hippyscientist

@Pink Fuzzy Bunny my quals (what my program calls prelims) are in April, so I feel your pain. Initially they were going to be end of January but we realized I hadn't fulfilled my academic integrity training (10 hrs in total, and 2 of my classes count for 3 hrs each). So delayed torture! Coffee, new shoes sounds like fun! What type did you get? Today I managed to get a paper out for a conference, well to my old advisor to approve, which I am thrilled about because it took me 2 days to get the whole thing done. I also arranged a facetime with one of my best friends in the whole word. And he might be coming over for spring break!!! I'm so excited right now!!!

Same to you Fuzzy! Hope you all have a wonderful day regardless of your beliefs & celebrations.

I LOVE SOA. It's amazing. I got my mom addicted to it as well. Great show. Might have to watch an episode now.

@MarineBluePsy ouch. That's a tough situation. Keep your advisor on side, and is there anyway the next class you take with pain in the ass professor you can show your commitment in some way? I'm very pleased to be home let me tell you! Plus I found my favorite cheese in trader joes today which has made it a wonderful day. Realized I have so many freaking conference submissions to get done by the end of January. My old advisor wants me to apply to two (one in Europe, one in the US), my current advisor wants me to apply to one (also in the US) and I really really really really want to go to one (in Australia & the main one in my field) but that seems to be the one neither advisor is pushing for! But then if I get the student rep job I'm applying for I have to go to Australia. It could be a very very busy summer! Agh. @nevermind damn that podcast looks super interesting! Thanks for the share

I love that thread. It helps each week! Find the silver linings for everything! @Neist ooohh thanks for the suggestion!

@Pink Fuzzy Bunny and everyone else with pets, I'm sure they help so much with mental health in school! @Need Coffee in an IV Yeah it was the only time we both had free unfortunately. I love cocktails too, but none with vodka in (bad experience!).

@Need Coffee in an IV let's just say there was a lot of emotion involved. Last night my friend had a crazy huge argument with her mom and they were yelling and screaming and slamming doors from about 9pm to 4am. Not ideal (for anyone). Plus my friend basically only spoke about her bf which was a little tedious, especially when we had so much other stuff to catch up on. And all her dog hair is all over my stuff now! Wouldn't be so pissed about the dogs except they had to sleep in bed with us (yes we shared a full...2 humans and a german shepherd and a pit/lab mix...perfect for good sleep...). Positive thinking is a great habit to get into! I always try to find the silver linings in everything that happens. It's great! I'm not sure if you reddit, but the grad school subreddit there has a "tell us something good about your week" post on a friday and it's great to find the good in what may initially feel like a crappy week. Also, red wine I missed red wine! It so tasty and perfect to relax with before pad thai!

@Need Coffee in an IV that internship sounds incredible. @Neist & everyone else - I haven't done podcasts before, any you recommend that are good for while you're working? Finally survived my 13 hr drive home after I think what could be described as a total s**tshow of a visit. I am so glad to be in my own home with my own bed & some peace and quiet! Actually, lightbulb moment!! That's why I've been so social this semester!!! Because I live alone I have plenty of recharge time which means I can actually socialize with people. Holy heck! Yay cool realization. Sorry, brain dumping. Slightly delirious from drive. Thai food is coming soon (it is compliant with the elimination diet with some foods added back in!) Can't wait!

So final grades are in for first semester. A in my engineering class, A in my biomechanical methods class, B in stats. I'll take it! My old advisor also got in touch and asked if I wanted to present my work at a pretty big conference in Germany next summer so I gotta work on that soon. I forgot how gorgeous Maine is. Currently sat on the couch with a sleeping dog at my feet looking out at the sun on the ocean & reflecting into the forrest. And food! @Neist I feel ya. I think dairy is okay for me, but grains. Nope. It's not gluten but there's definitely something in grains that my body dislikes. Haven't figured out which grains yet but I think they're the culprit of my issues. I had a gluten free pizza the other night and had some terrible problems. @Pink Fuzzy Bunny going back to see old advisors is like going home sometimes. It's great and nice to reflect on, but once you're there for a bit longer you realize how much you've grown since you left them

Aww thank you! I'm actually visiting an old friend for like 4 days before doing the same drive back to my college town. It should be a fun adventure but I have to say I'm hoping the roads are nice and clear and unicy. Have a safe drive yourself on Monday.

So far I got an A and a B one class grade still to come but for now I'm happy! 12 hr drive to do tomorrow...

YES! I only have 2 classes next semester so that would be wonderful And your break sounds great - dog snuggles are the best!

