It's 7:30 on Monday morning and I am already in San Francisco at the Academy of Art. I car pool in and arrive almost two hours before my class. Grad school has been very challenging.

After painting on my own and selling work for the past five years, I felt pretty confident in my abilities. Now that I am in grad school, I find that I have so much more to learn. I spent about ten hours yesterday doing homework. My house is a mess and the cupboard is bare because I have not scheduled time to go grocery shopping.

I am hoping that now with Artrails and the paint out being over, I can find a routine with my schedule so I will not feel like I am treading water but actually swimming.

Why grad school? I have been asked this by several of my painting buddies. Because I want to improve. I would like to earn my masters and have other teaching opportunities. A few years down the road I could be teaching overseas fulfilling my dream of both teaching and traveling.