You know sometimes you get that feeling that everything comes to you all at once! As you are about to do one thing, you notice on your schedule that there are a few other things due at the same time! As you are trying to calm yourself down and stay focused, so that you don’t start panicking, you get a call or an e-mail that says, “Hey, I never heard back from you, what happened to that project you were going to work on?” That is where I find myself at times!
Even though, I try to be organized and stay alert throughout the term, so that I do not fall behind with my assignments, I have learned that sometimes this is not enough. In other words, you have to learn to expect the unexpected. You might ask, how do I do that? Well, you don’t really do anything; you just patiently wait for it to come.
My understanding is that you never get used to such unexpected events, but what I do is, instead of seeing these stressful events as road-blocks, I look at them as opportunities that will prepare me for other such events that may come in the future. Last month, for example, was such a month for me.
As I was preparing my thesis proposal for submission, I was also working on my PhD applications (and the hardest part was trying to find people to write recommendation letters for me). At the same time, I was studying for the GRE test, working and going to school full time, and handling so many unexpected occurrences in between. No matter how many times I wished I could take a short break from all of that, it did not happen. However, hope kept me going because I told myself that “whatever is meant to happen, will happen, but at least I did my best.”