This time, it's different

I am feeling exceptionally optimistic today.  I'm sure part of it is just feeling well again, and part of it is the huge coke that I drank at lunch.  But another part is that it's Thursday, which means the weekend is almost here!  The weather is cooling off from the normal 90+ degree weather!  My job is more relaxed than it's been in over a year!  And now that both John and I are bringing in a paycheck, finances are not as pressing!

John is so happy in his program right now - even with the lab rotation not being quite to his liking.  He remarked at lunch today that he's been getting a lot of excellent study time in lately, and he's a bit concerned about not being able to sustain it and getting burnt out.  I told him I didn't think it was a problem.

He got burnt out in medical school.  In medical school he was told that he absolutely had to study every day all day - if he wasn't he was doing something wrong.  He had no control over his own schedule - it was always "study, study, study or fail."

Now, the only point is to get through the classes.  The classes are the basics before the labs, which are really important.  He study's for the classes, not for the purpose of studying.  He's in charge of his schedule.  He sets aside good chunks of time to get some studying done.

Yes, he's studying a lot.  But because he's keeping up with his schedule, he was not overwhelmed when he got sick last week and did nothing (school-wise) for three days.  He was able to go to church, to go to Bible Study, to play some computer games, to do extracurricular things.  Grad school is not ruling his life right now. 

There will be times when his blocks of study time are more or less effective than others.  That's normal.  But do I think his current schedule is unsustainable?  No.  Not as long as he continues to schedule the breaks and can get up and walk away from everything; to give himself a true mental and physical break from school; and come back refreshed.

That's what is different this time. 

I am so incredibly happy to see him succeeding, and being happy where he is.