out with the old…in with the new…

Wow.  I haven’t written in forever!  I just looked at my last post date: Sept. 21.  Well, I blinked and now the semester is over.  Yes, that’s right, this kid survived her first semester of grad school!  sweeeeetttt…

Par usual, I learned a lot, both academically and personally.  I was stretched and challenged in ways I never could have imagined.  It was only four short months, but I feel like a different kid compared to when I started.  Ahhh, change is in the air…

Some more Mizzou Musings for your pleasure…

There is a difference between having a desk job and wearing high heels to work and walking all over a college campus wearing heels.  Oy!  I had to interview someone for an article then I had an internship interview, both on opposite ends of campus.  Oh, the blisters oh and the blood, my poor tootsies!

As it turns out, I don’t mind grading papers.  As long as I’m not doing everything for the class.  Being a TA was fun.  I really enjoyed working with the professor teaching the class, and my fellow TA’s rocked.  Dr. Craft said we were the best TA’s she has had in 10 years.  Awww, I pink puffy heart her

It is not as hard as you think to get to know a whole bunch of hot soccer players   I really enjoyed getting to know them and watching them play.  The Columbia College Cougars ended their season in the second round in the national tourney.  Even though I won’t be reporting next fall, I think I might check them out for fun!

I keep relearning this one:  it’s okay not to be in control of my future.  I’m starting to enjoy watching things play out one day at a time, which for me, is kinda scary, but having faith that things will work out helps a lot

No matter what age you are, when you are thrown together with a whole bunch of people working toward a common goal, it always kind of feels like the Breakfast Club.  My friends and I definitely had preconceived notions of each other, but we bonded over a difficult professor who we grew to love and respect.  In turn, we began to enjoy and respect each other.

Balance is still key.  I wasn’t so good at this one this semester.  I’m hoping to be better being more balanced next semester.  Exercise, time for me, and definitely more dancing and karaoke

Whenever you move into a new place, learn how to use the shower nobs.  Otherwise, you are in for a long semester of very cold showers.  Yes, folks, this happened.  It didn’t occur to me until after Thanksgiving to check the nobs in the shower to remedy my cold shower debacle.  Oh, Kathleeny…

The semester started off kind of rocky, but as my Dad always used to say: “It is not how you start, it is how you finish”  I think I finished up pretty well, if I do say so myself.

Now it is time for some much deserved rest and relaxation with Mom and Pops Majorsky in their new diggs in Florida.  Books, beach and bocce.  You really can’t get any better than that

I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season.  May all your days be merry and bright.

xoxo from CoMo,

Kathleen

It’s good to be a gangsta? No, it’s good to be a grad student

Top 10 reasons it is good to be a grad student…

10. Naps are once again socially acceptable.  Falling asleep in the library: even better.

9. College town=college prices.  You can get beer for a $1.  Let me repeat that: you can get beer for a $1.  Albeit it is not good beer, but then again I am quite partial to bud light lime so I’m pretty easy to please as far as beer goes.  Nonetheless with $5 you can get a pretty good buzz going on a Friday night.  You also get student discounts EVERYWHERE!

8. Peanut Butter and Jelly, cereal and cold pizza are all acceptable choices for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

7. There is finally a place where my academic nerdom is celebrated, in fact, it is the norm. Finally.

6. Being a graduate student is a lot like being a super duper senior on campus.  Sometimes undergraduates mistake you for professors. Case in point, an email I received two weeks ago:

Professor Majorsky,

I have dropped the journalism major.  My friends told me I wouldn’t have to write that much in the journalism school.  Well, I was very misinformed.  I have switched to something easier.  Good-bye

5. Undergraduates, in general, provide quite the show.  As I was leaving the newsroom late last Thursday, I was upset to discover that I didn’t get the email about the prom that was going on in downtown CoMo.  Oh wait, those were girls just going out to the bars on a Thursday night.  A little piece of advice ladies: Leave your little black Gucci dress at home.  In a few hours, when that okay looking drunk frat boy wearing the pink polo with the popped up collar spills his $1 beer on your beloved dress, you are going to be DEVASTATED! Save the expensive duds for the real world.

