Alphabet soup

For the past two weeks I have been doing this graduate school thing. Five courses, 3 nights a week, 16 hours of classroom learnin'. And in each of those 5 courses, the professor usually has a roster of the class that she uses to take attendance. Some professors have a list printed with all of our names and we are to sign next to our name. Others just call the names in alphabetical order, you raise your hand and say "here!" (or you grunt or nod or make a peace sign, as I have observed), and that's that.

Since September 23rd, I have been through this process 11 times. And yet, I still panic every time when the teacher gets to the C's and she hasn't called my name. Yep, I keep forgetting that my last name is now Wessels, not Baker.

The odd thing is that I have been married now for six and a half months, so I'm definitely used to signing my name or introducing myself as Kaitlyn Wessels. I think the reason I still haven't made the name transition in academia is become I have always been at the top of the alphabet in school. The Student Me has always been at the top of the list, always the first in line, always at the front of the room. I have gotten used to leading the class when we're ordered by alphabetical ranking, and as I went back to school this fall, I guess I just fell right back into that role and alphabetical identity.

I will transition, it will happen--I will become a 'W' in all aspects of my life. Until then, I will resist the urge to scream in panic that my name isn't on the class list (I'm a little Type A, can you tell?) and I will be pleasantly surprised when my presentation is due a week later with the second half of the class.

I'm loving the N-Zs!