Menu Bar

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Ten Things I Learned in Grad School

So I am practically a Master of Film. CRAZY. I just may have people call me Master Hardy for a few weeks, just because. All things considered, getting a Masters is pretty cool. Coming to the end of my degree has left me prone to reflection on the ride it has been, and I thought I would commemorate my journey with a list. I love lists.

Ten Things I Learned in Grad School:

1. You will never finish all of the reading the professors want you to do. You just won't. I tried and I tried hard, and I never did it all. This is when I learned that all I could do was my best, and that would have to be good enough.

2. School is not worth stressing over. There are so many things more important than school. Your priorities should look more like this: 1) God 2) Family 3) Friends 4) Health 5) School. That is happiness.

3. Knowledge matters. Grades don't.

4. Take responsibility for your own education. If you don't like the courses they offer you, make up your own. You have to power to make your education what you want it to be. You have the power to make your life what you want it to be.

5. I am forever and irrevocably in love with Bollywood. I thought I would be thoroughly sick of it after writing an 85-page thesis on it, but I'm not. It's not a phase, it's a life choice. I could write so much more. Hopefully one day I will get the chance.

6. I have amazing friends, both in Boston and back home in Utah. I have never felt more loved than I have in the past two years.

7. There are good people everywhere you go. The world is amazing, love-filled, and beautiful.

8. Stand up for what you believe in. People will most likely end up respecting you for it, and if they don't then that's their problem, not yours.

9. I need other people. I'm a people who needs people, which makes me the luckiest people in the world. And it's completely true - I love people. I thought I could get by without other people for a while. But I can't. I want more people in my life. I want to be in other peoples' lives. I like being a part of something that is built on more than just school or sports teams or circumstance. Most people learn this in high school or earlier, but I've always been a late social bloomer.

10. Trust in God, and everything will turn out the way it should. He takes care of you. Life is a miracle.

I have experienced so much - I have fallen in love, had my heart broken, made new best friends, been excessively awkward, been excessively nerdy (and found other people who compliment my nerdiness), gotten in shape, gotten out of shape, travelled the world, gotten in shape again, lost 15 pounds, gotten out of shape again, trusted in Lord, learned to teach, learned to listen, learned to smile and laugh, and learned to love. I love everything and everyone. I seriously spend much of my days as of late trying so hard not to hug people excessively. I just love everything. I live a blessed existence. Blessed Boston.