4. After getting up at 5:30 am as a teacher, getting up for an 8:30 am class feels like sleeping in.

3. Graduate seminars are code for sitting around and debating fun topics like incitement and negligence in communications law.  FYI: If you ever have an urge to emulate your favorite neighborhood rapper’s lyrics: DON’T.  When your family members sue said rapper for your wrongful death, THEY WILL NOT WIN.  Thanks to a little thing the Supreme Court likes to call precedent.

2. Professors treat you like equals.  They want you to succeed.  They want you to get internships and jobs.  This is a pretty sweet deal for everybody involved.

1. Studying in a coffee shop on any night during the weekend is actually considered cool.

Ahh, yes, it is good to be a grad student, Kathleen says as she purses her lips out, giving a nod, striking her most menacing graduate pose.

xoxo from CoMo,

Funk-a-lious, special K (my badass gangsta name, if I were one)

Hello CoMo…

So I forgot to mention that last week, one of my classes had us doing  kind of a cool assignment.  We had to go around CoMo and take pictures of places.  It’s Mizzou’s philosophy that as journalist’s we should know and be engaged in the community.  After two tanks a gas, probably about 200 miles and getting lost only a little bit   Here some of the pics…  Oh I decided to get clever and include Truman the Tiger in some of them

Truman and I eating Tiger Stripes ice cream yum!

Truman and I checked out the Museum of Art and Archaeology

My favorite spot: a grocery store! Of course! They have really yummy cheese!

I won’t bore ya’ll with the rest, um, there were 50 total!  It was fun getting to know CoMo and Truman a little bit better!  Back to the newsroom!

Oh, I almost forgot, TA-ing is going well!  One of my little students emailed me the other day and called me Professor Majorsky.  Imagine that!?!  It made me giggle

Talk to ya’ll soon!

xoxo from CoMo,

Professor Majorsky

A girl just wants to have a bit of fun…

Grad school is everything I expected it to be.  Challenging and time consuming.  But I’m still squeezing in some fun when I can

Like the time I interviewed the man for this story: http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2009/09/07/man-made-marathon/

Or how about the time I witnessed this mans first marathon and his first marathon win: http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2009/09/07/first-marathon-won/

Or the time I spent an entire day with a very spirited and delightful high school softball team: http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2009/09/05/softball-and-singing-both-rock-bridge/

It would be an understatement to say that being a reporter makes me uncomfortable.  In a good way.  I am forced to talk to complete strangers asking them crazy questions.  It is a bit weird to be able to have that kind of perspective on someones life for a brief moment.  It keeps me humble and reminds me that everybody does have a story to tell.  As a journalist, I owe it to the readers to tell those stories with a bit of sensitivity and honesty.  A pretty arduous task, if you ask me.  But I wouldn’t be experiencing some of my own personal growth if it wasn’t difficult, right? Exactly.

So the name of the game for me at the moment is BALANCE.  I am constantly writing things down and crossing things off.  On almost a daily basis, I will leave the house in the morning armed with my beloved Dunkins warm beverage in tow and think to myself “Crap, did I brush my teeth a moment ago?”  Or “Crap, did I put on deoderent?”  On the opposite end of the day, it is more like, “Crap, did I eat today?”  Sometimes I forget these things because my mind is on overdrive and on overload.  But I take a deep breath and remind myself that graduate school was voluntary.  That thought and the deep breath puts things into perspective.  Laughing at me also helps put things into perspective too. Oh, silly Kathleen

I still try to fit things that I love into my days.  A jog here, a little music listening there and even some brain candy reading.  A little sweet thing that isn’t so academic. 

