25- Winter-freaking finally-break!

I know this semester has been, well, odd.

Hell this entire year has been odder.

So many changes on the federal level, including new intrusive FAFSA questions.

Including the grinch swiping away what little student loan relief that the Biden administration was allowed to do by the courts.

I mean, we all know who the grinch is, right?

Put that aside.

Things will still be bat-shit-crazy in the new year and the new semester.

Take a deep breath now, and count the good things.

Finals are done and your grades most likely in by your instructors.

Winter graduations and hoodings for graduate students have occurred. Including two of my cohort. Congratulations, guys, well done.

I’m not jealous at all. No, really I’m not. This is a process and I am just not as far along as them.

It is too early to plan for Spring Semester.

Christmas is over 10 days away.

Now is the time to breathe. And maybe nap. In fact, I hope your sleep is as good as Dot’s on her warming pad and window perch.

My winter hope for you is that you rest well over Winter Break.

Think about school only if you want to but don’t obsess about it.

Read that book you’ve been meaning to get to.

Watch that hot new movie in the theater before it is pulled.

As an aside, Hamnet was one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.

Watch that television show that you’ve been saving up for the end of the semester.

Wrap your presents (if you do them), ready your travel plans (if you are going anywhere), but be safe.

The crazy things will be there after the first of the year.

Take this time to re-center yourself and remember who you are and why you are on this journey.

And have a happy, safe, and restful holidays.

Spring Semester is just a breath away.

School Me Saturday 11/29/25- The realized cost of college is not what it used to be

The latest October 2025 NBC News poll about the value of a college degree, nearly 2/3 of registered voters say that a four-year college degree is not worth the cost of attending college. That means that 33% of those polled thinks that a four-year degree is worth the cost.

In June 2013, the spread was much different. Then 53% of those polled said that a 4-year degree was worth the cost and 40% thought that college wasn’t worth the cost.

I have two thoughts about this.

TWELVE YEARS is all it took to destroy the idea of furthering your education. This was not done in a vacuum and certain people have been working toward this for a very, very, very, very, very long time. All the way back in the 1860s when the department of education was first created by President Andrew Johnson. And people railed about it enough then that the department was decreased to the office of education. (I think this is a genesis point of people realizing that LOUD makes right).
This is a problem of the education purveyor’s own making, in part. College has skyrocketed each year for as long as I’ve been a college student.

My final thought is that y’all are playing right into their hands.

They want Americans dumb. A less educated populace asks fewer questions that they don’t want to answer.

They want Americans without education to realize hey, this isn’t right.

They want Americans without education to realize that there is no way to rise above their station so they should just give up and become a corporate drone.

The questions you should be asking yourself are who is pushing the dumbening of America?Which corporations and billionaires stand to profit from keeping us dumb?

It also isn’t too late to ask yourself “how do we stop it?” Nearly but no.

As always follow the money.

And then read a history book and get ready to fight.

My final thought is to caution wariness about the make up of the poll. Who was their sample? How did they know their sample would be representative of the population? Who is asking these question? What is their angle?

Lastly, who is paying for the poll/study? And how do they profit from it?

School Me Saturday 8/30/25- Long weekends

Yes, I know that school JUST started. Like seriously, how long have you been back- a week?

However, for the rest of society it is the last hurrah of summer. Time to have one last barbecue, time to have one last dip in the community pool, time to sleep in (hopefully not the last one), and time to get your breath before the marathon that is coming. You know the one I mean. The Christmas decorations are starting to trickle in and the Halloween decorations have been dominating the stores since the beginning of July.

But you are a college student, you have no time for frivolity, you think to yourself as you pull up the chapter that is due in a week and start the outline for the paper you have to write about this module.

Wrong.

Take a breath.

Yes, the semester just started and there is so much work to do. Papers to outline, and tests to study for, weekly chapters and scholarly papers to read.

Yes, yes, you’re so busy.

It is okay to take a breath and go to that BBQ and take a swim in the pool.

Summers are fleeting and fall is knocking on all of our doors.

The paper outlines can wait. The reading can wait. The end of the semester will be here before you know it. The end of your college career will be here before you know it. Now is the time to enjoy the new friends you have made, to celebrate the joys that they have.

It is okay to take a breath and sink into the long weekend. Think of the two weeks you’ve had of school as the warm up lap and this is your mini break before the work really begins.

Your brain will thank you.

School Me Saturday 8/2/25- It’s AUGUST, you know what that means?

The summer is winding down.

To the college student that means that the Fall semester is just around the corner.

Back to school things have been the stores for a minute. Yesterday I heard a mom frantically looking for extra long twin sheets and I thought to myself, “Someone is sending their first kid off for their first colleges days.”

The Fall semester will start before you know it.

Make a list of necessary dorm things. Extra long twin sheets, a caddy for the shower, some rudimentary kitchen stuff, and probably a mini fridge. Definitely a microwave.

Make a second list of necessary school things. In my day, this was notebooks and pens and paper and my very first computer.

Don’t forget clothes for the changing temperatures.

