TEACHING FIVE CLASSES! Hopefully, in the future, I will look back on Spring 2009 and remember this was a very bad idea. Here is how I spend my time: teaching, planning labs, prepping labs, prepping classes, grading, eating, sleeping. That is pretty much it. Seriously, people, don't teach five classes in a semester, especially if three are lab classes.
Showing posts with label scientiae. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scientiae. Show all posts
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Snapshot
This is for the May Scientiae.
TEACHING FIVE CLASSES! Hopefully, in the future, I will look back on Spring 2009 and remember this was a very bad idea. Here is how I spend my time: teaching, planning labs, prepping labs, prepping classes, grading, eating, sleeping. That is pretty much it. Seriously, people, don't teach five classes in a semester, especially if three are lab classes.
scientiae-carnival
TEACHING FIVE CLASSES! Hopefully, in the future, I will look back on Spring 2009 and remember this was a very bad idea. Here is how I spend my time: teaching, planning labs, prepping labs, prepping classes, grading, eating, sleeping. That is pretty much it. Seriously, people, don't teach five classes in a semester, especially if three are lab classes.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Challenge
The April Scientiae topic: Tell us about that most firey fire through which you have had to walk in your scientific career. How did you overcome the challenge? Did you have help along the way, or was it a solo effort? And what did you learn? Why are you a better scientist given the difficulties that you have encountered?
Peeps, I am in the most fiery challenge of my scientific career right now. I am not going to go into details, but my dissertation writing is by far the hardest thing I have ever done. I began writing this thing back in early 2007 and have had a bastard of a time with it since. There are difficulties with professors involved, I have become angry at the system and I feel it has greatly let me down.
I have not overcome this challenge yet, but I know I will sometime. I do have help along the way. I have friends who are willing to listen sympathetically and who also are willing to not ask when I say I don't want to talk about it. R is great at reminding me to be self-confident and at reading my chapters critically and coming up with awesome insights that really help my writing. I have also started going to counseling, which has been amazing for helping me remember who I am, and that I am a smart, successful person, even when others say I am not.
I have also really learned a ton. I have learned about facing huge obstacles and harsh criticism and about how I work best. I think this last part has been most useful. I've often tried to work how I think others work, or how I think I should work. But it is only this semester, when I am teaching 10,045 classes and writing that I have really found what works for me. I have carefully scheduled writing time that I CANNOT make up if I miss. Really. If I don't write between my two classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays I don't have time to write for that week. This knowledge really makes me cut the procrastination. Also, the time chunks I have are short enough that I don't get bored. I am forced to stop by needing to go teach, which always leaves me wanting to get back to my work. And I have finally accepted that I don't work well in the house. I have access to a great office that I am using a lot, and I recently added two more hours to my work time by staying after my classes for an hour at night.
When I am not too upset by the whole situation, I know that this really crappy dissertating experience will in the end make me more sure of myself as an independent scholar, and will make me more able to take rejections and criticisms of my ideas in the future. I also wouldn't wish this experience on anyone, and hope it will help me be more sympathetic of any grad students I may get to work with in the future.
scientiae-carnival
Peeps, I am in the most fiery challenge of my scientific career right now. I am not going to go into details, but my dissertation writing is by far the hardest thing I have ever done. I began writing this thing back in early 2007 and have had a bastard of a time with it since. There are difficulties with professors involved, I have become angry at the system and I feel it has greatly let me down.
I have not overcome this challenge yet, but I know I will sometime. I do have help along the way. I have friends who are willing to listen sympathetically and who also are willing to not ask when I say I don't want to talk about it. R is great at reminding me to be self-confident and at reading my chapters critically and coming up with awesome insights that really help my writing. I have also started going to counseling, which has been amazing for helping me remember who I am, and that I am a smart, successful person, even when others say I am not.
