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!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Moving on from my first lab job
This week is the final week at my current job. I had my going-away party yesterday, which was a lot of fun, and this Friday is my final day.
I've been training my replacement, but I know that there will be things she needs help with after I leave. My boss is going on vacation for the month of August, so I've made it clear to my replacement that she's welcome to call or email me with any questions. While I have been training her as best I can, it's really not possible for me to teach her every detail about the job in four weeks.
I guess I'm mostly nervous about leaving the lab, where I've been for two years, and where I've gotten almost all of my training. I don't feel unprepared for graduate school, in terms of academics or lab work. It's more that I feel unprepared for the bureaucracy of it. I'm off to a mediocre start in that regard.
That is, I'm not sure exactly when I'm starting, or what I already should have signed up for. I got my health history forms after my yearly physical, and I'm waiting on my doctor's office to fax the signed forms back. I had a moment where I was significantly annoyed with the requirements; it said that I needed a vaccine that I had already gotten, but wouldn't let me waive it without actual reasons. But then, thankfully, a friend of mine pointed out that the vaccine was only required for students living on campus or in university-owned housing. I'm a grad student, suckers!
I'm also on the fence about purchasing a semester's worth of Charlie Cards from the school. I have another few weeks to decide, and I probably will buy the semester pass. I'm spoiled right now; my monthly pass is 45% off, and it's paid for pre-tax. I will only get 11% off the semester pass, and it's not pre-tax. It's quite disappointing. I would just walk to campus, but I've enjoyed the security of taking the T whenever I feel like it, and it'll be tougher to walk to campus during the first month or so. By the time I won't worry about walking to campus, it might be cold and snowy. I might as well just accept that I'm going to be paying for it, but even so ...
In the meantime, I'm looking forward to this week ending. Not because I hate my job; I'll definitely miss working here! But at this point, it feels like there's very little left for me to do over the next three to four days. Plus I have special rehearsals for an ensemble I play in once a year, on Thursday and Friday nights, on Saturday all day, and a concert on Sunday. Not a restful weekend for someone who's going to have surgery in a week. Since I'm just waiting for my surgery to be over with, it's hard for me to savor the rest of the week.
I won't forget my two years here, although this job hasn't always been easy or fun. Hopefully, the lab I end up in will be just as unique, with equally interesting research, and equally interesting people.
I've been training my replacement, but I know that there will be things she needs help with after I leave. My boss is going on vacation for the month of August, so I've made it clear to my replacement that she's welcome to call or email me with any questions. While I have been training her as best I can, it's really not possible for me to teach her every detail about the job in four weeks.
I guess I'm mostly nervous about leaving the lab, where I've been for two years, and where I've gotten almost all of my training. I don't feel unprepared for graduate school, in terms of academics or lab work. It's more that I feel unprepared for the bureaucracy of it. I'm off to a mediocre start in that regard.
That is, I'm not sure exactly when I'm starting, or what I already should have signed up for. I got my health history forms after my yearly physical, and I'm waiting on my doctor's office to fax the signed forms back. I had a moment where I was significantly annoyed with the requirements; it said that I needed a vaccine that I had already gotten, but wouldn't let me waive it without actual reasons. But then, thankfully, a friend of mine pointed out that the vaccine was only required for students living on campus or in university-owned housing. I'm a grad student, suckers!
I'm also on the fence about purchasing a semester's worth of Charlie Cards from the school. I have another few weeks to decide, and I probably will buy the semester pass. I'm spoiled right now; my monthly pass is 45% off, and it's paid for pre-tax. I will only get 11% off the semester pass, and it's not pre-tax. It's quite disappointing. I would just walk to campus, but I've enjoyed the security of taking the T whenever I feel like it, and it'll be tougher to walk to campus during the first month or so. By the time I won't worry about walking to campus, it might be cold and snowy. I might as well just accept that I'm going to be paying for it, but even so ...
In the meantime, I'm looking forward to this week ending. Not because I hate my job; I'll definitely miss working here! But at this point, it feels like there's very little left for me to do over the next three to four days. Plus I have special rehearsals for an ensemble I play in once a year, on Thursday and Friday nights, on Saturday all day, and a concert on Sunday. Not a restful weekend for someone who's going to have surgery in a week. Since I'm just waiting for my surgery to be over with, it's hard for me to savor the rest of the week.
