I learned that the original panic/fear combination one-two punch that one may feel when entering a situation as a fish out of water is not so bad if you take it in one step at a time.

I'm back in grad school after a 7-year hiatus from academia [I graduated from USC in 2002], and it's a culture shock, emotional shock, brain capacity shock, everything shock.

Four weeks ago, at the beginning of the trimester, I felt ill after every quantitative analysis class, and even considered quitting the MBA program altogether. I thought it was a mistake that I got "let in". I confess, I actually looked at the paperwork to see if it was too late for me to drop the classes and get a full refund, but I pushed down the nausea, and now I'm 7 weeks in, at the mid-way point in the 14-week trimester, and doing better, emotionally.

The panic/fear combination one-two punch is not 100% dissipated, but I'm feeling slightly better. The diploma is still two years and 5.5 trimesters away, but I have learned to worry about the mountain later, and work on crossing the molehill now.

Plus some classmates and I got a math tutor, so we *all* feel better. :D