In Masters level, typically, if you take 6 credits or less your status is considered part time. If you take 9 or more credit hours, then it is considered full time. It does not matter how many courses you take, what counts is the number of credit hours.
Pastrami is a smoked corned beef. If you buy corned beef you can make your own pastrami any afternoon. Of course, you can make your own Homemade Corned Beef if you have 3 weeks to let it cure.
Once you have corned beef you need to rinse the meat off. If you have brined it for a long period of time, like three weeks you might want to soak it overnight in fresh water to lift some of the salt out. Now, apply a rub and place it in a smoker. The old fashioned way of preparing pastrami is to cold smoke it.