If I were to write a book on my year in graduate school, this would be the title. The advance-standing program has definitely been an endurance test for me and easily ranks high on the list of hardest things I've ever done. Although this year has gone by pretty fast, there have been moments when it felt like it would never end, hence the title "slow sprint to the finish"!
It's amazing how at the start of something, it looks like a long haul to the finish line, when in reality it's normally over with before you even know it. I remember it was about 2 years ago, when I first got into running and signed up for my first 5k race. I signed up for the Springmaid Splash, which was a trail run and I was pretty excited about it and pumped up. I lined up with all the other runners at the beginning and started to feel a little intimidated...some runners looked really fit, while there were a few that I thought I could take (that included children and those over the age of 60...ha). The gunshot sounded and I slowly started to drift behind everyone else. In this race, you had to run through 2 rivers and trudge your way through thick mud....and if you weren't doing that then you were running through the woods. 3.1 miles doesn't seem that long...I mean, I could run 3 miles down the road and it wasn't that hard, but this trail race seemed like it would never end. About halfway through I was pretty exhausted from all the obstacles and really had to dig for some motivation to keep on going. The whole time I kept thinking about the finish line and thought that I must be getting close. When I got towards the end, I didn't care about beating anyone anymore or how many runners were faster than me....the only thing I cared about was finishing the race to show myself that I could do it! I'll never forget crossing the finish line and thinking to myself "What? It's over with already. I did it?!"...my first race and I finished it.
This is how I would describe my year in graduate school! I started this year out with all the other students in the MSW program and when classes started we took off running. Some people were fast runners, some were slow (that would be me!), we all encountered obstacles at some point or another and had to search for the motivation needed to continue once or twice, but in the end we all made it to the same finish line!
