My previous post, written in March, left off with me having four months left in the program. Today, September 15, just a month and a half after graduating from the program and five days shy of my 30th birthday, I am providing an overview of the last four months of the program.
Mentorship and Capstone Project
The last two months of mentorship was ridiculously hectic for me. I was barely getting 3 hours of sleep a night and was at my site 12-17 hours a day. Classes were continued to kick my butt and I didn't start working on my capstone project (really a graduate thesis) until nine days before it was due (I know, my time management, or lack thereof, was atrocious). However, I was able to get everything done.
Regarding mentorship and capstone, three pieces of advice:
- Know when to speak up. My mentorship was understaffed in my department and I was the only full-time non-management staff, so a lot of work got pushed off on me - it wasn't hard work, but it was time-consuming and time-sensitive, which made the situation stressful. I had several opportunities to tell my mentor and my direct supervisor that it was too much work or that deadlines needed to be adjusted, but I never said anything until I got sick for three weeks 7 months into my mentorship - it was due to lack of sleep and constant stress.
- Take sick days and mental health days: Your health is so important, especially during this program - it is extremely demanding full-time work, full-time school, having to move across the United States three times in 14 months, and doing this all on a stipend of $1,655 a month. If you are overworked and overwhelmed to the point where you feel as if you're about to lose it. take time off. The handbook says you only get 5 sick/personal days throughout the entire 14 months, but that isn't necessarily true. No one is checking to see if you took off more than 5 days in the past 14 months. Take the time that you need but don't abuse it.
- Treat your capstone as a traditional class and set weekly benchmarks and tasks for completion with timelines as well. We technically have a capstone class, but unlike the other online courses where you have specific assignments due throughout the semester, you complete your capstone on your own time. It's easy to push it off until the last minute, and though it's possible to complete in a week, it's not worth the stress.
Summer II Back in NYC
So, Summer II in NYC was a much more pleasurable experience than Summer I. Why?
Housing
During Summer I, I had a terrible living situation, a long walk to the metro, and then a two hour commute to get into Manhattan everyday. I vowed to never let that happen again, and decided that for Summer II, I would look for Housing in NYC 5-6 months in advance (I know that sounds crazy, but it worked out in my favor).
I resolved to choose convenience and comfort over cheaper rent (this may not be an option for everyone, I was one of two people in my cohort who got sent back to their hometown, so I lived with my parents and paid a nominal fee for rent, so I was able to save more than the average fellow). I knew from my search during Summer I that several universities offered summer housing to interns and visiting students. Baruch offers housing through Educational Housing Services (EHS), but only offer a shared dorm room for $3,500 and I knew in order for me to focus on my work, I needed to have my own room.
NYU offered the best options: Single bedroom, air conditioning, and walking distance from Baruch. In February, NYU opened their applications for summer housing. The application is long, but straightforward and your application will not be processed until you pay a deposit of $500. They also tell you upfront that single rooms are hard to come by so be prepared to share.
Also, keep in mind that you are not guaranteed housing if you are a not an NYU student or enrolled in an NYU affiliate program. If you are not chosen for housing, they will refund your $500. Luckily for me, I was chosen and was placed into 3rd north dorms. I was excited because I knew I would have a room to myself and air conditioning. However, as I thought about how intense Summer II would be, I grew concerned that having up to three random roommates, could potentially be a disaster. NYU's summer housing process is well thoughtout and they have an option where you can request to change dorms (though there is no guarantee they can honor request). In my transfer request, I explained what NUF was and made a request to move to a single dorm room (so I could avoid having roommates altogether). Just 5 days later, I heard back from NYU Housing they did not offer me a single dorm room....they offered me a studio apartment! I was so excited! I hate communal bathrooms, so this was perfect. I had my own studio apartment on 2nd & Bowery (super trendy) and was walking distance from Baruch. I was there for 10 weeks and paid $4,000 (which honestly, was cheap given the area I was in). Having that convenience made my Summer II experience so much better.
Coursework
By the time you come back to NYC for Summer II, your body and mind is so worn down that you stop giving a damn about everything, lol. I no longer strived for perfection. My barometer for success was completion. Everyday I would tell myself "just turn it in, B's and a couple of C's still get degrees". The classwork in Summer II was much more intense than Summer I and our schedule was cruel. In class until 9:05 pm, and then your have to be back in class by 10:00 am the next morning. I know that doesn't sound bad, but keep in mind that you still have to commute home and knock out several hours of classwork. Most times we wouldn't go to sleep until 4 or 5 in the morning, and we had to be up no later then 7:00 am, to make it to class on time (there were several times where we didn't sleep at all). The good thing about classes is that we only have six weeks of classes, instead of eight weeks like Summer I.
Graduation Celebrations and Reflection
After we finished our coursework, we had tons of graduation festivities, NUF ceremonies and Baruch College ceremonies (lots of free food and gifts). It's tradition that the incoming class "volunteer" at the exiting class' graduation ceremony and class of 2016 was amazing. They truly went above and beyond for us. It is amazing how quickly 14 months goes by. I learned so much, stressed out a bunch, gained and ton of weight (*sigh*), but gained another degree, a fantastic experience, and life-long friendships.
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