Truth be told, I don’t mind the challenge.  Not even a little bit.   I am even more excited than ever to see how this is all going to turn out

Enough about me, how is everyone out there?  I may not respond right away, but I would love to hear how everyone out there is doing.  I miss ya’ll immensely!  Chat soon!

xoxo from CoMo,

Kathleen

things aren’t perfect…

Just a note:  Yes, I know there is a misspelling. I believe that was a copy desk error   Oh well!  Thanks for being proof reading hounds!

look mom!

Here is my first story as a reporter for the Columbia Missourian!

Speed bumps!

After three days, confusing houses, 5 trips down this particular street, fascinating interviews, and even a chicken, I finally got published!  Phew!

First one down…

Hopefully, I’ll have time this weekend to go into a bit more detail and share my thoughts on my experience this week.

Hope all is well!

xoxo from CoMo,

Kathleen

p.s. still looking for superman

Lois Lane reporting for duty. Maybe I’ll meet Superman…

Only one word describes the first week of boot camp: intense.  It was quite the remarkable feat: cramming 16 weeks worth of information into one week.  By weeks end, my brain was mushy and my butt was feeling the effects of an uncomfortable classroom chair.  Ahhh, to be back in the throes of academia again.  Exhaustion aside, I enjoyed what I was learning, and I can’t wait to apply it to the newsroom this week.

My classmates, only 30 out of 65 in boot camp, seem pretty cool.  We come from very different places having a myriad of cool stories and experiences.  It is hard to tell yet who will be my besties and who will remain acquaintances.  Regardless, my professors won’t be the only people I will be learning from at Mizzou.

The second week of boot camp consists of us newbies taking over the Missourian.  I equate this with being dropped in the middle of the jungle with a pen and a notebook, and being told I have to do whatever I can to survive.  It is apparently what they refer to as the “Missouri Method.” Hands on experience is the best teacher, I suppose.  Good theory.  I’ll let you know how it works out I’m actually pretty excited to start writing.  Writing = happy Kathleen

So there is a new and exciting development by ways of potential career directions.  This semester I am thinking of trying my hand at sports reporting.  I’ve talked to the sports editor, and I think it would be great to work with him.  How many female sports reporters do you know? Kind of a cool prospect.  To study up a bit, I just purchased “The Best American Sports Writing of 2008″  I am enthralled.

On another note: An update on the Great Coffee Shop Conundrum:

Kaldi’s: slightly corporate feel, decent warm beverages, always crowded, a bit pricey.

Rag Tag: an eclectic assortment of services, bar/bakery/coffee shop/movie theater.  Good everything, but pricey.

Cherry St. Artisan: huge comfy couches, awful service, excellent warm beverages

Coffee Zone: uber cheap tea: $1.50.  Let me repeat that: tea is $1.50, very quiet, excellent Mediterranean food.

LaKota: lots of local color, decent chai and rocking chairs.

Hmmm, the verdict is still out I’ll have to see how each one looks with the onslaught of undergraduates expected to arrive this week.  I still may stick to my beloved Dunkin Dounuts coffee with french vanilla creamer and one sugar packet.  Kathleen runs on Dunkin after all

xoxo from Co, Mo,

Lois Lane, I mean, Kathleen…

Stay tuned for the Missourian link this week with hopefully something published by yours truly!

A little motivational quote as things begin…

“Don’t listen to those who say, you are taking too big of a chance.  Michelangelo would have painted the Sistine floor, and it would surely be rubbed out by today.  Most important, don’t listen when the little voice of fear inside you rears its ugly head and says: “They are all smarter than you out there.  They’re more talented, they’re taller, blonder, prettier, luckier and they have connections.”  I firmly believe that if you follow a path that interests you, not to the exclusion of love, sensitivity, and cooperation with others, but with the strength of conviction that you can move others by your own efforts, and do not make success or failure the criteria by which you live, the chances are you’ll be a person worthy of your own respect.” – Neil Simon, playwright

Let the craziness commence…

Mid-Missouri Musings…

A lot can happen in two weeks…

 

Musing #1: People are so super nice in Missouri.  From the bookstore to the DMV and everywhere in between.  I walk around campus and smile at everyone I pass and they actually smile back at me.  After living in a decently frosty city like D.C., I have really come to value friendliness.  I am not naive enough to think that there aren’t nasty people in Columbia, but so far the general demeanor of people has been warm and gracious, which makes me a happy kid

Musing #2: I am pretty sure it was easier to get into grad school than it was to get my new license and car registration in the state of Missouri.  I definitely made 3 trips to the DMV yesterday, but I got it all done so I win, I win, I win.  My car and I are officially starting to establish residency in Co, Mo.

