chebi

Boy, I'm a horrible person. I lie about my age to my students and I use gender as a cop out. I shouldn't be trusted to teach. I guess Minnesotan can teach us all about how to live. If you can't tell, I am also trying to be "humorous".

Hi all, I'm moving to New Brunswick in August. I was wondering, are there any nice coffee houses and supermarkets near the Douglass College campus? Also, does anyone know anything about the Old Gibbons Houses? Thanks for any advice

Well, I'm sorry if some took offense to what I said about lying about your age if asked. I was just telling you guys what my advisor told me to do a couple years ago. She told me that it is harder for a woman to get respect in a classroom situation if she is younger than it is for a man, so sometimes in order to keep the class in order, it is necessary to act much older than you are and/or lie about your age.

I've been a TA for 3 years and it can be a trip sometimes. I remember at first thinking "what the hell am I doing? I am their same age!" So, I thought I had to maintain some sort of distance between me and them so I was really arrogant hardass all the time. That didn't work. It's hard to be a TA and take classes sometimes because you are under so much stress in your daily life and you ask yourself, "why cant my students do this simple thing? why do they complain about homework? they don't know what homework is!" But then you have to realize that there is a huge difference between you and them and you don't have to be a dick in order to get respect, all you have to do is relate to them. You have to go to where they are. Most of the undergrads that you will be teaching are fresh out of high school, so most of them are semi-expecting something like a high school teacher, who is more mommy-esque. It goes without saying that no one here is fresh out of high school and has noted the difference in maturity between a high schooler and an upperclassman. In the end, you have to teach undergrads as though they are children, but with more respect. It sounds condescending, but it's better to think this than to think that you are on the same level as them, because you are not. Your BA will be like kindergarten compared to your MA program in most cases, and most of your students will not be going on to a MA or even graduate with their BA, so don't get angry with them to be studious and diligent like you, just give them the grade they deserve and move on. Also, I learned that it helps that if they ask how old you are, lie. Say that you are older than you are. It makes a world of difference sometimes.

Actually, from what I've read and heard from academics, the climate is changing in regards to hiring Ivy League graduates for positions in academia. At least this is what I've heard in the field of foreign languages. Lots of departments nationwide have complained that the Ivy schools don't prepare their PhD graduates well enough for the job market in foreign languages, so they are showing some hesitance in hiring them. Regardless of all of the above, while a degree from Harvard or Yale or whereever looks impressive, the first thing people look at when they hire you is how many publications you have and the second thing they look at is how many conferences you have done. Like if someone gets their PhD from Harvard and has no publications while you have 4, then naturally they will prefer you in most cases. So, basically, you'll just have to work hard because you won't be able to coast by on a name.

I just finished a MA and I gained like 10 lbs. from not having time to exercise and eat well. If you can eat well and exercise in grad school then you are awesome, but there are some days where you will get home from teaching and studying and writing papers and so forth that you will just want to crash on your bed, watch the daily show, and eat microwaved quesadillas. I've probably had time to really cook from scratch 5 meals in the past 2 years. The rest has been ramen, tv dinners, turkey sandwiches, and salads, but mostly ramen and tv dinners.

I have lived in Dallas/Ft. Worth my whole life and I can tell you that you can get an okay apartment in the UT Southwestern area of Dallas for 700-800 dollars a month. Things are cheaper here than in most other parts of the country, however, I do not recommend that you live here with out a car as things are pretty spread out here and our public transportation system isn't well developed yet like in other big cities in the nation. Not bringing your car would be a huge mistake because it will just make your life worlds easier, plus, if you want to do anything cool like go to the West End or Deep Ellum or Downtown Fort Worth, you'll pretty much have to bum rides from others. Culturally, Dallas gets mixed reviews. I am not the biggest fan of Dallas, I think that the coolest thing about Dallas is getting out of Dallas and going to Fort Worth. With your fellowship I think that you would be able to live here, you just wouldnt be able to live extravagantly.