That sounds awesome!! It's always fun to catch up with old friends

@Pink Fuzzy Bunny I mean, true, but he's been really laying on the pressure the back end of this semester but apparently I kicked it into gear and I'm so happy he recognized it Anyone got any fun plans for the winter break?

MY ADVISOR <3 I could kiss him (I won't because eww) but when I asked what I should do over break for my research he responded "Sleep. Recover. Have a break. You've earned it. We'll start the new year fresh and ready to attack!" AND he loved one of my ideas!

So it looks like this project will finally get done. And I'm waiting upon a meeting with my advisor to go over my research and we'll make a plan for the holidays and then I'm good to get outta here. I'll be doing minimal over the break - tidying up two abstracts and working on some code. I really need a break because I haven't had one since starting my masters in September last year so I'm going to make the most of being able to sleep and watch shitty TV and eat delicious food. Congrats guys on getting through semester 1, and I hope you all have happy, healthy breaks!

The thing is we all work in the same lab, the prof for the class doesn't care as long as the work is done, and we've already given the presentation (where we got penalized as a group because some of them were clearly unprepared). Just ranting on here. It's the frustrating thorne in an otherwise excellent semester. Thanks for the advice though

Congrats @Pink Fuzzy Bunny and @Need Coffee in an IV on your grades, that's awesome! I have one class back and did okay (A) so I'm pleased. Still got a final and a group project to go tomorrow. This group project is doing my head in! Two group members haven't pulled their weight at all and have done close to nothing (all one has contributed is "I think we should add a picture here. Can someone find one?"). Also, @MarineBluePsy can I ask what you mean by "behind the scenes" stuff? Overall, I'm so pleased with my grad school decision. For the most part my department is a lot of fun - we've been entering a competition together which has meant a lot of arts and crafts and brainstorming and it's worked out as a great way to bond. I also think I lucked out on TAing - today we graded the undergrads final for the class I TA and our instructor in charge bought us all lunch (including a special one for me) to thank us.

Ugh today has been so much fun and hell at the same time. I'm up working on a project that's being submitted tomorrow (group project, big deal, it's for a competition) but I also have to be in the office at 7am tomorrow (which will be more like 5.30 with going to the gym) to proctor exams and grade them and get everything else done. My other group project is stalling big time and that's due on friday, which is funnily enough the same day as my last final, the day of a christmas party and the day before I go to Maine. Ugh too much to do not enough hours in the day to do it.

Please eat all the ice cream for me guys!!

Joining in on the grades debate, as long as I keep my funding I don't care. My masters was the grades focused aspect for me, whereas now research really is my focus. I started writing an abstract today - the submission opens January 11th/15th I can't remember but it's my vacay work. I think as long as you have a good work ethic and don't procrastinate to detrimental ends then grad school classes are doable. What I've noticed is the juggling act to maintain good grades in classes, make progress in research, do TA/GA/job duties, have a semblance of a social life and maintain some level of health & physical activity is what discerns the grad students in my program. Those who are used to juggling many things seem to cope a lot better than those who coasted through undergrad playing video games. It's really interesting - those students who've had to work hard to make things click seem to be the better grad students, in my observations anyway.

Ugh...My friends and I are all on our last legs, my bestie is actually passed out next to me on my couch right now as part of our study session. We've got this people!

That's awesome congratulations Fuzzy!!! @Neistyou don't get these things if you don't apply, and applying helps hone your techniques for the ones that you do get. So I had a pretty good end to the week - I had a good date, I got a 98% in my stats exam (still got the final to go), and made some coding progress. It's nice to feel a sense of accomplishment towards the end of the first semester. Going to Maine in 8 days to see one of my old friends whom I haven't seen in 4 years! It's exciting

I'm with you fuzzy on the lab classes over reading!! Labs can be tough, science profs can be demanding and exacting but tbh (and excuse my language) F*** doing all that reading! @Neist and all other arts& humanities people - props to you, no idea how you do it! I love books for fun but not for studying. Today I sat in on a job talk given by a prospective faculty member that was also being videoconferenced to our medical school. It was pretty cool and I was the only student there. Was a great opportunity to network, and it made me feel pretty clever that I could follow everything nicely. Gave me some good ideas for future work, and it's such a cool insight into questions people ask on the job search. In other news, in less than an hour I have a date and I'm so woefully unready for it!

Woohoo I now have the 21st to the 27th off Plus I made a MAJOR step forward in my code today, got my mechanical engineering final back & got a 95% & I got paid for dogsitting over thanksgiving. Good day on my end. @Need Coffee in an IV that's so cool, I love museums, especially if they're natural history and/or science ones.