Need Coffee in an IV

@mockturtle I know how you feel. The constant anxiety feels overwhelming at times. What schools are you applying too?

I'm not sure if you are still wondering about this or not but I can relate! My boyfriend is going to grad school in Alaska and the closest grad school that I'm applying to is Washington. That's around a three hour plane ride. We are going to be long distance for about two years and it sucks. So far, its been doable. We have skype dates and he already bought his ticket to visit me! I'm so excited. I think what's making it ok, is even though we have a 4 hour time difference, we still talk to each other everyday. Even if its for 5 minutes. Trust and communication is the only way this will work.

Back-Packing: If I wanted to be sweaty and uncomfortable I can just do that at home for free Coffee Shops: Most of the time the coffee is overpriced and I never enjoy it Friends: I never thought it was funny Black "Granite": No that's most likely gabbro, granite is a felsic igenous rock The term "I'm a nice guy/person!" : No if you were a nice person then you wouldn't have to proclaim it and you are most likely a jerk And finally hacky sack: I think it's dumb to sit around in a circle and try to hit a tiny bean sack

I'm hoping to travel a lot after graduate school! The first place I want to go to is New Zealand. I want to visit the North and South Island. I would like to rent a car and travel that way, I love road trips! I've traveled an ok amount. The two main vacations that stick out to me have happened over the past two years. Just this summer, I took a 2 week roadtrip from Virginia to Fairbanks Alaska. It was so much fun! We went through Alberta to the Yukon. We avoided cities and mainly visited providence parks and enjoyed the open road. White Horse does have some awesome food though and I tried absinthe for the first time. I hiked/took pictures of the cool outcrops when passing through the Rockies. We saw a lot of wildlife too! The second roadtrip was during spring break and I traveled around the southwest, visiting all the national parks. I got to see White Sands, Grand Canyon, Walnut Canyon, Petrified Forest, Carlsbad Caverns, and the Franklin Mountains. All those parks were amazing. I still have pictures I need to frame from those trips.

I would have to say I'm bad at watching TV shows. I like to wait for a season to be over and binge watch since I hate cliff hangers ha. I would have to say my two current favorites are New Girl and The Mindy Project. Nick is my favorite from New Girl! I also really like Curb Your Enthusiasm, its super funny and Larry David is the best thing ever. I would have to say my all time favorite TV shows that I can rewatch over and over again are, Gilmore Girls, Seinfeld and Psych.

I didn't even think of grad school until my junior year....oops! Luckily, my GPA is decent so I don't have to scramble. Anyways, my undergrad is geology and in this field you better much have to at least get a masters. Technically a BS will get you a technician job, but doing grunt work in the field for the rest of my life didn't appeal to me. I got involved in museum work because of my mentor. He gave me my first volunteer position, my first manager job, introduced me to other museum professionals, etc. Because of him, I've gone on excavations and have had internships at very respectable museums. I wouldn't be on this path I think without my mentor. So I got very lucky! I'm going to be a dork and say I didn't choose the museum life, it chose me. But its ok, not to know exactly what you want! A lot of my friends in the geology department were older than me and didn't do the traditional path. My boyfriend went to college on and off for nine years and is now at grad school. He went from a math major, to forestry, to engineering geology. He even thought about being a food scientist! But I would have to say grad school is a lot of money so I would be really sure before starting a program.

I'm not in grad school yet but I hope to be next year! Anyways, I found this concern really interesting. The programs I'm looking require me to take classes from other departments. I like the interdisciplinary style so I can understand the appeal! I would ask your adviser and the department to make sure that this is ok though. I think its better to maintain great relationship with the people you will be spending a lot of time with over an interesting looking class. If you really want to learn the information, maybe try out those free online classes? Good luck!

I thought about adopting a cat as well for grad school. I like cats and I thought it would be great to rescue. But when I really thought of it, adopting a cat wouldn't work for me. There were several issues. One was money, and this included things I didn't even think about. For instance, the places were I'm applying, 9/10 times the pet friendly apartments were much more expensive than non pet apartments. I also thought that I get stressed easily and animals can pick up on that stuff. I wouldn't want to get over my head and have the animal suffer. The last main issues was my boyfriend. He isn't anti-cat but I've read that a lot of times cats don't bond well with new people. He and I will be long distance for at least two years due to grad school. So if I did get a cat, then my boyfriend would pretty much be a stranger. So in the end, I've decided that I wouldn't get a cat. My boyfriend and I have talked about rescuing a beagle as a graduation present to both of us, so we will see! My boyfriend has two mice and that seems to be going ok. They are low matience and he pets/plays with them for 30 mins. After that they start squeaking and want to run on their wheels. They generally keep themselves entertain, so maybe pet mice might be a good idea!

I'm new here and this discussion is perfect! Here goes my rant.. I just spent 6 hours today studying physics and math and I'm planning on doing so tomorrow. I'm doing awful in those classes, I'm hoping to get Cs, that's how bad it is. I'm already on the lower end of an acceptable GPA, 3.2. It's my senior year and I have to pass these classes. I've contacted several POI but I'm afraid to completely finish my applications because I'm worried about passing these classes. At least my mentor who is also my boss told me he got Ds in physics. He also said that even if I do get Ds, I have too many hours to bring it down below a 3.0. I'm still so worried and nervous. I've had crying sessions on and off for several weeks now. It also sucks that my boyfriend is so far away. He's in Alaska for his grad school and I'm in Virginia. He has been very supportive and has helped me a lot in some of my classes. Plus he calms me down so I miss him even more when I feel overwhelm. I've gone to help sessions, do practice examples, and got a math tutor. I would get a physics tutor but there are none to be found, I even asked random physics majors. This makes me feel a little bit better.

I'm applying to grad schools now so I'll be 22 when I hopefully start! If I survive calculus and physics.....

This is my first post! I think you did great and I wouldn't be too nervous. I also wouldn't worry how you mention stopping at a masters on your application. I'm applying this Fall but I'll use my boyfriend as an example. He wrote in his applications that he was interested in the project track of geological engineering and not a thesis. However, he was in constant contact with his now adviser. She offered him a RA position, which covered tuition, health insurance, and provided a stipend if he switched to the research track. My boyfriend of course switched and is very happy at grad school. So basically if they really want you, they will accept you. Good luck!