, i have this powerful love for God and His Word freshly sparked in me. i'm passionate/motivated to know it better & let it change my life and change the world through me.
i feel like (in theory) i must be a better leader than i was back at the start of the semester. i at least "understand" leadership better and have a way stronger foundation + a working knowledge of so much more within the study of leadership.
we'll see how that translates pragmatically.
not trying to be mean, but i do feel a little better about myself. let's just say = obviously, the best and the brightest aren't doing graduate school these days... or at least i hope not.
you probably catch the subtle statement i'm making.
(but don't worry, if any of the majority of my classmates who i'm referring to there read this they won't pick up on it. just sayin.)
maybe the best thing about school is that it FORCES you to do things that are good for you. things that help make you better. and it puts deadlines on those things.
now I HAVE to read that book i've been meaning to read, write that paper, do that thinking, etc…
for example, i just wrote my theology of leadership for a class last semester. something i have always needed to develop... sit down and study, think, write, craft, nail it down so i can operate by it. but who has time to do that?
well, i made time because i had to.
this summer semester i'm taking a class called "Managing the Non-Profit". i have to write a "performa" or business plan for a non-profit i'm starting (for real starting. more on that later). it will force me to do it.
speaking of next semester - it's already starting. i'm actually way behind already on the course work. i go to class 1st thing Monday morning and the Summer semester will drag on into August.
but before that 1st day of a whole new semester i did want to take these few moments and reflect on the semester that just ended.
so just a little more looking back on last semester:
fav class = "The Leader as Communicator"... all about developing organizational culture
most helpful project = writing my theology of leadership. priceless.
best required book i read = Organizational Culture and Leadership by Edgar Schein. the godfather of the technical study of organizational culture and how it develops. most difficult book i've read in a while, but awesome. not a big fan of the writing style of MIT profs.
most pointless/time wasting/frustraiting thing this semester = (not trying to sound mean or arrogant but) listening to other fellow students give their incredibly dull and not helpful at all presentations.
never wanna do it again = taking 2 week long intensives back to back.
best feeling = turning in the final research paper of the semester with 2 minutes to spare & realizing i have only 6 more classes to go now.
hopefully this coming semester i can reflect a little more than just once at the end!
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