Cheshire_Cat

It really does sound like you just don't get along with the director. It is really weird to me that the director has called you in so many times considering you don't really get feedback on how the class is going until after it is over. Don't worry about it. Research should be your focus anyways, not teaching. That being said, I might bring it up to my adviser. Not as a complaint, but just ask for feedback about the situation and how to deal with it. Also, that way if the teaching director talks to your adviser, he will have already heard your side of the story first and be aware of the situation. When you are a Ph.D, it is your right to teach your class how you want. Not being about to do it exactly like someone else wants does not mean you are a bad teacher or not cut out for being in academia.

Made my first big mistake on Monday. I made a presentation and stupidly addressed a non-existent point in one paper because I confused it with another paper. (To be fair, the paper was building off of the one I confused it with) I am NEVER AGAIN preparing a critique the night before it is due. I got no sleep and it turned out crappy, imo. I don't care what else is going on, I will get it done during the week, when I can talk to a professor if I have any questions. Also, the professors I am GAing for are not giving me any work this week. I don't know if this is a good thing or not. One said to check with the other, and the other said nothing. They seem pleased with my work though, so I think I'll just take this break.

There are several older people here. I'd say 25% of the first years in my incoming class are over 30. One looks about 45 and has her law degree. It isn't that unusual to come into a Ph.D program later in life.

I'm starting to get more confident in speaking up in class. It still kind of terrifies me, but since most classes are discussion based, I need to get over it. It is just a matter of getting comfortable, then I will probably talk too much. But right now it is a struggle. Tonight was the first class I actually felt like I had something to add and that maybe I understood the material better than some of the other students in the class. It was a statistics class, so to me it is very cut and dry and makes a lot of sense. This will also be my fifth time studying basic statistics, so that may have had something to do with it. The professor is actually doing a really good job though. He's bringing in application and discussion in such a way that it isn't just a boring math lecture. I was actually pretty engaged. I slept through my other statistics classes, so that is pretty impressive.

My dad is a business professor and students ask him to sign his book all the time.

Reading, reading, and more reading. I don't know how much of it I'm understanding though. I don't have anything to do except read until Thursday. Having all of this unstructured time is weird. But I can sleep in for the rest of the week, so that is nice.

Orientation was yesterday and today. The professor still doesn't know who I will GA for because there have been some changes and my advisor wants to put me with someone who can utilize my audit experience. I hope that is true and they aren't just holding off because no one wants me, haha. On the plus side, I met my cohort, and they all seem nice. I was put in an separate office from them, with two students further along in the program. I'm kind of disappointed because I want to develop relationships with them, but it is probably a good thing, because I can ask the more senior students for help easier, and they have more expertise than I. Classes start Monday. I'm looking forward to it. I'm used to a busy life, and the past two weeks I've hardly done anything. It's been nice and refreshing, but I'm ready to be busy again and to be back on a regular schedule.

As someone who has been through slumps both in my academic life and my corporate career, one thing I can tell you is that they are unavoidable. The difference being, for most people, they can't just quit their job, whereas in academia there always seems to be that option. So I think the real question you have to ask yourself is, do you think you can do this long term? What are your goals in life? There will come a point when you will regret every good decision you ever made in life, even ones that have defined futures. Everything feels harder than it should be at some point. What is the cost of continuing vs. the benifits. Can you be misrable for another 2-4 years if it means doing what you love for the rest of your life? Or maybe you don't love it that much and it just seemed like the next step out of college... these are some questions I think you have to ask yourself.

Thinking intellectualism means believing exactly like you do on every issue. I've read so many news stories that start out good. America has a problem with intellectualism. Yes! I agree 100% But then the writer goes on to explain how everyone who doesn't agree with them on their pet issues are stupid anti-intellectuals, and those who agree with them are smart. No, no no! All that proves is that some people have been indoctrinated correctly, and others have been indoctrinated incorrectly. Intellectualism has to do with how you think about an issue. Critical thinking. Looking at the evidence. Considering biases. You aren't always going to come to the same conclusion as someone else, but that is ok. Intellectualism isn't about getting the right answers, but asking the right questions. Don't get me wrong, getting the right answer is important, but it isn't the end-all be-all. For example, I hate math. But I love it too because it is analogous to life. Why did my math professors make me answer math questions that they already had the answers to? Because some day, I may come across a math problem and not have my math professor there, and I need to understand the logic behand math so I can answer the question myself... But I digress. Maybe this should have been in the rant section.

