Surviving Grad School

Ever considered graduate school? Wondering if it's for you? Is it possible to juggle school and work?

Disclaimer: If you couldn't care less, this will likely be a very boring read.

The purpose of this post is to share my reality as a graduate student. I realize my experiences are highly specific to my field of study, but I imagine the commitment and workload are not unique.

Disclaimer No. 2: Don't go to grad school unless you love your field.

I am a full-time student and teaching fellow, enrolled in 9 credit hours and an additional zero-credit course. (That's music, for you. During undergrad, I remember complaining that my credits didn't reflect my workload. Now I'm grateful for a class without additional cost.) Nine credits. Can't be too bad, right? My dual bachelor's degrees required me to enroll in 17-18 hours most semesters.

In all honesty, the academic side of graduate school is the least of my worries. I don't say that boastfully, as if it's "too easy" or non challenging. That is not the case in any way. I have been very impressed by the level of academics and the higher-level thinking my professors require. Many days I'm grateful for the opportunity to push myself to excel in non-piano skills.

While my hours are not sapped away by memorizing charts, formulas, and impossible-to-spell words, my time at the piano is extensive and non-negotiable. Every week, I spend 30 hours of independent practice at the keys. This does not include rehearsals with other musicians and coachings with professors. With lessons, rehearsals, and coachings, this number averages around thirty-five hours.

As a graduate teaching fellow, I have several responsibilities at the university. First, I teach an undergraduate section of class piano. My class meets for one hour, twice a week. I am responsible for all planning, teaching, corresponding, and grading. I have weekly meetings with a supervisor, and I am accountable to him. Secondly, I teach in the piano preparatory department, which is basically a grades 1-12 music school inside the university. I have six students, whose lessons range from 45 minutes to 1 hour. They each receive one lesson a week. I am responsible for planning their lessons and preparing them for competitions/performances/recitals. Another supervisor meets with me weekly to discuss my students' progress. I observe/teach a weekly group class for 1st and 2nd graders. Last semester, I primarily observed. This semester, I have begun some group teaching, and next semester I will team-teach a class with a fellow classmate. Add in two more hours of weekly professor observations (private and group class), and I think you'll get an idea. On paper, these responsibilities add up to an additional eleven hours each week. With planning and grading figured in, it's closer to fourteen hours.

My final teaching responsibility is one outside the university. (After all, a girl's gotta make a little bit of money! "Graduate Teaching Fellow" may sound like a fancy title, but the paycheck sure doesn't reflect that! ;) I work three hours a week at an off-campus music school. Twice a semester, I have additional weekend responsibilities for performances and recitals at the school.

Add in eight hours of classroom time not yet accounted for, and you'll get a realistic picture of an average week in the life of this grad student. If you're a numbers person, you might have kept a tally. (If you're not, 35+14+3+8 = 60.)

The rest of my time is spent outdoors with Brooklyn, eating Tyler's famous tacos, and fellowshipping with friends from church. Oh, and doing homework, of course. I haven't factored that in yet! After all, those academic course requirements have to be met sometime! (See why I said it's the least of my worries? :)

Why am I writing this? To make you sympathize? To convince you I'm a crazy person (you already knew that.) To remember how much work this is so I'm not tempted to pursue further education (maybe - it's a good strategy)?

No, I'm writing this because I want to remember how I can't do it on my own. I know with certainty that my Heavenly Father has placed me here, for such a time as this. I am convinced that I could not do any of it without Tyler's practical and emotion support. I remember wondering if I could handle marriage and grad school. To be honest, I'm not sure I could handle grad school without the bedrock o marriage. I also felt nervous about beginning school with a puppy. This puppy has been one of the most wonderful things about my grad school adventure. She is always ready and willing to hit the road with me. She'll cover as many miles as I want, as fast as I want. She'll also curl up next to me while I practice or study. She is good company.

The daily phone calls and texts home are always received with grace and responded to with wisdom. We are supported by a church who offers to bring us food when we're sick or our laundry when we're overwhelmed. We live a blessed and undeserved life.

Yes, grad school is hard. I am incredibly busy and tired all the time. But I couldn't be happier. I am beyond privileged to spend every day doing what I love. I certainly can't do it alone, but I wouldn't trade any of it.

Jessie's Grad School Survival Tips:

1. Have the best family ever
2. Have the best church family ever
3. Take a weekly sabbath
4. Enjoy a hobby outside of school

(Pre-req: Love your field!)

The Impromptu Race

We've had a month full of races!

Two weeks ago, I ran the Trinity River 10K.

