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Supervisor for my current mini-project went on a leave of absence. Suggested skyping. Hasn't responded to any further suggestions for a time to skype.

Blaarg the potential supervisor for the potential thesis project I'm simultaneously getting a start on as I wrap this one up is so much more responsive. He's pretty much never around ever, but always always responds to e-mails promptly and helpfully. Not to mention the project is more interesting. It's hard to concentrate on the small project I need to wrap up when I'd much rather focus entirely on the bigger and cooler project...

This is what I had my first time through grad school, with the references divided up in sections in the file by subject. And comments reminding me what each one was about. It works but yeah, make your life easier by doing just about anything else!

This sounds especially appealing because of course the second full week of classes would coincide with the onset of this semester's first miserable head cold. Le sigh (and le sniff).

Students are walking virus dispensers! I've caught colds at the uni more times then I can remember.

Friggin' undergrads. First week of tutorials I have to run is next week, so we'll see if I can avoid their various diseases...

Oh no! If it makes you feel better, I think a C in a core class means the boot for us.

Oh no, that sucks!

Well, it wasn't a core class. So maybe that's the same here too. It was the obligatory research class. I am purely a creative mind. This APA paper stuff is really cramping my style! I'm only in this so I can play music with little kids all day!

I just found out one of my classmates is also on probation. So that makes me feel a little better. However, I'm still terrified of having to talk to my advisor about it next week.

Got proofs for my first published thing today! (A chapter in a Cambridge volume to be published next year.) (Or maybe it's de Gruyter. I already forget.)

I didn't think it would be so satisfying to look at my name on the page headers, or all of it in the book's style. But dudes, let me tell you: it's exceedingly nice.

That is awesome - congratulations!

Congratulations!

I almost wanted to sleep with my first official paper under my pillow when it was published :-)

A single B is cause for alarm in my program. Two and you're done. On the bright side, we can't take the foreign language proficiency exam as many times as we need to until we pass... Oh, the logic of academics!

It's the first week of my program and I'm already overwhelmed. Why is there so much reading?

It's an endurance test. It get worse.

For one of my classes this past week we had to read a 350 page novel and FIVE critical articles. Add in another class plus grading papers for 46 students.... Well, it was a really sh!tty week.

whew! Gave my first presentation on my dissertation research findings (45 minutes! + questions!). It was super stressful, but it went surprisingly well and there were only two questions that I really didn't have a good response too. There was one really old professor there who kept mumbling stuff though. I want to know if he was mumbling agreement or disagreement!

TOO MANY PAPERS TO GRADE!!!! TOO MUCH WORK TO DO!!!

That is all.

Great job! Go on with your awesome self!

heh heh heh.

Thanks, AutumnLeaves! I spent all week preparing for it cause I was so nervous!


They should give us all those Though Mudder tshirts people get for finishing the obstacle course.

So much reading this weekend - on the upside, the primary texts are Jane Eyre and The Faerie Queene, so I can't really complain. On the other hand, my first round of freshman essays come in on Tuesday, so between grading them and next week's reading, next weekend is effectively in the proverbial toilet.

Okay, I started to write a grad school freakout post a few hours ago and then I forgot to hit post.

After I had my mini-meltdown, I mapped out what I need to get done in the next 2 months. It made me realize I'm not quite as underwater as I thought. Then I spent two frenzied hours and knocked out some of the most looming things on my list and now I can relax and just start making flashcards for my networks class for a bit.

Welcome to grad school, where just writing flashcards is a relaxing good time.

I'm jealous of your reading. This week's reading for me includes Melville. Uuuuggggh....

I feel like a kid scrambling for approval and then getting hyper when he gets it, but my supervisor just sent me an e-mail including this:



So my mood is a bit elevated.

Ugh. Venting for a moment.

One of my classes is taught by this guy who is very difficult to understand at times, which is not helped by the fact that he spends 90% of the time shouting (seriously). He told us in class that he was willing to review our first assignments (due in a while) before the turn in date provided that we got them to him at least a week in advance of the deadline. The assignment is 2 sets of work for 2 different processes.

I banged out the first set for the first process and sent it to him yesterday, asking for some feedback. What did I get back? An email from him saying don't send me any technical questions ever again, or I'll mark your address as spam.

What the ever living fork, guy. Thanks for the help?