Danger_Zone

I'm just kind of curious if people here have family members, relatives, etc. who are/were academics or if they are the first in their family to be pursuing grad school. I know a lot of people end up going into professions similar to their parents, so I wonder how true this is of academia as well. I am the first of anyone in my family (relatives included) to go to university (both for an undergrad degree and graduate degree.) Both of my parents got jobs out of high school and I'm the only one of my siblings to finish high school. Essentially my family does not place education very highly, whereas it has always been something very significant to me. So I felt a bit alone and unsure of myself in the process as I initially viewed a doctorate degree as something only attainable to the most highly knowledgeable people, and never dreamed I would be going to grad school myself. For those of you who do have family members in academics, do you feel as though this is an advantage (having somebody close to go to for advice, who knows the process and has gone through it themselves, etc.) or a disadvantage (being pressured to pursue academia, or feeling like you must live up to higher standards)?

My sister (finishing up her PhD in atmospheric science) just sent me this: http://legogradstudent.tumblr.com/
 
You NEED to check out that tumblr as a grad student. You will laugh, you will cry...

@MarineBluePsy I don't find it nice to talk about the delivery guy's weight.
One of my professors, who's also trans, invited me to join a trans/gender non-confirming committee. We also geeked out over The Hunger Games. 

@janetjanejune I think white Christmas lights indoors are pretty! It also gives you nice moody lighting.

awesome! what kind are you building?
i'm not building anything too fancy (i say as my wallet groans)..i5-4690K, started with a 256gb ssd as I have a 1TB external, 8gb RAM to start off and a GTX 960 that a friend had given me. the real feat will be fitting all of that and having great cable management into a micro ATX mini case.  I'll upgrade as time goes on, but I think this is a pretty nice start..my old setup had two monitors but my current desk isn't big enough, so maybe in the future I'll have my dual setup again  
just wanted something to be able to play games when I wanna, and depending on the lab I join I might be doing some computational work (eek). i'm really excited for my new mechanical keyboard honestly, lol...
thank you!  

Boyfriend: Who is David Bowie?
Me: Shows him picture.
Boyfriend: What are some of his songs?
Me: Plays space oddity.
Boyfriend: This song blows.
Me: Hangs head low while shaking it in shame.

OH MY GOD....
As a new student I'm currently getting to watch a video and take a test on sexual misconduct... and what "consent" actually means. Facepalm. It's like I'm a 17 year old kid again, not someone who's already birthed a child. Is this what the world has come to? This is an hour of my time completely wasted on moral values that should have been taught at home, not in a video from a university. 

Dealing with Comcast wins hands down!
I don't know about furniture row but there are a LOT of furniture stores around.
People (read: undergrads) have started moving in I think. Walmart was WAY more crowded than I'm used to here.

Now that we have finally finished moving... It has started shit pouring and will continue to shit pour for the discernable future. I really wanted to get used to this part of town and enjoy all the reasons that we moved here... But I guess I can't lol.

You guys over the past two days I've bought a mattress, a sofa, a chest of drawers, a TV, an iron, a vacuum, an entire kitchen accessories (plates, silverware, cooking utensils etc), bedding, and now a car. I don't think I've ever spent so much money at one time in my life! 
I love my car though I move into my apartment not this coming saturday but the following week so all my stuff is going to be lying around the basement of my airbnb. Oops! It's also my birthday the day after I move into my apartment so I have no idea how that celebration is going to go ahaha. 

Well I'm about to spend my first night in my new apartment. Was a rough 3 hour drive then had to deal with ordering furniture. One of the salesmen tried to give us a "discount" but ended up charging us more and acted like he was confused about how his computer worked. But we ended up going to another place and finding much better furniture for the same price. It won't come until Friday so I guess it's air mattress time until then.
 
Hope everyone's adventures are going well!

You should look at the ingredients on their products. A lot of their food is vegan, non GMO, and preservative free. I get chicken nuggets there for my daughter (in the shape of DINOSAURS!!!), and they are hormone and preservative free.
I agree though that the stores are a bit cramped, but its sort of the Allegiant Air of grocery stores, so one can't expect much.  

Well...we finally move tomorrow. Gonna be super busy. And I'm sure the cats will be all pissed off.
 

Just started The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut. Hoping to finish this book and maybe one or two more before I need to start reading for school. Was going to start on it early but I don't quite feel in the right mindset yet..

I'm the opposite, really. I didn't like reading in middle/high school, but started to love it by the end of high school and beginning of college. I had a totally different attitude from school then and basically hated any kind of reading I had to do associated with school. 
 
I haven't had much time to read with moving and getting ready for school but I recently read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot and am currently reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? By Philip K. Dick.

I'm super excited for my classes! I'm taking museums collections management, principles of heritage management, and curatorial methodology. @pterosaur My program reccomends only taking three classes ( nine credits). There's no shopping but i'll get more freedom in my second year.

Especially on the 1st of the month. It's surprising how many retirees on social security go shopping late at night.  
Sounds like everyone is doing well! My classes start the 22nd, and things are starting to build steam! I'm helping one of my most like-interested faculty members with a project before the semester starts. Fun stuff. There's two long days of ethics orientations starting tomorrow, and I have another two long days of TA training next week. Peppered throughout is a mix of random "welcome to graduate life at the university" stuff.
Should keep me busy.

@Pink Fuzzy Bunny He's going to be working in a government office that deals with soil and making sure farmers have the right permits, the soil is still good, etc. It will give him an idea whether he would like to be in the office side of things or be part of the soil technician side. Its what he wants and the benefits/lifestyle will be great. Money is ok but we live a low cost lifestyle! We are super excited. Thanks!

Been lurking the past few months and don't think I posted in this thread before. I'm all settled in to my grad school city, my apartment is all set up/fully furnished, and I'm getting used to being the mom of a cute little puppy (and I mean *puppy*). Worried about how caring for a puppy will be with grad school, but many in my program have multiple dogs and cats, and of course, children! But I knew it would be a challenge, just need to get over this hump and hit my stride. Hopefully that happens by mid semester!
I see familiar and unfamiliar faces, hope everyone is well!

Started the journey to Nashville with my dad this morning! We're in nowhere Virginia for the night, with 6 hours left to go. I drove part of the way, which was actually pretty fun! I can't wait to get to my new place, though. 
Yay for finally arriving, @hippyscientist! I too need a toolkit...gonna put together lots of furniture as well..

Woohoo I made it to the US! Immigration was a breeze and the officer had a huge chat with me about Penn State and my degree and ended it by saying "Good luck future Dr. Hippyscientist".Aww yeah! 
Of course the first thing my father says is "I hope State College has places open on a Sunday because we need to go to Walmart for snacks!" He does make me chuckle. I'm pretty sure one of my first orders of moving will be to get a full toolkit because I'm gunna have to put together lots of furniture! 

Oh my god... This made me want to change my answer.When people ask what I'm researching... And I say "alpha particle thermochronology" the most awesome question I get about 95% of the time is
 
"Oh, so you're like, really smart... huh?"

I'm starting my PhD in biomimetic collaborative (swarm) robotics.
"Are you going to, like, build a robot army?"
"Yes."

I don't know. I work at a standing desk most of the time and use it to grade, write papers, etc. I think I might be more productive that way, to be honest.

@Danger_Zone, have you tried using a lectern/standing desk to read? I sometimes read while standing or on the elliptical and find it keeps me from getting as antsy.