BIG fun with Mary Anna!

The following week, Ty and I both ran the Dash Down Greenville 5K. (Yes, it was basically a beer run. Don't get me started.)

When it's his idea to race together, I'm never going to decline!

Then there was the half marathon. The one I'd planned not to run. It's part of the Rock n Roll marathon series. I've been hearing about this race since the first day we moved to Dallas. My neighbor does it every year. One of my professors has been an annual participant since the inaugural race. Even a man from church told me he had signed up.

But you see, I have a recital in two weeks. In an effort to cut back and learn to say NO!, I declined. I can't tell you how many times I visited the website and nearly registered. I just went about my recital preparation and continued running for the love of it and for the sanity of my dog.

On Friday afternoon, everything changed. I found out that my favorite runner, Olympic medalist and U.S. record holder, Denna Kastor, was leading the 1:45 pace group. My group! (Yes mine, even though I wasn't registered.) And even though this race now had a RunDisney price tag, and even though we had an impending departure time for the youth retreat, I drove to the Dallas Convention Center and registered for the Dallas Rock n Roll Half Marathon a mere 36 hours before the race.

I think I ran twice last week? It rained every day, but I still managed to break in my new shoes a bit. The church youth gave us quite a workout with their endless games of capture the flag. Definitely counting that as sprint training.

We returned home from the youth retreat Saturday night, and I decided I should probably find out details about this Sunday-morning race. With 13,000 participants in the mix, I had to have a plan. The plan? Show Tyler the race map, buy some band-aids for my heels (thanks very much, ballet flats!), and pin on my bib.

While waiting in my corral, I realized I was an arm's length away from Deena! Other people started to notice, too, because the iPhones came out and the selfies ensued. If I'd have had my phone, I might have been one of those girls, too. Thankfully, we'll both never find out. The minutes drew nearer, and the crowd hype simmered. So much, in fact, that Deena spun around and said, "Isn't anyone going to run with me?!" I found the courage to reply, "I am!"

And for thirteen (point one!) miles, I did. A handful of us did. Our pace group talked about dogs, hills, California, ironman races, Deena's daughter, jumping in puddles, Dunkin Donuts, and embarrassing race experiences. Deena coached us up the hills and encouraged and rejuvinated everyone around her. I listened a lot, partly because I'm shy and partly because sub-8s for thirteen miles isn't that easy for me.

Someone was waiting for Deena at mile 12 with donut holes. That was the only time I saw her refuel.

As we approached the finish line, I had to work really hard to keep pace. Normally I run a fast final mile and sprint toward the end. I actually remember slowing way down and waiting to cross with my pace group. All for the "million dollar photo," as Deena called it!

We crossed the line at 1:44:12, and I felt more energized than ever! Not bad, considering I hadn't trained and still managed to knock three and a half minutes off my previous PR. I couldn't have been happier! The course was awesome and the company was spectacular! I still can't believe it happened.

Turns out I didn't need my phone after all. The professional camera men were busy snapping photos. It was fun to see these pop up on social media throughout the day. (I'll save you the ones where I'm drinking water like a pig.)

Don't mind the watermark!

The stats:

5K split: 24:30

10K split: 48:55

10 mile split: 1:19:21

Half marathon: 1:44:12

Average pace: 7:57/mi

Overall: 586 out of 8486

Gender: 133 out of 5164

Division (25-29): 29 out of 725

Yes, yes, the stats are important for this Type-A, but I'm happy to say that this race was truly more about the experience than the numbers!

As always, my faithful fans were there for me!

"She ran without me?!"

After a very unrestful spring break, this busy weekend was exactly what I needed. I guess rest doesn't always mean naps and Netflix. In this case, it was a break from the rigorous demands of grad school, enjoying my hobbies. This was hands-down the most wonderful race experience! Truly an impromptu experience of a lifetime!

Because when life gives you ice cream, you simply have to make hot fudge sundaes!

All this running is making me hungry...

The Trouble with Spring Break

The trouble with spring break is that I don't know how to rest.

Am I the only person out there who feels stressed out about a week off?

I want to rest, but I also want to work an eight-hour day and save the world on my lunch break.

It's been a week of ups and downs, but it has been wonderful in so many ways. My recital is three weeks away, so I can't afford to take a break completely; I have, however, cut back and focused mainly on my recital music.

Tyler is wonderful about helping me practice the art of resting. The other night, he told me I needed to schedule a massage as a way of intentionally resting. I had one booked within minutes! (It was glorious!)

