angesradieux

Hey! Current Vanderbilt student here. Just popping in to say they're tentatively talking about making offers in the next week or two. So if you applied to Vanderbilt, the waiting game should be ending fairly soon. Good luck!

I second the question about safe areas. I'm having a pretty hard time finding a place that's both safe and affordable. I thought I found a nice apartment in my price range and it was listed as one of the safer neighborhoods. But then after looking up reviews of the place, lo and behold there were two shootings in the complex within the last two years. Now I'm a little nervous about moving to Nashville. Any advice on where a single female might be able to live?

Does anyone know how translators are typically credited on books? I translated a book with a professor that is now going to be published. When he sent me the title page, I was listed as one of four translators, which irked me (and, in fact, still irks me since the entire first draft of the translation was mine and I wasn't made aware of anyone else's involvement until the bitter end of the project), but I got over it sufficiently to not say anything. The second insult came when I received the contract and even though at one point we'd discussed splitting royalties equally, when it came to negotiations this professor told the publisher he'd essentially bought the rights to the translation from me, so I wasn't to receive anything in terms of royalties and in publishing forfeited all rights to the translation. I was livid, because we'd never discussed that. No mention of it was made until I received a contract from the publisher. But, I decided it wasn't a battle worth fighting, so I swallowed the resentment again and signed the contract. But now I looked up the page for the book on the publisher's website, and my name isn't there anywhere. It also isn't on the cover of the book. It's just gone. At a glance, it looks like I didn't do anything, and no one will know otherwise unless they actually purchase the book and see my name tucked away somewhere on the title page. And frankly, with the way this has been going, I don't even totally trust that the title page I was shown is actually what will appear on the book. If you google my name and the title of the book, no search results come up. Yet again, I'm feeling totally betrayed. I specifically asked how our names would appear on the book, and he sent me the title page. I figured that also meant I would be credited on the cover, or on the webpage for the book, or at least somewhere so you don't have to hunt and dig to unearth the fact that I was actually involved in translating. Are translators usually totally hidden like this? If so, I feel like this probably should have been broached when I specifically asked how our names were going to appear. I'm feel like I've been deceived and taken advantage of. Does anyone here know if this is some kind of industry standard? I'm aware that it's probably too late to actually change anything, but I really want to e-mail the person I worked with and let him know that I'm not standing in the way of his publication, but I'm incredibly displeased with how things have played out. Is it worth saying anything at this point? If this is standard, why didn't he say anything about it when I asked? Regarding the royalties issue, the only indication that anything had changed was a comment that most of the royalties were being directed to the original author, which to me implied that the split wouldn't be even, but there was going to be a split of some sort. It's probably petty to be upset, since it likely would have been pennies per copy. But now I'm especially frustrated over the fact that my name and my involvement in the project is mostly hidden, on top of the sudden appearance of two more people at the tail end of the project, on top of the royalty situation. When I signed the contract, I told myself I was at least getting my name on a book as a consolation. But now I find out he's diminished that as much as he possibly could. And, again, given how things seem to change at the very last minute with him, and never in my favor, for all I know the title page has "changed" and I'm relegated to a footnote somewhere, even though I proposed the project, did the entire first draft, and have been exchanging revisions and edits with him for years at this point. Any advice on whether I should broach the subject or insight as to whether this kind of thing is normal?

I tell my mom I'm stressed and the immediate response is "What could you possibly be stressed about? You got into grad school, you should be on cloud nine. You have nothing to be stressed over." Not like moving over 800 miles away is stressful in and of itself or anything. Like yeah, I'm happy I got in. But lately there have been a lot of "lasts", it's hitting me that I'm leaving soon, and I'm having problems at work, so I'm stressed and emotional. Then she wondered why I didn't want to talk to her about why I'm stressed. I flat out said that whenever I try to talk about why I'm upset, everyone just tells me I'm being stupid. She denied it. But that's literally what she just did! I said I'm stressed, and she launched into a lecture about why I shouldn't be stressed and how I should just be happy all the time. It's like I'm not allowed to have emotions. Maybe I wouldn't be *so* stressed out, upset, and emotional if I actually had someone who wasn't so judgemental to talk to.

It might be worthwhile to look specifically for funded masters. For example, Miami University in Ohio funds their history masters students. That way you avoid taking on the debt you'd be stuck with going to a bigger name school and in the case of Miami University, they don't have a history PhD, so you don't have to worry about competing with PhD students for professors' time and attention. Some schools look at their masters program as a cash cow, intended to bring in money to help them fund their PhD program. While this doesn't necessarily mean instruction suffers at the MA level, I'd be wary of putting myself in that situation and if possible, I'd try to avoid it. I'd recommend doing some research and seeing if you can find at least a couple schools that only have a masters so you're more likely to get funding and won't have as much competition for your university's resources. As far as preparing the application, I would focus on your writing sample. There will be a ton of applicants with high GPAs and GRE scores. While they may help admissions committees narrow down the pile initially, it's highly unlikely they'll be a deciding factor. Your writing sample, on the other hand, could be a big deciding factor. The way a professor at one school I visited explained it was that your professors want to teach you to be a historian. They don't want to spend a significant amount of time teaching you the basics of how to write. Therefore, if your writing sample shows that you're already a solid writer, it helps them make a case to offer you admission. If your writing is problematic, it's a red flag and makes them question whether you're a good candidate for their program. Basically, a good writing sample shows them that there's something already there that they can work with.

I'm sorry. It's hard, but don't give up. My friend who lost her cat twice had just about given up all hope of ever getting her back both times, but both times she was able to get her back. Do you have any traps you could set up with maybe a favorite toy and some treats? And keep trying to get the word out about your missing cat. When I was younger, we had a cat who wandered off and was missing for awhile. One day, we were talking to someone who lives down the block and they started talking about how they'd found this stray cat they'd taken in. We went to meet their new cat and it turns out it was our cat who'd wandered off. He was living just a few houses down the whole time and we had no idea, and our neighbor had no idea that our cat was missing. If someone does pick your cat up, you'll probably find out sooner because of the microchip, but it could happen. Anyway, I just remember my friend telling me how heartbroken she was because she was sure she'd never see her cat again, and in the end it all worked out. But I know it's hard to stay optimistic. *hugs*

My dad decided he needed to power wash yesterday and he moved around some of my plants to do it. Which is fine if they were in the way, but I'm really irritated he wasn't more careful with them. A bunch of soil was dumped out of the pots I have my blueberries in and one of the bushes was totally uprooted and just plopped on top of what soil was left. The others roots were exposed, flowers were knocked off. It almost looks like they were dropped. Even the tags I had labeling the different kinds of blueberries are gone. If they fell out when he (I'm assuming) dropped my plants, would it really have been so much of a hassle to put the tags back? It also looks like a fruit was knocked off my meyer lemon bush, and my bag of fertilizer was just kind of carelessly tossed right into the pot with the plant. There's no need to brutalize them just because they were in the way of what he wanted to do. There's no reason not to move them carefully. And then put things back! When a bush was uprooted because apparently he couldn't handle it gently, how about putting it back and topping off the soil so it doesn't die from having all its roots exposed to the sun? And putting my labels back? And I don't even know how long they were sitting with roots exposed and stuff. I left the house by noon yesterday, when they were fine, and didn't get home until late, so I didn't notice anything wrong until this morning. For all I know they could've been like that all through the hottest part of the afternoon. I wasn't happy when I went to check on my plants today.

I know it isn't worth fighting over. I signed the contract and will mail it tomorrow. The whole thing just makes me so angry. First the extra names being added, so now I'm listed as one of four translators, even though I did all the translating and now his claim that he bought the translation from me even though that was never agreed upon. I'll get over it. I'm just frustrated because I knew better than to trust him, but went along with it, anyway. I feel really stupid. But I guess all I can do at this point is call it a learning experience and plan a book burning.

I'm an emotional wreck. the official contract came today, and I'm supposed to sign it and mail it off. But I just don't want to. I really thought I could trust this guy and that we had a good relationship. But I guess he just looked at me and saw someone he could exploit, and it kills me that I was stupid enough to let it happen. And the worst part is that there were moments when the warning bells were going off--no major red flags, just a comment here and that rubbed me the wrong way and made me have some doubts--but I just brushed it off as a product of paranoia, ptsd, and anxiety making it hard for me to trust people. Should've went with my gut. But I guess lesson learned. In the future, I plan to just focus on my own projects and not involve anyone else. I think I'm done with collaborations. And what makes it even more infuriating is this professor had all the necessary skills to do this translation himself. But he didn't feel like it and was content to just sit back and complain about how the source wasn't available in English until I came to him with the proposition and completed the entire first draft by myself. If he wanted to bring his friends in on it and take most of the credit for it, he very well could have done it himself without exploiting me to do it. He just would have had to do the work. But instead he chose to take advantage of me. Meanwhile, I was feeling okay about moving for grad school. But now I'm a wreck over that, too. And I want to spend time with my family while I'm still here and don't have to take a plane to get back home, but I feel like no one else cares or wants to be bothered. I feel like everyone just has their own little bubbles and there's no room for me in any of them. It's like I'm totally superfluous and no one will miss me when I leave. Except maybe one of the dogs, but even she'll get over it. And maybe occasionally my parents will miss my beef wellington. But nobody really looks for my company and I feel like I always have to invite myself if I want to be included, and I feel mostly expendable. I went out and spent way more money than I should have on a stupid lemon tree and some other plants so I would have something around that actually needs my care and attention. I'm angry over the translation nonsense and frustrated and hurt by my family's apparent indifference and in some cases apparent aversion to my presence, and I just feel like a total train wreck. I planned to move closer to the start of the semester. But maybe I should just leave as soon as I find a place. That way I'm out of everyone's hair and at least I won't be around to notice them not caring about me.

Do you mind if I ask what brand? Right now I have my meyer lemon tree outside because it's been pretty warm, but it'll probably need a grow light when I bring it inside. Does it come with a stand or something? My serissa would also probably enjoy having a grow light, though it survived this winter just fine by a sunny window in the house. But I'm not sure how many nice windows I'll have when I move to start grad school.

I've been dabbling in gardening a bit, and I was wondering if anyone here grows plants in their apartments while in grad school. I just planted a little herb garden that will probably get left behind, but I have two little trees that I'm planning on bringing with me. One is a serissa a friend gave me as a gift. It was a little twig of a thing when she bought it, and a year later it's starting to look like a respectable shrub. The other is a cute little meyer lemon. I just picked that one up recently when I saw it in the nursery and read citrus trees can be grown in pots. Anyway, any gardeners here have any tips on keeping plants healthy and happy in an apartment on a grad student stipend? Or just pictures of some nice plants? I like the thought of having some nice, dwarf trees with flowers inside in the winter so there's something pretty and green to look at when it's just a cold, grey, snowy mess outside. And free fruit from my little lemon (assuming all goes well and I don't kill it!) is a nice little bonus.

Is there a train station near by? You may want to look into what train tickets cost and what the schedule is. You'll have less flexibility, but at least that way you could read and get work done on the trip to minimize the time lost in the commute. It may not be feasible depending on the expense, but it's just another thing to consider.

How much have you looked at primary sources? Getting a sense of the historiography is definitely a good idea, but you might also want to look through some online databases, see what sources are available, and see what questions come up as you poke around. If you find yourself drawn to certain sources, that may help answer your question. Hope this helps. Personally, I'm an incurable Francophile, so I didn't struggle to pick a geographical area. But if you want to have a conversation about France feel free to send me a PM.

It depends on personal preference. An hour may be totally doable for you. However, one thing to consider is the weather where you're moving. Do they get a lot of snow? If they do, how comfortable are you driving in bad weather? