a literature student's last semester of graduate school 🫣📚 time blocking, tbr, and emotions [cc] 

Just a little FAQ about grad school - feel free to leave any other questions below and I’ll answer them in an upcoming vlog! What am I going to school for? MA in Literature How long have I been in the program? I started in Spring 2019, so three years! I was part time as I balanced work What am I going to do with my degree/once I graduate? I use my degree everyday for one reason or another! Writing, reading, in videos, etc. However, I’m not “formally” using my degree in a professional setting. Originally, I wanted to be a teacher, but I’m really happy in my current career and am going to stick with it for the foreseeable future Why am I reading so many books for school/what is my final exam? In my program, there are two options for your final exam. 1) Writing a 40-60 page thesis on a specific topic or 2) Reading 50 pieces of literature and being examined on them (as well as writing two short papers). I am going with option 2 since I had already read a good portion of the literature previously and I’ll be taking the exam at the end of this year. What are some of my favorite books I’ve read for grad school? Don Quixote, Great Expectations, North and South, Jude the Obscure, Macbeth and Dracula - just to name a few!

So you work full time, you wake up at 5 am and work out for 2 hours ever day, AND you are pursuing a masters? Don’t worry, you’re doing amazingly.

I’m picturing a video series where it’s like mean girls “get in bitch we’re going”…to grad school And you just make us listen to all your school work, all the books you’re reading, things ur discussing with professors, etc.

When you read a book for school, I’d love to see how you’re thinking about it, what questions you are trying to answer, how you’re trying to understand it for the purposes of your classes and program versus a pleasure read.

Woah I love the idea of blocking out a “Night class” two nights a week for yourself!! Might try that!

Starting the second year of my master's and I honestly envy you sooo much Noelle. I'm applying to phd programs because tbh I don't have any other job that's viable for me, and I feel trapped lol. You will have a wonderful degree you can be proud of + be able to enjoy another career!! You should be super proud of that. Good luck with the final semester! You got this!

Ooooh how exciting! Feel like we've all been on this grad school journey with you and I can't believe you're already at the last semester, where the heck did time go. Congrats, Noelle! You're gonna do fantastic :)

do you find that all the school reading affects your love of reading in general? like do you experience "reading burnout" and what do you do if this happens? your dedication and work ethic is so inspiring!

It's oddly comforting to know that I am not the only one who got worried about being done with course work and talked with her therapist about how to handle exams! I am also creating a "class" for myself.

Congratulations on starting your final semester!! How exciting!! A day in the life vlog once you feel comfortable with your schedule would be a fun video. I imagine talking about the books helps the information stick a little better for your exam so bring on as many reading vlogs as you want!

You got this !!! On the hard days just visualize how happy you’ll be to say you completed and did it ☺️ wishing you all the best

I would literally pay thousands to have the ability to be this organized

oh wow! I didn't know you work full time besides studying. Respect! What I really would like to see is a video about your study tips, apps you use and tips in general you have about managing a full time job, studies, being a RU-vidr AND having a relationship and a private life 🙂 Is your school completely online? Is your job remote? What did you learn about coping with stress and pressure in all your semesters? What advice do you have for newbies? All the best to you!

This just made me feel so motivated to study! I would love to watch more vlogs like this or just you reading those books!! And good luck

I'm about to go back part time to grad school (night classes while keeping my 9-5) so this video was really inspiring to get me working on my calendar! Good luck with your last semester 🎉

As someone who just finished my MS and is starting my PhD, this schedule seems like the perfect recipe for burning yourself out. I'm not saying that to shame or scare you, but just to remind you that you're well-being comes first. You can't get quality work done if you can't rest. Wishing you the best of luck! You got this! ❤️

I love this video! Sending you positive vibes for this upcoming semester! ✨

somehow this video hit the spot, I feel motivated to finish my pending thesis, thanks for the inspiration and all the best of luck to you in your last semester!!

Yay Noelle! SO close to finishing school! I just started my second year of grad school (different program) so I feel your pain of wanting to drop out, you’re definitely not alone in that!!❤️

noelle, i am about to start my phd program this fall, so this was a great video to see from you. i'm very proud and happy for you!!

You got this! You’re so organized and it’s all well thought out. You are NOT going to trip at the finish line! Full confidence that you will ace this exam!!!❤️

i’m so happy for you noelle!!! school is so friggin hard and you’re doing amazing! ❤❤❤

loved this video! wish you the best semester ever! i just started my second to last semester as well, and watching you really encouraged me to organize my semester better! i'm graduating in literary studies with an emphasis on english lit so i feel like we kinda match hihi love you

I recently moved to the Bay Area from NY and my boyfriend lives in Santa Cruz and literally every time we’re downtown at the bookstores I bring up low key hoping to run into you haha. You’re such an inspiration and got me through my final semesters of grad school last year. We are all rooting for you! Thanks for being the “big sister, friend” role model for so many of us - kick ass!

I’d been wondering how grad school was going/feeling! So lovely to see this update. You’re gonna absolutely SMASH this last semester Noelle! 💕

This is unbelievably inspiring! I have been overwhelmed at the thought of trying to get into a regular workout routine while contemplating going back to grad school and working full time. This makes me feel like that's actually possible! You are kicking ass and I hope this last semester goes so well!

I’m so excited for you to be almost done, and for pushing through! I finished my masters in June and the last push was the scariest but it flew by. I hope that you can find balance and some joy in this last chapter 💖

Wishing you so much luck on your final semester!! I can’t believe you teased The Grapes of Wrath in this video. I’m so curious to hear what you thought of it.

Hi Noelle! Just wanted to say this video helped me so much! I’m just a couple of weeks into grad school for Library & Information Science and definitely feeling overwhelmed by all the reading (+ the fact that my program is all online). I really appreciate you walking us through your process and your honesty about past times you struggled. Good luck and congrats on starting your final semester!

Grad school is brutal 😭❤️ you're so close!! Sending lots of love

I honestly just love a reading vlog no matter if it's a fun book or a classic I've never heard of that is being read, I'm just here for the vibes lol

You can do it Noelle!! Rooting for you and all the best on your final exam

i LITERALLY start grad school this saturday, in a field i don't have absolutely any background in, and could not feel more anxious about it 🥺 i really needed to hear some of this at this exact moment. i rewatch some of your grad school vlogs to remind myself to embrace the nervousness because it just shows how much i really care to make school work for me this time and not the other way around. thank you so much noelle! 💓

Hi Noelle :) thank you so much for this video, it really motivated me! I study Media (major) and english (minor) in Germany as a B.A. and am currently doing a semester abroad in the US. I have two english classes with a lot of books to read. While that excites me, it is also stressful. I love watching your older reading vlogs where you just vlog grad school reading and balancing it with work life and i would love to see more of them. Also in terms of structure, you could talk about page goals or what you are paying special attention to in a certain book. Anyways, thanks for these videos and I hope you have a great semester! love, Hannah!

You are so awesome! I am impressed with your early morning dedication. The end is so close. It seems intense right now but it is not forever. I believe in you!! Love watching your videos.

This was really helpful/inspiring/motivating to watch as someone who has just started their undergraduate in literature! It really helped romanticize the whole thing and seeing you do all of this makes me more excited for myself. I am taking more English classes than I probably should this semester so it was really helpful to see you block out your time and I may try something similar! Good luck to you for this semester!

I just started my MA in English this year! It's been so interesting to hear about your MA journey and I'm excited you're graduating soon!

Congratulations on starting your final semester, that’s a huge accomplishment! I did my master’s in Shakespeare back in 2005, partly just so I could live in the UK (I’m from Canada) and specialize in my studies. I absolutely loved it; their one-year grad programs were intense, but the short duration was part of the appeal. I had to write a thesis but didn’t have to defend it, and because this was back in the days of wired internet, most of my thesis was written in my backyard on my unplugged laptop so I didn’t get distracted, to the tune of a bagpipe busker all summer long. I think your program’s exam option is a really neat route, and I’m looking forward to your school-related videos! I absolutely adore Death of a Salesman, and it always makes me bawl when I see it live. And I am right there with you on the value of lit degrees - I ended up in a totally different field that was very heavy on statistics, geography, and building/mining databases, but the research skills I honed gave me a great foundation. I did end up going back to grad school back in 2015 for a more career-relevant program, but that was mostly because I still really love being a student and wanted to live in the UK again, and my job allowed education leave. Looking back, I wouldn’t trade my first master’s for anything, and I hope yours brings you as much joy and curiosity. You got this!

noelle, as a recent grad (BA) who's intmidated by grad school this was so motivating and fun to watch !! i hope you have a wonderful last semester and i hope you're feeling so proud of urself it's what u deserve >.< and i'm so excited to watch that middlemarch vlog (no pressure tho ur already doing a lot heh)

Your vlogs and content are literally some of my favorites on BookTube. I look forward to all of your videos and I'm so excited for your final semester! For content suggestions -- A week in my life, how you wake up at five am/sleep tips, and maybe some wedding planning vlogs? I love everything you make and will be watching it all!

I hadn’t been watching your videos for a while, but today I thought of you and checked the channel. This vlog feels like such a warm hug and welcome back to your channel 🤗 All the best for your last semester from someone who is also in their last semester of grad school - how did we get here? 😱

I've got one week left until my final ever deadline for my postgrad course and I'm a rollercoaster of emotions! Sending you good and productive vibes for your semester!

good luck for your final semester, Noelle. you got this!! 💙

Thanks so much Noelle!! Your video gave me the motivation I needed to start this academic year! 😁

Hi Noelle, congratulations on starting your last semester! I started watching your videos a few years ago when I was considering getting and MFA in poetry. I have a masters and work in a completely different field and felt trapped because I didn't know how to make my dream of going back to get a masters in literature and writing work. I was inspired by your passion for literature and your journey, and just as you are finishing your last semester of a part-time MA while working full-time, I am starting my first semester of a part-time MFA while working full-time! It's already a lot of work, but I'm so excited to be back in a writing and literary environment. Thank you for sharing your drive for literature

Happy last semester!! 🥳📚 Thanks for the organization inspiration.

Good luck Noelle you’ll do amazing in your last school year 🙏🏼❤️

absolutely love your grad school vlogs! I'm in my second year masters and love being a grad student, ultimately. even though the stress is real haha. more of these videos please!!

Tbh so excited for yr reading vlog around Middlemarch!!

Good luck with your last semester!! You’re going to nail it!

Wishing you the best of times and that everything goes as planned for your last semester 💙 I actually just dropped off from my program after struggling to find joy in it for the longest time, and will be switching to genetics next year, but I still wanted to something added to my education (since I also enjoy being a student and the whole process off learning), but I was struggling to see how I could goce that some sort of structure, so thanks to this video and you, I will be spending some time tonight doing some time blocking 🤠🤠 so, thanks for the inspo

as someone who dropped out of postgrad rlly take the time and celebrate this achievement omg last semester of postgrad look at you! you made it!! so so proud hope you are proud too :,)

What a informative video that will surely help fellow students. Congratulations on the final semester!!! Thank you for the video.

Congratulations on getting to your final semester of grad school! What a milestone. ❤

Sister Carrie is SO GOOD. I love Drieser!

I've just finished my thesis for my MA in English Lit too! You're so close, congrats on pushing on but also considering taking a step back for yourself, even if you didn't end up taking it - that's really tricky to navigate and deserves just as much celebration: choosing yourself is hard!

This video made me feel really motivated to finish my masters too, but in biology c: Im already late on it but I want to finish it by the end of this year, so I can move on to something new and start working. I also started in 2019 and about that time I discovered your channel, I feel like you are my companion in this journey. I really admire you because yo are doing grad school, working and this channel. Thanks for be so inspiring!! I´m really speaking from the bottom of my heart, I really hope you can read this. THANKS A LOT! You are my favorite youtuber

This was so inspiring, Noelle!!

Good luck!!! We’re rooting for you!!!

honestly just watching that google calendar screenshot made me tired, I'm truly impressed!

I know I'm a stranger on the Internet, but I'm so proud of you for this. You've come so far in your grad school journey. Can't wait to see you get to the end! 🎉

So impressed by you! And congrats on your last semester!! I’ve been watching you for a while and love all the reading and school content 🥰 As for questions… I know for me personally, I need to reset or rest after working for a 4-5 hour chunk of time, but everyone works differently! And I would honestly like some advice because I don’t always have the opportunity to rest after going from one thing to the next. How do you keep up the energy? How do you keep an engaged and active mind after a 12 hour day as you read?

I love your vlogs theyre always great to watch and relaxing, if this was something youd be up for I would love to see a casual first thoughts analysis on some of the school books or insight to your analysing methods (i thjnk youve already done a vid on your methods?) if not just your usual reading vlogs on the school books would be great anyways ☺️ best of luck to your last grad semester!

Best best best of luck for your last semester! ❤️😍

this is so random but the green shirt you wear in the end of the video really compliments your skin, eyes and features! i think the green really suits you ✨

I'm so excited for you!!!! LAST SEMESTER!!!!

OMG i'm so early! Thank you for this, Noelle! This turned my sad day around 💗 Also, congratulations on your final lap of grad school ahhhh 💓🎊

Perfect video for this teacher that just started grad school. Trying to get all things done!

Would love videos of you reflecting on the books you’re reading for school or vlogging ur experience reading just as u would any other book. As someone who did a science degree I would love to hear more about these books and the things you’re learning about/from them.

Omg, I LOVE the Paddywax Library Collection! I burn the John Steinbeck all summer and the Charles Dickens all winter (perfect Christmas scent)

i think your method of planning is going to help a lot! just remember that on weekends and such, if you don't end up reading extra it's still okay. i know that i have high expectations of myself a lot of the time and i end up setting unrealistic goals and then i get upset when i can't reach them. it's been really important for me to be flexible with myself and my schedule/needs. i wish you all the best! finishing grad school will feel so rewarding once it's all over. glad you chose to stick it out.