Musing #3: Everything is cheaper here.  I mean EVERYTHING.

Musing #4: People in Columbia take their local politics and their coffee very seriously.  On politics: people have extremely strong opinions on WalMart.  In the past two weeks, I have been asked on more than one occasion if I am pro or anti WalMart.  Apparently, it has something to do with peoples right to unionize.  I’ve never really had cause to think about it so I just say “Well, I’m not sure how I feel about buying my groceries in the same place I could potentially buy underwear”  Generally speaking, if you mention underwear in any context people usually change the subject.  Immediately.  So I’m safe   On coffee: so many coffee shops to explore! Sweet!  Which one will be my main study hub?  Stay tuned!

Musing #5: Missouri is beautiful. I’m just not sure if it is beautiful enough for me to haul my butt out of bed at 5:30 in the am to go running around it.  But I did this morning.  I joined a club called Columbia Multisport Club.  Essentially, they are triathlon junkies that meet on Tuesday and Thursdays at 5:30 am to run on a most lovely and scenic nature trail.  There were probably about 50 people.  I was impressed.  I was even more impressed when we started running.  It was my hope that I would find a running buddy who shared in my 11 min a mile stride, but before I knew it everyone took off.  I was left with a bit of pre-dawn light and a deep hankering for my ipod.  Most people were running 6-8 miles.  I haven’t run that since Cherry Blossom training.  My internal dialogue went a little something like this: Do I kill myself and run six miles in an effort to be sporty and social or do I call it a day and run the 4 miles I am comfortable with?  My sleep deprived body won out, I looked around to make sure no one was around to see me cheat, and I ran back.  I was happy to discover a few strangers in the way, way back so technically I wasn’t dead last.  The verdict on this adventure?  I’m going to try my hardest to continue.  Well, of course!  Ya’ll know how I feel about a challenge.  Bring it

Oh is it a bad thing  that as I passed the local Co, Mo Dairy Queen I was tempted to stop for a blizzard?  To my shock and chagrin, DQ is apparently not open at 6:30 in the morning!  What is up with that?!? So I stopped at McDonald’s for iced coffee instead.

Picture break! (insert picture break music here…la, la, la, la…)

My new tags!

 

It's the real deal! I'm a tiger, grrr....

my cranky face. I had a lot to be cranky about this morning.

That’s all I’ve got for now.  I’m not sure how much blogging will be taking place in the next few weeks.  An intense journalism boot camp starts Monday.  Aug. 10-14 is all classroom instruction.  August 17-21, we start writing for the local paper.  No time wasted at Mizzou!  I will try to get the link out to the paper when my writing appears

xoxo from Co, Mo,

Kathleen

p.s. if anyone is thinking of sending me a care package Please send quarters.  There is meter parking everywhere!

Home Sweet Missouri…

My life in pictures…

my bed in my HUGE room

my dish chair and storage cubes in my huge room next to my teeny, tiny closet

My desk in my huge room

I’ll be spending a lot of time there!

University of Missouri = MU. I figured this out thanks to my new roommie, but you'll have to come visit if you want to be privy to that information :p

The cute little house I live in

Kali had a mint and chocolate one, but I couldn’t take a pic of her cause I was driving.

You'll have to come visit me to learn about the history of these here columns

Got lucky in Kentucky…with the cupcakes that is

 

All I got to say is so far so good   I pink puffy heart Columbia! Everybody is so nice and friendly:)  Bring on the grad work!  grrr!