Settling in?

Recent days have been much more difficult for me than the first two weeks of class. Apparently, this would be the opposite of the norm, according to our professors. Today I had a chance to speak with two people about this - a teacher and a coworker.

My junior high U.S. History teacher tutors in my library. I told him that being in grad school is like having two full-time jobs. I'm spending many hours on coursework after working in my library for eight hours, and I feel like I'll never get ahead. He advised that it takes about a month for the new routine to take hold. Then he reminded me that I've always been a good student and that everything will be fine; it might be a little harder since I haven't been in school for a long time.

I've also been speaking with one of our reference librarians about all the required reading, the recommendation against reading every word, and the "completion not perfection" mantra. I don't like the idea of skimming; I want to absorb everything. Well, now I'm trying to look for main points in certain types of assignments. My friend said that she thinks the professors are teaching us how to handle the huge amounts of information we'll handle in our professional careers on a daily basis. She pointed out that this is especially important for me, since my goal is to work in leadership roles in public libraries after graduation.

Back to the books....