I won't forget my two years here, although this job hasn't always been easy or fun. Hopefully, the lab I end up in will be just as unique, with equally interesting research, and equally interesting people.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Email woes
Back in March, after I accepted the offer from BU, I was given early bird registration for email. I was totally psyched, since I wanted to change my Facebook profile and display my change of networks. Yeah, not all that important. But as I continued to set up my account, I hit a roadblock. That is, I set up my username and password, and then couldn't log into BU's Gmail system!
Two months later, I tried again, and discovered that my registration had gotten my account set up for the regular Horde email service. To my dismay, the email client was even worse that the Tufts version.* Then I set up my BU Gmail, but then struggled to connect either account to my regular Gmail.
I finally have had some success (I think). Every time I get an email send to Horde, it gets sent to my BU Gmail, which then gets sent to my regular Gmail. The only problems for now? Every time I get a BU email, I first get an email from the Postmaster Bot telling me that I can't read the email. Then I get the email. I also can't seem to get Gmail to put a label on the incoming BU emails. For now, I'll just deal with the lack of labels. As for the spammy bot messages every time I get a BU email, I set up a filter that sends them directly to the trash. Booyah.
I was worried that I might have gotten emails with important information about starting this fall, but I mostly just had meeting reminders and all-BU newsletters in my inbox. Better safe than sorry, though!
* The Tufts version wasn't terrible, I suppose, but I didn't like it much. It never occurred to me to forward my Tufts mail to Gmail, even though I had been using Gmail since high school, before getting my college email. Now I know better, and I want all my email in one place!
Two months later, I tried again, and discovered that my registration had gotten my account set up for the regular Horde email service. To my dismay, the email client was even worse that the Tufts version.* Then I set up my BU Gmail, but then struggled to connect either account to my regular Gmail.
I finally have had some success (I think). Every time I get an email send to Horde, it gets sent to my BU Gmail, which then gets sent to my regular Gmail. The only problems for now? Every time I get a BU email, I first get an email from the Postmaster Bot telling me that I can't read the email. Then I get the email. I also can't seem to get Gmail to put a label on the incoming BU emails. For now, I'll just deal with the lack of labels. As for the spammy bot messages every time I get a BU email, I set up a filter that sends them directly to the trash. Booyah.
I was worried that I might have gotten emails with important information about starting this fall, but I mostly just had meeting reminders and all-BU newsletters in my inbox. Better safe than sorry, though!
* The Tufts version wasn't terrible, I suppose, but I didn't like it much. It never occurred to me to forward my Tufts mail to Gmail, even though I had been using Gmail since high school, before getting my college email. Now I know better, and I want all my email in one place!
Monday, March 28, 2011
About this blog
Who am I?
I'm a 24-year-old straight, white, Jewish atheist, middle-class ciswoman. I've lived in the Boston area my entire life, I graduated from college in 2009, and I started a cell and molecular biology PhD program in fall 2011, also in Boston. I live with roommates near my university, and I have several friends in the area whom I spend a lot of time with. I'm a runner, a former classical musician, and a passionate feminist.
Why am I writing this blog?
I decided to write this blog for three reasons. The first reason is that I'd like something to remember my time in graduate school, specifically the little bits of it. Sure, I'll remember things like my project and the general atmosphere of the lab. But I want to remember the hilarious day-to-day events, and the obnoxious little frustrations.
The second reason is that I think that the non-scientist crowd has a warped idea of what scientists are like. We're not all white dudes in lab coats and glasses, who make lots of money and are socially awkward. In fact, choosing academic science in order to get rich is sort of a mistake. I'm sure we're all varying degrees of socially awkward, so that's accurate, but for the most part, we're just awesomely regular people just trying to discover cool new things about the world.
The third reason I'm starting this blog is that my younger sister is going into television. I have no idea if she'll end up as a writer and/or show-runner, but just on the off-chance that she does, I'd like to have this blog so that she can have a glimpse into the life of a graduate student. Then she'll realize how AWESOME it would be to make a TV show about being a graduate student, based on my life.