Don’t forget quarters for the washing machines. If they even do that anymore that is.

Don’t forget your chargers.

Don’t forget notebooks and pens. You know, just in case.

Don’t forget to download your syllabus when available.

Don’t forget to make a schedule of your classes.

Don’t forget to check out the nearby restaurants or, if you are eating on the meal plan, the hours of the cafeteria.

Don’t forget to be excited about this new chapter in your life. It is okay to be a little scared too.

Above all, don’t forget to reach out for help when you need it.

But these last few days before the hustle and bustle truly starts give yourself permission to finish that book you’ve been reading. Give yourself permission to enjoy this time.

It will be over before you know it and you will be an old hand a the dorm thing. Or at the off campus house thing.

Before the Fall semester starts take a moment and remember yourself just as you are because you will be a different person when you next are home. Also remember to give your parents grace as they learn to understand and accept the new you.

After all, to them, you were just in diapers.

School Me Saturday 3/29/25-Suddenly, all at once

Spring Break is over. I hope you had fun because now is when the real work begins.

But, Kate, I’ve been working hard all semester, in all of my classes with readings and lectures and papers and quizzes and tests.

Oh my.

I know. Trust me, I know. But think of Spring Break as the 7th inning stretch.

Yes, I know that I am mixing my metaphors here. Or I will be very shortly.

The end of the semester is barreling down upon us. Which means the projects that most classes have been working toward for weeks will be due soon.

This makes students panic. Knowing that there is a large amount of work to be done and a suddenly, all at once, finite amount of time to cram the work into.

Don’t panic.

Of the several universal truths from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, the most important is DON’T PANIC.

You see if you had read the book, you’d be at least smiling now..

Another universal or, in this case galaxial truth, cheating is not the answer. Just ask Zaphod Beeblebox, the hapless leader and President of the Galaxy. Because 2 heads are not better than 1.

The biggest takeaway from the book is that it is not the answer that matters. Anyone can give you an answer, especially since AI has entered the chat. Anyone and anything can give you AN answer.

It is knowing that the answer is not the right answer is where the true learning begins.

Deep Thought spent several millennia thinking on the meaning of life. Their answer was 42. And it did not expound on what is the meaning of 42. To be clear, the meaning of life and the semester is not to get a 42. By any measure that is a failing grade.

True learning is not knowing the answer to the random question but WHERE and HOW to find the answer. Because that will survive the memory reset that so many students do at the end of the semester.

That is what the professors want you to know.

School Me Saturday 1/11/2025- new semester, who dis?

Yes, it hurt a bit to be ungrammatical in the title.

I know it feels like winter break started a second ago. December and the first part of January is a marathon and a whirlwind. You blink and, next thing you know, Spring Semester is due to start. Like tomorrow.

Relax. Deep breath.

Remember when you chose your classes in the fall? Or remember when your advisor told you what classes to take? And you signed up for them and everything? And you and your spouse or you and your parents or just you filled out your FAFSA when they released it in December?

I know that the beginning of the semester is scary. But breath. You’ve got this. Every class is one step closer to being done.

Now that you’ve remembered what classes you are taking this semester, get yourself to the Canvas site and see if the syllabi have been released. Or Moodle or Google Classroom. Or whatever platform your college or university uses.

Read the syllabus. Yes, in its entirety.

Make a plan for due dates or exam dates. But also make sure to note when the breaks are.

The syllabi will have the books needed for the class. Buy them, rent them, borrow them. It doesn’t matter how you get them, just get them.

Now all you can do is relax and get back into school mode.

But take heart. Spring break and Summer break will be here before you know it.

Don’t forget to eat right, drink your water, brush your teeth, and exercise. You know, the things that your parents told you to do. Do all of them.

And enjoy the semester.

School Me Saturday 12/7/24- last class blues

Someday, when you are nearing graduation, you will experience the last class blues.

The last class is a fencepost. Over the fence is post-graduation, and on this side of the fence is the last paper and the last test and the last lecture that you will experience as a college student.

It is normal to feel a bit sad after each of the lasts.

The last paper you are ever going to write for a class is happening soon or has happened. You might not care what grade you get. Or you might be haunting the Canvas page, waiting for the grades to drop. Both can be true. But the last paper is special.

The last test you are ever going to have to take in college is happening soon or has happened. Again, you might not care what grade you get. You might’ve calculated how many questions you can miss and still pass the test and the program. This last test can be special.

The last lecture you are ever going have to pay attention in and take notes in college is happening soon, or has happened. Whether you are a prodigious note-taker or not, these will still be your last lecture notes. Use them well in writing the last paper or studying for the last test.

The ever-present what do I do with all these notes and textbooks will flash before your mind. This question has different answers for different people. Heck, I still have notes from 1993 and my first nursing school.

You’ve experienced all this lasts before with other classes. But this is different, isn’t it? These are the lasts of the program. Attention and solemnity is appropriate for these.