I agree with you Shadowclaw. I don't think there is anything wrong with recognizing something as a sin, but hating someone because they sin differently than you is antithetical to the Bible. If you take it as a whole, you realize that everyone has sinned, and God loves you despite your sin, so going around hating other people for theirs would be very unchristlike. People don't hate because the Bible tells them to. They justify their hate by using the Bible.

Thanks everyone! Since I already have a good group of friends in town and everything, and am familiar with the area, I think I'll just skip it. The only one I'd find interesting is the one on health insurance, but I think I can figure it out myself.

Excercise! Go running or find some cardio on youtube. That always helps. What random_grad says is true though. Some people have different sleep patterns. I think I will take naps when I'm in grad school because those really help me. I could just sleep 1-4 am and 1-4 pm and be fine, but even if I get 9-10 hours at night, I'm still sleepy by 1-2pm.

I have an iPad, but the screen is broken, and costs a lot to replace. So I may as well just get a new tablet. But I think I'm going to have to take paper notes in class. I do get distracted easily, and I don't want to seem that way towards these professors. But I generally don't take notes to begin with, so we'll see how that goes. On Saturday I'm going shopping for school supplies with a friend who is going back to undergrad. Maybe she'll convince me to buy good school supplies and get organized. I think in my master's program I used a portfolio and printer paper for notes, and that was it.

So, my university has a university wide graduate orientation and resource fair, and then a college orientation. The college orientation is mandatory, but the school wide one is optional. I didn't find out about the school wide orientation until today, and I was planning on being out of town that week. So, I'm wondering how important the school wide orientation is. Should I cancel my plans? I can't shorten the trip because the orientation is right in middle of it. The other consideration for canceling the trip is that I only have a week and a half break from work, and if I go on this trip, five of those will be spent out of town or traveling, when I should be resting. But the trip is to see my BFF and brother and sister-in-law, so I'd like to go.

I live in the deep south, and I rarely see a firearm. I'm also going to school in the downtown of a large city. I've been on their "campus alerts" email for about five months now, and I've only had 2 alerts in all of that time, and neither ended with a person being hurt. But it really does depend on perspective. When I moved to the city I live in now, my parents question was "Is it safe?" and they told us to be careful, carry pepper spray, and lock our doors. One of the first people I met here was thinking about sending her child to college in my hometown. The one question she asked me is "Is it safe?" because she had heard of crime there. I very rarely felt unsafe in my hometown, but was scared to move to the big city because I viewed it as unsafe. Just recently, I was on audit with my senior manger, and through our discussion, I realized that I felt a lot more safe in the country than he did, and he felt a lot more safe in the city than I. Just different perspectives.

Ugh! Sitting in the DMV to renew my registration on my birthday. And I had to buy 4 new tires for my car, and change the oil. Happy birthday to me.

One thing at a time, or half a thing if a whole thing is too overwhelming.

You're arguing presuppositions, namely the existence of God. However, if you were to read up on the matter, you'll find that study has been done on some religious diets, and for it's time and culture, the Kosher diet makes a lot of sense scientifically to keep people healthy and decrease the risk of disease. It's pretty remarkable, really. Even now, many Jews who have rejected all notions of there being a god still follow the dietary guidelines in the Torah. Why? Probably because they are decent guidelines. I'm not Jewish and do not follow kosher, halal, or any other religious diets, but they have their backing. This isn't a thread to discus religion (though it's been used to discuss pretty much anything) so I'm going to leave it at that. But one popular thing I hate is the idea that because something is religious, it has no basis in reality and isn't a rational option. There are some religions, and sects of religions that are that way, but there are also some incredibly intelligent people who are religious and have very well thought out beliefs on the matter. Organized religion is a tool, and like a lot of tools, it can be used to bash someones skull in, or feed millions. I've seen it used both ways.

If you believe in a god, and that he created the world and that your holy book is inspired by him, then it makes perfect logical sense to follow what he says about eating. Kind of like following what your car manual says about what kind of gas to use. If you don't believe in a god, or that he created the world, or that he inspired a specific holy book, then obviously it isn't going to make sense to you. But logically, if you agree with the presuppositions, then the conclusion is sound.

I know the feeling. I wear professional clothing for work, but aside from then, I love wearing old, soft t-shirts. I packed most of mine up, and I'm going to make all of my old tees into a t-shirt quilt one of these days.

OMG! I want a kitten so much right now! But I already have two bunnies, a dog, horse, and tortoise, so I think I should wait... I told myself I would get one when I passed my CPA exam, but that didn't happen. My bunnies are old, so when they die I will get a cat.

We don't have winter storms, but when a hurricane hits, we buy poptarts and beer. I think bread and milk are more rational options. (Though, milk would spoil, so beer makes perfect sense. It already tastes spoiled)