Fun in the Ph. D program

So, I know everyone thinks that now that I am not working a full-time job (teaching little ones) anymore that I must have "the life". Well, I'm here to tell you what my life as a doctoral student, research assistant and teaching assistant is really like. As you might know, this is my second year in my Ph. D program at Georgia State. I am studying special education, focusing on delinquency and literacy. Everyone always asks so I will add that I have about 2.5 years to go. The first year in the program I was taking classes and still teaching the little ones and life was pretty stressful. But at the end of the year I got on a federal grant which means I could quit my job. That is when things started getting confusing. At first I thought life as a full-time student was easy. I was taking 4 classes but not doing much else. Somehow this semester things have turned CRAZY!! I am currently taking 3 classes, teaching 1 class, doing my first research study, sitting on a committee, reviewing articles for NTTAC, and presenting at conferences...WHEEW! That is a lot and I hear it is only going to get worse. Well for an example, I wrote a proposal to present at a national conference this week. I had two other girls presenting with me (the presentation was an hour and 15 minutes) in the beginning. One of the girls said she couldn't make it a couple of months ago. Then the day we were supposed to drive down the other girl got sick. So I was left to present by myself in Savannah. It was super stressful but it all worked out. This is our "spring break" so I guess getting away was good. Anyway, this whole process is pretty much strange and crazy but fun at the same time. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone but in the end I can do what I dream of doing. I have already started looking at schools across the county that we can move to where I can be a professor which is pretty exciting. On the list now are schools in Florida, California, Colorado, Texas and Arizona...We'll see!!