I loveeee the grad school vids they make me feel so motivated!!!

love the structure you're making for yourself

It is such a fun video and inspirational for me atleast, I was planning for my finals that are in September, was feeling so nervous. Now I want to make a schedule and stick to it. Thanks Noelle💞

White Noise was so good!!! Excited for you.

Perfect video as always! ✨💞 I love being a student too! Thank you for the grad school inspiration 😊

I love love love these styles of vlogs 🫶🏻

thank you SOO much for posting this Noelle- I am about to start my second year of my MSc in biology (thesis track) and i am done with my traditional courses and it has been really difficult for me to motivate myself to create a schedule, and this just reminds me how I myself needs to be my biggest motivator!

I’m also back to school and man do I hate university. All the administrative staff talk to you like you’re borderline inappropriate for trying to balance your schedule, I’ve got quizzes on shit literally being taught next week, and I’m there for the majority of the day :,( I’ll be so happy for you when you graduate

as someone who also is in their last semester of grad school for lit and also was * this close * to just calling it quits, this is a whole mood lol. my program sounds so different than yours. wishing you all the luck and speedy yet retentive reading this semester!!

Goodness, White Noise is wild. I’m excited for the movie coming out. Congrats on reaching your final semester! I’ve always wanted to go to grad school but I was so burnt out after getting my BA I never got around to it.

Starting my second year in my master of social work program and this video is so helpful! Definitely going to try time blocking :)

Good for you for sticking to the grad program. I remember trying to finish my program. I got all the course work done and then procrastinated on my thesis for a very long time. The summer before I finished, I took vacation time every other Monday during the summer (I also worked full time during grad school) and dedicated those Mondays plus a few nights a week to research. I had to go to cafes or parks to work because being in my apartment was a distraction. I finally finished that damn thesis and graduated. It’s hard and painful, but once you are done, it will be worth it.

Congratulations on the final countdown to finishing grad school! 🥳 👩‍🎓

i love death of a salesman! i’m not too well versed in plays but it definitely made me cry, smile, angry -all of it! i can’t wait to hear what you think about it:-)

We are all rooting for you!

All the best dear! I wish you all the success and strength. 💐

i love those candles!! i have the jane austen one, & i always light it up when reading!

Good luck with the rest of the semester, Noelle!! I’m finishing an MA in Creative Writing and starting a masters in Psychology, so I’m right there with you😂💪

i love ur books so much also u r so pretty!

Hey Noelle! I have expressed before that I know the challenges of grad school as a fellow grad student (in a different field) but it’s quite funny to me because I think we have been living through very similar experiences. I actually took a leave of absence from my program and now I don’t think I will be returning to finish the degree after speaking to my therapist and family. However I still often feel a lot of regret with this decision. I commend you for continuing to pursue your education as it has been one of the most difficult decisions of my life thus far. If you ever want to chat more about this I would be happy to!

Oooooh I adore Sylvia Plath’s Ariel 🥰 Not really my place I know, but I’m also a literature student, and I have some tips for you for getting into reading poetry if you want them :) - I find that looking up articles about poems online really helps me … it was something I was ashamed to do at first because I felt like I studied literature and I should just get it… but having a few ideas to start with just made the poems so much more fun and easy to engage with (I remember one about plaths’s bee cycle poems, and one about ‘nick and the candlestick’ also by Plath) - both were wonderful, will link if I can - sometimes you can find collections that come with essays and critical thoughts etc - I have couple of books on how to read poetry : the poetry handbook is amazing, but probably over-detailed and a little overwhelming at first (makes me feel both very smart and very stupid) - 52 ways of looking at a poem - much more accessible and vibey :)

you're so pretty 🥺

I sniffed when Noelle held up the candle… tell me I’m not the only one please

I'd love to see an updated list of all 50 books and which ones you've read and which ones you still need to read and how you are preparing for the exam i.e. notes etc.

I too am not in a formal classroom setting and I've found a RU-vid channel by a woman named Merve who does an ASMR study sessions. Sometimes they're at her university library and sometimes from her office at home. But they make me feel like I'm in the library studying or that I'm around others who are studying. She also does the 50 minutes of study, followed by a 10 break. I find it helpful and thought I'd pass it along to you. Good luck this semester, I know you'll kill it!

Congrats on your last semester!! You got this! I’ve had sister Carrie on my bookshelf for so long.. it is old and no one talks about it anymore, I will probably be more inclined to read it now lol Hopefully I will get to hear your thoughts on it!

I just started grad school last week and it’s already a little tough but thank you!!!!

sending you all the good vibes as you start your last semester!

good luck with your last semester! I’m going into my sophomore year of college and I’m planning on doing something similar since I will balancing school, work, and running a club’s voter registration campaign, so fall quarter will be very busy for me! This inspired me to get my planning done and got me excited for the new academic year : )