As a first-year, online MLIS student, I might seem outrageously and unbelievably holier-than-thou when I say this, but I have to be honest: Sometimes I'm bored.

Not by the class material--it's very engaging--or by discussion board posts or readings--also interesting and enlightening--but sometimes I just get work done and find myself twiddling my thumbs.

Now, I realize I'm probably in the minority, which is why I generally don't voice things like this (I have an awful feeling I'd be lynched if I told my classmates how much time I don't spend studying on the weekends), but when I read this article on Hack Library School about having no time and finding ways to deal with that, it made me feel like I was missing out.

So let this be my cry in the wilderness to those of you who are doing just fine:

It's OK to ignore the stressed-out venting of your colleagues. Don't let it stress you out.

It's OK to listen to all the lectures at once so you don't have to do it later.

It's OK to skip readings if they are really, terribly, unacceptably boring.

It's OK to read books for fun. Don't let that "good grad student voice" make you feel guilty.

It's OK to look at the directions, do the assignment, and turn it in without comparing your work to everyone else's. If you did what you were supposed to do, you'll be fine. Promise.

For me, I think the most important thing I've learned these past couple quarters is that IT'S OK TO BE OK. I did a lot of stressing about why I wasn't stressing, and now I'm over it.

Library school isn't your life. It's just a part of it.