Some other restful things this week:

1. Sleeping in until 6AM (don't laugh)
2. Baking/cooking (and NOT cooking and enjoying Ty's delicious taco dinners!)

Breakfast for the week: apples, coconut milk, raisins, cinnamon, spoonful of almond flour. SO tasty with greek yogurt!

Paleo lemon blueberry muffins! I've been using my YoungLiving Essential Oils non-stop. Yes, even in the baked goods! My apple dish is incomplete without Thieves, and my Lemon oil was the perfect complement to these muffins!

3. Making a kombucha starter

The ingredients!

Now we wait for the SCOBY to grow!

4. Folding laundry - can't remember the last time I had time for this (and all the perfect housewives cringe)

5. Exercising Brook and training with Ty! (No surprise there! This is always my release!)

My handsome triathlete in training!

Negative split stats!

From last night's ride. Note to self: don't ever cycle again after a massage. That was some serious muscle fatigue!

6. Lunch with my piano teacher and a lesson afterward - another reminder of how blessed I am to be at my school!

Learning about pedagogy literature

7. More lattes than I'd like to admit: a cow's milk, a soy milk, a coconut milk -- but I digress....

Races!

Hiya there, beautiful city!

Rocking the 9K last weekend at the Trinity Run

After telling everyone on Instagram that I placed 5th in my age group, I discovered I was actually 6th. My apologies! There must have been an error on the computers at the race site. I would have tied for third in my age group if I hadn't just turned 25. Drat! Aging is taking its toll on me already! As it stands, I was 6th out of 73 women, ages 25-29. I'll take it! This was a Thursday morning impulse registration, but I'm so glad I signed up. The course was a hilly one, but the view was 100% worth it! The free chocolate milk, iced coffee, and coconut water afterward made it 101% worth it!

Tomorrow we run the Dash Down Greenville 5K. The more learn, this less excited I am. On the flip-side, maybe I'll have a better chance of placing if everyone else is hungover...

Monthly Musings: February (Birthday Edition, Part II)

Sunday night the weathermen across Dallas began their shining careers. In a matter of days, their faces became familiar in every Dallas household. Kids everywhere were asking the same question, "Is school going to be cancelled tomorrow?"

Yes, I was among them. And yes, my school was cancelled. (I found out when I woke up in the middle of the night and checked the school twitter account. Yes, you read that correctly.)

Ice Monday meant I stayed in my jammies until 5PM. I practiced a full day, drank a lot of hot drinks, snuggled my Weimaraner, and avoided icy roads. Oh, and I Skype taught for the first time ever with my Frisco students. There were some challenging aspects to it, but overall it worked well.

Since it stayed below freezing on Tuesday, the roads were still treacherously icy. We even had some flurries! 

I'm convinced Brooklyn thought the snow/ice were off-limits. She kept trying to sneak chunks of ice, and once when I called her inside she grabbed a big hunk and ran indoors before I could stop her. Can you blame the pup? She's never seen the stuff before!

While we were all getting accustomed to life in PJs, Wednesday the schools reopened. They stayed open for the rest of the week, but by Friday evening everything was closing early. The temps had stayed right around freezing, and on Friday a new band of snow came our way. Brooklyn hunkered down to prepare for the inevitable.  

It was snowing when I went to class on Friday. Hours later, I stepped outside to find my campus coated in white!

Snow selfie!

In which the Florida girl is justified in wearing boots

I simply could not wait to get home and let Brooklyn out in the yard! Flurries and ice are one thing, but inches of fluffy white is another thing altogether!

To say she loved it would be an understatement. Even after we'd played outside for a long time, she continued to sit by the back door.

She also thought that snowballs were high-value treats. We didn't inform her otherwise.

Score!

Saturday morning, everything iced over again. Ty and I managed to drive down the street to try a workout group. It was a core workout just walking inside. You'd be surprised how much you use your abs when trying to walk on ice.

I had another cozy day at home at the piano. This week could not have come at a better time. I'm truly considering it a birthday gift from Heaven. It was a much needed respite! One more week until Spring Break, and one month until my recital. Loving this extra practice time.

March MUSIC Madness

For the month of March, I'm challenging my students to listen to 15 minutes of piano music every day. I've copied my original email below. Feel free to join in and check out my Spotify playlist! You won't be disappointed! :)

Dear Parents of Students,

One of my classmates inspired me to join her in a musical version of "March Madness." This is how it works: I'm challenging all my students to listen to fifteen minutes of piano music every day throughout the month of March. I'm committing to listen right along with you all! Listen on your commute or while you're getting ready for school.

