Balance. Reality.

I tend to not know when to say no. I've regularly bitten off more than I can chew, and as a result, been stuck with a mouthful of projects that I have to chew on before I can swallow before moving onto the next meal. It works for me most of the time, but sometimes I feel like some work doesn't get the amount of attention that it deserves and my work suffers. So it's a bit of a switch for me to be in this program with my colleagues and have most of them taking two classes while I'm just taking the one per semester. I mean, they're all working, just like me. They all have families and lives outside of school and work, just like me. In fact, I'm willing to guess that I have it pretty easy compared to most of my peers -- easy commute, no children in the house, you get the idea.

I've said from the beginning of this program that I don't know how my classmates are able to manage two classes and all the other things going on in their lives. And I still stand by that. There has to be a certain amount of "do-it-to-get-it-done" going on with some of the assignments. I know that because even I feel that way in my position of one-class-per-semester privilege. And I hate when I'm working like that. I hate when I put something together and rush it out the door knowing it's sub-par work.

I mention all of this to say that I feel like taking only one class per semester in the DigIn program allows me to minimize some of that rush and actually spend time with material and LEARN it. A useful point of comparison for me is the Intro to Applied Technology course -- which I took while I was enrolled in other SIRLS classes and working full-time in various capacities around Tucson (grad student, bartender, dog walker, etc...). I finished that course with a real concern for how much I was actually going to remember in 6 months, but the immersion program has actually worked out pretty well. I remember bits and pieces, and I know where to go for answers to things I've forgotten.

I started this post thinking that i was going to make a case for why one class per semester is how this program should be done, but I think I've actually convinced myself the opposite. In our careers, we make sacrifices and compromises based on our values and how we perceive those compromises may affect the people with whom we work and the work we're doing. In that sense, the program accurately reflects the real world.

This is an extremely long-winded way of saying that although I've managed to squeeze a number of projects in and around my work and personal lives, I feel like things are really well-balanced in this ADC class this semester. I feel like I'm able to spend my time carefully working through the tech assignments and giving the management classes their due as well. I was initially worried that it was going to be more like combining the digital preservation or intro to digital collections course with the intro to applied technology course. If that were the case, the workload would be more than I could handle in any productive way.