Hi everyone!

I’m currently in Phoenix, Arizona! I flew into Mexico City this weekend  and my flight back to California required a quick layover in Phoenix. The airport here in Phoenix has some big chain restaurants so I ~feel~ like I’m back in the U.S. but it won’t feel like home until I come across that one famous fast food restaurant Californias mentions every few days. (Thankfully Stan State is located only down the street from one *win win*)

Although I flew into Mexico City for nothing school related, all I could do while in Mexico was think about school. From assignments, to upcoming projects, to wondering if I read the right chapter for my Monday morning policy class… school consumed a lot of my thinking this weekend.

However stressful it may sound, I surprisingly don’t feel *stressed* and I think I owe it to my professors. Before flying out, I informed them that I planned on leaving to Mexico for a few days and would be back the upcoming week. I don’t like to miss class, ever, but they assured me if that did happen, they’d be more than willing to help me catch up. I simply communicated with them my plans incase “life happened” and delayed my flight or canceled it altogether while in Mexico or Phoenix.

Thankfully everything so far is going according to plan, and having my professors’ support helps me feel remain calm, especially in hectic environments like airports. Their support also reminds me of the importance of communication. Had I not approached them and informed them of my plans, I would probably be stressed out right now about making it to class tomorrow (Monday) or getting assignments in. Thankfully that is not the case.

When I was an undergrad, I never communicated anything non-academic with my professors. School was one thing, everything else another, at least that’s how I viewed it. Now that I’m in the MSW program, this is not the case; and I’m thankful to be in a program at a university that recognize the nuances that is life and never makes me feel as though I need to focus solely on one thing (school) in order to be successful. At Stan State, in the MSW program,  I feel like I can do school and a bunch of other things and never have to compromise my interests. It’s all about time management and prioritization, and encouraging instructors make things feel much more manageable and less daunting. I’m grateful.