I've compiled a Spotify playlist for your easy access. It totals to just under seven hours of phenomenal piano music - many standard classics and some of my personal favorites. (In case you're wondering about the math, 15 minutes for 30 days actually equals nearly 8 hours so I've cut you some slack. :)

You will need a Spotify account to access the playlist. Account registration is free; just know you may have the occasional commercial interruption. You can access the playlist through the web or by downloading the desktop or app version. I'm sure many of you already have it!

I've attached a calendar for easy record-keeping. Please print it out and have your student keep it in his/her binder. I would love to offer a musical reward/incentive, so I'll keep you posted. :)

Thank you for partnering with me on this! Click the hyperlink to access the playlist: March MUSIC Madness. It is listened under the account user "jessicawelshpiano."

Let me know if you have any questions! Happy listening!

Jessie Welsh

Monthly Musings: February (Birthday Edition, Part I)

My favorite day of the year came and went. It was absolutely perfect. (We're talking about my birthday, in case you didn't know. February = Jessie's birthday.) Texas even got with the program and made my birthday last nearly a week. Monday and Tuesday were both ice days, so the celebrating continued into the week.

Let me back up.

A February birthday for a Floridian means perfect weather: light jackets, sun, and a nice breeze. Dallas made planning a bit tougher. During the week leading up to the big day (Saturday), the forecast changed four times. It vacillated back and forth between torrential downpour and clouds and 70s and 30s. Finally, on Friday it looked as if Saturday would be cool and cloudy, perfectly acceptable for my birthday plans.

Birthday Wishes:
1. Run a half marathon
2. Go hiking with my family

Likely because of the unstable weather forecast, White Rock Lake was wide open. On an average Saturday morning, the lake is highly populated with runners, walkers, cyclists, dogs, strollers, etc. We saw a few running groups training, but I'm guessing many anticipated the clouds would turn to rain and the forecast would change yet again. Mary Anna ran with me, and we headed counter-clockwise around the lake this time. We parked in the neighborhoods surrounding the lake, ran the 9 miles around the lake, and then ran back to the car. Unfortunately, I slightly miscalculated the distance, so we had to add another mile at the end of our run. But in the end, we completed 13.1 miles in 1:48:56. It occurred to me afterward that neither of us have run a half marathon distance since our race in October. Not bad at all.

On top of the dam - I love this stretch!

Hydratin'!

I had a post-run recovery breakfast cooking in the crockpot for when we finished. I called my family on FaceTime and opened their gifts. I think the kids were a bit disappointed in the "grown up" gifts under the bright wrapping, but I've been enjoying my essential oils starter kit daily!

Annual birthday picture! (Looking a little rough, but I had just finished a half marathon, thank you very much. :)

Birthday flashbacks: 2013 & 2014

After a tasty breakfast, some quality foam rolling, and a shower, Ty and I headed to an outdoors store down the street. My Welsh fam sent me some birthday money, and it was burning a hole in my pocket already. Afterward, we packed a lunch, loaded up the dog, and took the highway south to Cedar Hill State Park. What did I buy with my birthday money?

A backpack for Brook!

I have been wishing for one of these for quite some time. I plan to use it for my long runs, so Brooklyn can carry all our gear. Hands-free running is a dream! We're also hoping to do some more hiking/trail running, so I have great plans for this pack. On Saturday, she hauled our lunch. (It's about time she pulled her weight!)

If you thought Brooklyn would be tired after running a half marathon, you guessed wrong. She was wild as ever! We took a 3-mile trail that is shared between hikers and mountain bikers. For safety purposes, we walked counter-clockwise, while the bikers took the route clockwise. Ty's favorite part was dreaming of biking the trail and simultaneously reliving his Nashville biking memories.

Cedar Hill is known for its hilly areas, and the trail had some good inclines. It also veers around Joe Pool Lake, so we could sometimes see that in the distance.

After our hike, I was certainly tired, so I put my feet up, iced my knee, and watched some Netflix. After that respite, the dinner party preparations began. Mary Anna and I had sliced most of the veggies the previous night, so there was very little to do except the actual cooking. After a long run and a hilly hike, I was stoked about this dinner.

Green Curry

Pad Thai

I didn't manage to snap a photo of our dinner guests, but it's because I was entirely present in the evening. After dinner, we enjoyed brownies, hot tea, and the 90's Edition of Trivial Pursuit. I could not have asked for a better evening. Finally, our sleepy guests departed with full bellies and wide smiles, and I was struck by how very blessed I am.

Stay tuned for Part II: Icemageddon!