I have also really learned a ton. I have learned about facing huge obstacles and harsh criticism and about how I work best. I think this last part has been most useful. I've often tried to work how I think others work, or how I think I should work. But it is only this semester, when I am teaching 10,045 classes and writing that I have really found what works for me. I have carefully scheduled writing time that I CANNOT make up if I miss. Really. If I don't write between my two classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays I don't have time to write for that week. This knowledge really makes me cut the procrastination. Also, the time chunks I have are short enough that I don't get bored. I am forced to stop by needing to go teach, which always leaves me wanting to get back to my work. And I have finally accepted that I don't work well in the house. I have access to a great office that I am using a lot, and I recently added two more hours to my work time by staying after my classes for an hour at night.
When I am not too upset by the whole situation, I know that this really crappy dissertating experience will in the end make me more sure of myself as an independent scholar, and will make me more able to take rejections and criticisms of my ideas in the future. I also wouldn't wish this experience on anyone, and hope it will help me be more sympathetic of any grad students I may get to work with in the future.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Dreams
This month's Scientiae Carnival asks, "What do you think a better, more equitable society should look like? What are your dreams for your life? For the lives of others? How close are you to living the life of your dreams? What would make you able to live that life?"
I'm going to answer the last part of this question, as it relates to things I have been thinking about lately. I recently kind of hit rock bottom in my feelings about my dissertation and things I have feared would happen with it happened. Despite that and the fact that I am in a new city and missing old friends and also that I insanely took on a huge teaching load, I have been really happy. I think I am really happy for two reasons. 1) We know we will be here for awhile. R will be in his PhD program for 5,6,7 or more years. After I graduate and he finishes classes I might get a tenure track job elsewhere, and we might spend time in between two cities, but he will be at this school for the foreseeable future. It gives us some stability we have not had for a long time. 2) I realized that if I spent all my days like I did now with the addition of more money and a PhD, I would really be exactly where I want to be. I really love teaching, and this semester I am teaching some upper level classes which are giving me more of a taste of what I might get to do in a full time job someday. I also think I'll be teaching at these schools for more than 2 semesters, so I'll finally get to see what it is like to settle in a little somewhere, learn the student culture, know where to eat lunch, etc. I have been striving so long for the goal of a PhD, I think I forgot a little what I wanted it for. I wanted it so I could teach and research, and I am teaching and researching (or at least writing up research) right now. I already have my dream job in a way, and if I keep doing it, the diploma will come.
So I am so so close to living the life of my dreams. It is pretty awesome. And what do I want for others? I would really love if everyone could have the space to figure out what they want and then the opportunity to try it out and see how that kind of life fits them. I have so many students who have interests in one area, but feel compelled for financial reasons to follow a path they are less interested in. I wish they could follow their dreams for awhile, to see if those are their real dreams. I know how lucky I have been to end up where I am now, to be encouraged to get into a profession that is not at all 'normal' and that is risky in someways, and I wish everyone could have the encouragement and support I have had.
scientiae-carnival
I'm going to answer the last part of this question, as it relates to things I have been thinking about lately. I recently kind of hit rock bottom in my feelings about my dissertation and things I have feared would happen with it happened. Despite that and the fact that I am in a new city and missing old friends and also that I insanely took on a huge teaching load, I have been really happy. I think I am really happy for two reasons. 1) We know we will be here for awhile. R will be in his PhD program for 5,6,7 or more years. After I graduate and he finishes classes I might get a tenure track job elsewhere, and we might spend time in between two cities, but he will be at this school for the foreseeable future. It gives us some stability we have not had for a long time. 2) I realized that if I spent all my days like I did now with the addition of more money and a PhD, I would really be exactly where I want to be. I really love teaching, and this semester I am teaching some upper level classes which are giving me more of a taste of what I might get to do in a full time job someday. I also think I'll be teaching at these schools for more than 2 semesters, so I'll finally get to see what it is like to settle in a little somewhere, learn the student culture, know where to eat lunch, etc. I have been striving so long for the goal of a PhD, I think I forgot a little what I wanted it for. I wanted it so I could teach and research, and I am teaching and researching (or at least writing up research) right now. I already have my dream job in a way, and if I keep doing it, the diploma will come.