Because really, I'd watch that.
So I'm just going to be invading everyone's privacy by writing about them?
I'm going to do my best to use pseudonyms, nicknames, and initials in this blog in order to protect people's privacy. While I can only be so vague while writing about people and places, I'll still try as hard as I can.
How long am I going to be blogging for, and how often will I post?
I will try to post once a week once the semester starts in late August. If I can keep this up throughout my graduate student career, it'll run for five or six years. Yes, I will be a graduate student forever ... on the same stipend. When I'm 30.
What kind of writing style/content will this blog involve?
I have a tendency to overuse footnotes and asterisks, and I'm also a fan of sarcasm, ALL CAPS FOR EFFECT (ACFE), and questions that end in periods (when mixed with ACFE, that leaves us with such gems as, "HOW DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND."). I also am a fan of swearing for emphasis/fun, and so while I do try to make my content interesting using PG-13 language, I have been known to drop the f-bomb. All the fucking time (WHOOPS).*
While this blog is about graduate school, it is also about my life. My identity, as I've demonstrated above, is multifaceted; I'm not just "a grad student." While this blog will mostly be about that aspect of my identity, it would be impossible to write this blog without making references to my family, friends, relationships, activities, and health. In fact, without all of those things, I won't make it through graduate school!
* DO YOU SEE WHAT I DID THERE.
I'm a 24-year-old straight, white, Jewish atheist, middle-class ciswoman. I've lived in the Boston area my entire life, I graduated from college in 2009, and I started a cell and molecular biology PhD program in fall 2011, also in Boston. I live with roommates near my university, and I have several friends in the area whom I spend a lot of time with. I'm a runner, a former classical musician, and a passionate feminist.
Why am I writing this blog?
I decided to write this blog for three reasons. The first reason is that I'd like something to remember my time in graduate school, specifically the little bits of it. Sure, I'll remember things like my project and the general atmosphere of the lab. But I want to remember the hilarious day-to-day events, and the obnoxious little frustrations.
The second reason is that I think that the non-scientist crowd has a warped idea of what scientists are like. We're not all white dudes in lab coats and glasses, who make lots of money and are socially awkward. In fact, choosing academic science in order to get rich is sort of a mistake. I'm sure we're all varying degrees of socially awkward, so that's accurate, but for the most part, we're just awesomely regular people just trying to discover cool new things about the world.
The third reason I'm starting this blog is that my younger sister is going into television. I have no idea if she'll end up as a writer and/or show-runner, but just on the off-chance that she does, I'd like to have this blog so that she can have a glimpse into the life of a graduate student. Then she'll realize how AWESOME it would be to make a TV show about being a graduate student, based on my life.
Because really, I'd watch that.
So I'm just going to be invading everyone's privacy by writing about them?
I'm going to do my best to use pseudonyms, nicknames, and initials in this blog in order to protect people's privacy. While I can only be so vague while writing about people and places, I'll still try as hard as I can.
How long am I going to be blogging for, and how often will I post?
I will try to post once a week once the semester starts in late August. If I can keep this up throughout my graduate student career, it'll run for five or six years. Yes, I will be a graduate student forever ... on the same stipend. When I'm 30.
What kind of writing style/content will this blog involve?
I have a tendency to overuse footnotes and asterisks, and I'm also a fan of sarcasm, ALL CAPS FOR EFFECT (ACFE), and questions that end in periods (when mixed with ACFE, that leaves us with such gems as, "HOW DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND."). I also am a fan of swearing for emphasis/fun, and so while I do try to make my content interesting using PG-13 language, I have been known to drop the f-bomb. All the fucking time (WHOOPS).*
While this blog is about graduate school, it is also about my life. My identity, as I've demonstrated above, is multifaceted; I'm not just "a grad student." While this blog will mostly be about that aspect of my identity, it would be impossible to write this blog without making references to my family, friends, relationships, activities, and health. In fact, without all of those things, I won't make it through graduate school!
* DO YOU SEE WHAT I DID THERE.
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