When to say when

I'm in grad school. The first semester of a PhD program. It feels more like a hazing than a semester, to be honest. Basically we were told when we started to kiss our social lives and hobbies goodbye, at least for this first semester. Between class and studying and teaching and grading (oh the joys of being a TA...) there isn't much time left for oh, say, archery, soccer, hiking, reading--you know, those things my former self used to enjoy. Heck, I barely have time for eating some days. And sleep is a luxury.

Today I was talking to my brother--also a grad student--about it. He said that he has basically decided that he can't be a grad student if he has to trade in his soul to do it. I agree. This doesn't mean that I plan to quit school, but it does mean that I might not be getting all As. I might not be turning in all the homework assignments perfectly finished. I will not be pulling countless all-nighters and living in my office. I will be having a life, doing things that I enjoy, and I will know when to call it quits, close the book, and go home (or go to bed, or go outside, or go feed ducks, whatever the case may be). At least that's the plan. I've realized that when I'm in school I usually let school become the top of my list of priorities, to the exclusion of all else, and thus everything else slides when there is school work to be done or a test to study for. Part of this is because I love what I study, but part of it is probably because I'm an over-achiever and I'm not good at prioritizing. I'm going to work on that. I'm getting too old to put everything off "until I graduate." I put off going to Denmark until I graduated with my bachelor's degree, and though it worked out good in the end (wink), now that I have lived there, I'm a little frustrated that it took me so long to do it.

Now I'm headed home to get some homework done. :P (Hey, I still have to do some work here...)