So I am so so close to living the life of my dreams. It is pretty awesome. And what do I want for others? I would really love if everyone could have the space to figure out what they want and then the opportunity to try it out and see how that kind of life fits them. I have so many students who have interests in one area, but feel compelled for financial reasons to follow a path they are less interested in. I wish they could follow their dreams for awhile, to see if those are their real dreams. I know how lucky I have been to end up where I am now, to be encouraged to get into a profession that is not at all 'normal' and that is risky in someways, and I wish everyone could have the encouragement and support I have had.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Transitions
I've wanted to contribute to Scientiae for a long time, but somehow never got it together. But as I sit here rushing furiously to get through my dissertation, surrounded by boxes, the August theme of Transitions really spoke to me.
I am anticipating a lot of transitions. In 12 days we will be packing up and moving to Chicago. R will be starting a PhD program, I'll be adjuncting at least one new class at a new school (hopefully I will get some more classes as well) and I plan to defend my dissertation sometime this fall.
The move is exciting. Although I am not done with New York, and would love to stay here longer, I am excited to move to a city I have always liked. I love new things and it will be fun to explore our new neighborhood, find new favorite grocery stores, restaurants, bars and coffee shops, and hopefully make new friends. It will be great to start over in a new (bigger and cheaper!) apartment. And most of all, I am happy R and I are moving together. This is the first time we have moved into somewhere at the same time. I moved into our Florida apartment first, and he moved here to New York while I was in the field, so that is nice.
Defending my dissertation is also exciting, although scary. I still don't have a scheduled defense, and am rushing to finish up some excruciatingly boring data collection, but it is all starting to come together. I will be so relieved to have it all over with. I think I will be one of those people who just sobs with relief once it is all done. On the other hand, it is also scary. I have been in grad school for 6 years. I know how to do it. Now I have to go find a job, R and I have to deal with our two-body problem, I need to learn how to be a professional and not a student. It is weird, for as much as I want to finish, I am also scared of finishing. But when it is all said and done I am also looking forward to what I will be like a year from now. Will we have an awesome apartment where our awesome friends come regularly for dinner parties? Will I have a sweet postdoc or tenure track job at an exciting place where I can interact with cool people? Will I be adjuncting 5 classes a semester for basically no money? Will I be living in upstate New York while R stays in Chicago? Really, anything could happen and it is kind of equally exciting and terrifying.
scientiae+carnival
I am anticipating a lot of transitions. In 12 days we will be packing up and moving to Chicago. R will be starting a PhD program, I'll be adjuncting at least one new class at a new school (hopefully I will get some more classes as well) and I plan to defend my dissertation sometime this fall.
The move is exciting. Although I am not done with New York, and would love to stay here longer, I am excited to move to a city I have always liked. I love new things and it will be fun to explore our new neighborhood, find new favorite grocery stores, restaurants, bars and coffee shops, and hopefully make new friends. It will be great to start over in a new (bigger and cheaper!) apartment. And most of all, I am happy R and I are moving together. This is the first time we have moved into somewhere at the same time. I moved into our Florida apartment first, and he moved here to New York while I was in the field, so that is nice.
Defending my dissertation is also exciting, although scary. I still don't have a scheduled defense, and am rushing to finish up some excruciatingly boring data collection, but it is all starting to come together. I will be so relieved to have it all over with. I think I will be one of those people who just sobs with relief once it is all done. On the other hand, it is also scary. I have been in grad school for 6 years. I know how to do it. Now I have to go find a job, R and I have to deal with our two-body problem, I need to learn how to be a professional and not a student. It is weird, for as much as I want to finish, I am also scared of finishing. But when it is all said and done I am also looking forward to what I will be like a year from now. Will we have an awesome apartment where our awesome friends come regularly for dinner parties? Will I have a sweet postdoc or tenure track job at an exciting place where I can interact with cool people? Will I be adjuncting 5 classes a semester for basically no money? Will I be living in upstate New York while R stays in Chicago? Really, anything could happen and it is kind of equally exciting and terrifying.
scientiae+carnival
