Starting Thursday, I'll officially be a graduate student. I'm not nervous so much as I am impatient about the whole thing.
I recently learned that I've been selected to be a Teaching Fellow this semester, for the introductory biology course. I'm not too happy about it, since it's my first semester of graduate school, and I was hoping to get used to my new life before I had to add something else into the mix. But as I've pointed out to my friends who've expressed surprise at this turn of events, I already have a lot of teaching experience. I've worked as an undergraduate teaching assistant (also for introductory biology), I taught summer science camp to kids ages 5-12, and until recently, I was an SAT teacher at Kaplan Test Prep. I'm not even a little bit worried about how capable I'll be as a TF.
Thursday is an all-day TF training, which looks as if it's going to be extraordinarily boring. Half of the day involves having various deans and higher-ups talk to us about teaching. Then we have to practice teaching during the second half of the day. That'll be followed by a barbeque (I think?). So, 8:30am-7:00pm will be fun.
Friday will be a little better; I don't have to be on campus until 10:00am. Then we have regular graduate program orientation, and by the early afternoon, we'll be registered for our classes. On Tuesday, we jump right in.
I'm impatient to start, not because I desperately can't wait to be so busy I can't breathe, but because at this point in time, I have absolutely no clue what my schedule will look like, and I also don't have my insurance information. Both of these things are frustrating, and not just because I'm out of the loop.
I'm recovering quite nicely from my bilateral fasciotomy to treat the compartment syndrome in my calves, but to ensure I have the best recovery, I need to go to physical therapy regularly, and I need to have my insurance straightened out. This coming week, I have my physical therapy appointments already set up for Monday and Wednesday. I'm glad I could get those two days, since Thursday and Friday are completely out for two reasons: I shouldn't schedule PT on the same day that I lose my old insurance and might not have the information for my new insurance, and also, I've got those orientations! Whoops.
Plus, because of some really awkward requirements, I'm somehow going to be first author on a paper from my old job. I'll be frequenting the lab in order to work on it in the best environment possible, but even if I weren't, that's a time suck.
Finally, I've met some other BU grad students through some friends, and one of them has convinced me that I should try out for the all-campus orchestra. Most of the flutes have left, which means this is the best shot I have at grabbing an excellent seat.
So, here's what I have to fit in this semester, my first semester of graduate school:
*) However many classes my (unknown) faculty advisor registers me for
*) Working as a TF (includes two lab sections and a weekly meeting; I'm also guessing office hours)
*) Orchestra, if I get in
*) Coculture paper for my old job
*) Physical therapy
There's a reason I bought a new mattress this summer: every minute of sleep I can get needs to be as restful as possible!
