It is FINISHED! :-)

This morning I took my final in Theories of Conflict, Violence, and War, and now that it's done, I can officially say I have completed my first semester of grad school!  It's hard to believe that after just four months, I can say I'm 1/4 of the way to my degree!

In some ways, it's hard to believe the semester is over.  It did seem to fly by, but mostly because it was so jam packed!  There were a few brief moments of reprieve between big groups of assignments, but for the most part, the semester was intense and non-stop.  The assignments and readings kept on comin' one right after the other.  I remember one week I had three papers, one midterm, and a presentation all in 7 days!  

I can say I am extremely satisfied with how hard I worked, and looking back, I'm impressed with how much I learned and grew in the last four months.  There were brief periods of doubt at the beginning, but I finish the semester even more convinced that this school, this program, is exactly where I need to be.

My favorite class was probably Theories of Conflict, Violence and War (TCVW).  Most grad students will tell you that when push comes to shove with assignments, reading tends to be the first thing to go; but not with this class.  I loved our in-class discussions about International Relations theories, concepts and explanations of violence, and the way war is changing.  TCVW challenged me to think, process and come to my own conclusions on these complex issues, and I am most proud of the papers I wrote for this class.

Quantitative Analysis, as you all know, was NOT my favorite class, but I am still extremely proud of the work I did.  Not ever having taken statistics, the class had a huge learning curve for me.  But I worked hard to learn, understand, and master the concepts, and my hard work paid off.  By far I am no statistics pro, but compared to what I knew at the beginning of the semester, I can say confidently I have come quite a long way.

Peace Paradigms was probably the class that most significantly impacted the direction I want to take in my studies and beyond.  Providing a broad overview of different paths to peace, I found myself feeling confused and out of place during the first few weeks of readings about peace through strength and world order.  Then we entered the section on peace through conflict resolution and things began to click.  Something in me resonated deeply with our readings and discussions, and it was especially apparent in contrast with my ambivalence the first few weeks. I discovered the field of Interactive Conflict Resolution (ICR), which I knew almost immediately was exactly what I want to do.  Focused on addressing the roots of protracted conflicts, such as relationships and attitudes, ICR is an innovative and refreshing contrast to traditional mediation within the power politics model.  Incidentally (or not so incidentally), my Peace Paradigms professor (also the director of the whole International Peace & Conflict Resolution program) is one of the four main contributors to the field of ICR.  Yes, I am in the right place.

All in all, a great semester.  Demanding, of course, but I don't think I could have expected it to go any better!  I'm looking forward to the remainder of my studies, but first, some much needed rest and relaxation, and 2 weeks in Fresno for Christmas!  Yes, today is a HAPPY day!