Things aren't always what they seem to be

I've been having trouble with one of those kind of people lately. The ones that see only the face value, but don't look under the skin to fond the skeletons that are hidden inside. I mean, certainly, when someone is talking to someone and, by theory, is supposed to be nice to them, they're not going to show any type of malice in front if their friends. That being said, yes, I do have some things I'm lucky to have. Just don't take the face value and assume that means everything is fanfrickentastic.

I've finished my part of a school paper, which I'm pretty proud of seeing as there are several days until it is actually due. I'm really nervous, though, I've got 3 presentations coming up.

Look at the sky. What do you see? Is it going to be the same as someone in a different city? State? Country? It's important to take perspective into consideration when evaluating a situation.

Take, for example, a story I read a long time ago in a Chicken Soup for the Soul book. There is a story if a teacher with two quarreling students, so she asks them to step to the front of the room, having one stand on either side of her desk. Upon her desk, she places a contraption which is painted half black, half white, showing each student only one color.

When she asks the first student what color it was, the student responded that it was black- that's all the student could see.

When faced with the same question, the second student was convinced that OBVIOUSLY, the other student was wrong, the object was clearly white.

In reality, each student was only responding to what they saw, what was placed in front of them. They didn't see the other side, or the reasons for the other student's seemingly bizarre answer. When you take the time to stand where someone else does to try to understand what they see and why they believe the things they do, you gain a better understanding of yourself, the other person, and the situation in general.

This is related to another problem that I've come to face today. I'm in the process of deciding whether I should go to graduate school or not. I'd really like to if I could; I know money is tight, though, and my GPA is ultra-low, but it's really something I'd like to do, to go into the field I've been dying to go into. I see why it would be a burden, I also see opportunity, which is making it rough. None of my family has gone to grad school; none of us know what to expect. I do, however, realize the limitations of only having a Bachelor's degree, and the challenges I will face; I also see how it would be an extreme challenge/burden for me to tackle. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do. I have other things more present to worry about until then.

I encourage anyone that has the resources to continue their education...because there are some of us that want to, but can't. If you have the opportunity, no matter how old you are, go for it.

In the end, I'll probably end up working at least a few years before I'll be able to start a master's degree. That's what I had been thinking I'd have to do anyway before I even consider grad school. People say I'm smart. People say it'll work out for me. I certainly hope so, and I hope things work out for everyone else as well. Thanks to my readers for reading all this stuff, and I hope at least someone is getting something out of this. XXXXXXX