Some people are saddened by this inevitable end to an era. The era of your college student career, that is. Some people are not and are ready to party. Some people are in between. Some people just want to sleep for a week. All of that is normal.

The gate? The one that separates the college life or paper and tests and lectures, and the post-graduation life?

That’s graduation.

Until grad school, that is.

This might not be your path. You might be a one-degree and done person.

But never, ever, ever, stop learning.

School Me Saturday 11/30/24- Push on through (to the other side)

The song starts with a short cymbal warm-up.

Then the guitar starts laying down a beat.

Then the vocals.

“You know the day destroys the night,

night divides the day.

Tried to run, tried to hide.

Break on through to the other side.”

I am, of course, writing about Jim Morrison and the Doors and one of their best-known songs. It was the opening track on their debut album.

It is nearing the end of the semester. Perhaps you listen to music while you are studying. Or not. Perhaps you listen to music to wind down. Or not. But think about this song with me.

“Made the scene,

week to week,

day to day,

hour to hour.

The gate is straight, deep and wide

Break on through to the other side.”

I can take you all back with me to Peg Garner’s Advanced Placement English class in my junior year of high school, where I learned about poetry. In 1992. And how to analyze poetry. Because music is poetry. Or maybe they are complementary arts. I will let the philosophers decide.

However, music can teach us about ourselves. How to study, the cadence of songs helps here. It also helps if you are so familiar with the song that it ceases to be new and amazing and just becomes like elevator music. But you notice when it is gone.

Then a song like Break on Through (to the Other Side) speaks to you about endings. Because the semester is ending. It is nearly time to put up the books, and to put away the paper and pens and pencils. It is too early to worry about next semester; it is too late to worry about this semester. All you have to do is break on through. Finish the final papers, take the final tests. Do what you have to do to get through. Whatever it is.

Reflection is helpful here at the ending of one thing and not yet beginning of another thing.

Reflect on the semester and what went well and what didn’t. You can promise yourself to do better next semester.

Because there will be a next semester until you are finished with the degree program. And maybe even after that.

You might not be able to quit school.

But that is a problem for future you, isn’t it?

School Me Saturday 11/16/24- It’s here, the final push toward the end of the semester. Isn’t it hateful?

Depending on when your university or college marks the start of the semester you may be 13 weeks in or 10 into the semester. Considering a semester is usually 15 weeks, with an extra week for finals, you may be nearly there at the end of the semester.

Regardless of how many weeks, anything after 10 is practically useless.

Your grades are set, for the most part. Only a miracle can bring you up an entire grade. Only a disaster can plunge you into failing, depending on where your grades usually hover.

I think this is the hardest part of the semester. Students are tired. Teachers are tired. Administrators are tired. We are all tired.

This year is especially taxing because someone put a very pivotal election in the middle of the semester. While not all students are up on their politics, they are probably aware enough to pick up on the durm and strang that is at a boil at the moment. Reminder, the literal translation of durm and strang is that there is a storm and stress. The Germans really know their way around a phrase

And it took me 5 times to type durm and retype durm after the autocorrect that I didn’t ask for changed it to drum. FIVE times. No wonder we’re tired.

It is too soon to start planning your winter break and too late to “fix” your grades. But you should have bought your plane ticket home weeks ago. You know, for the best price.

It is too soon to start planning for the Summer semester. Planning for Spring? That started almost as soon as the Fall semester started. Planning for graduation? That started before your first class, dear.

No wonder we are tired.

And stressed.

According to the dictionary being tired and stressed at the same time means we are burned out.

Writing as a long-term healthcare professional of 26 years and a nurse for 23 years, my first response is no shit.

Writing as a long-term student who is on her third degree in ten years, my first response is no shit.

Take a deep breath.

This is where the mantra the only way out is through is useful.

Insert whatever mantra you use here.

Just keep swimming.

Dispatches from the Evening Shift end of semester impromptu vacation

The end of the semester can bring up many feelings.

Too often the weeks and days leading up to the end of the semester are busy, busy, busy.

Final projects.

Final papers.

Final presentations.

Yeah.

All of those.

I was gonna contradict myself and say that there were no presentations. But there was one.

I would say the majority of my feelings are exhaustion.

I don’t want to read for school, I want to read for pleasure.

I don’t want to write for school, I want to write for pleasure.

In the past few days, I’ve mostly been reading.

A lot.

Like a lot a lot.

The Women by Kristin Hannah was the first book I read. It is about the forgotten women in Vietnam, the nurses. Oh, so good.

Maddening and tear-jerking all at the same time.

This country did those women dirty.

Oh, and I worked a few shifts in there too.

After my last 10 hours as an RA.

And it occurred just now that I didn’t turn in my last time card.

Oh, dear.

Okay, that isn’t what I said. But drat!

And it was due today.

Bother.

I’ve got to get that in.

Oh, and I’m on my fourth and fifth antibiotic of the Spring. Can I use that as an excuse?

Too late, because I’m gonna.

Tomorrow I will write another Dispatch from Wonderland regarding school life.

I can’t wait to find out what I’m going to write about.

Time card first!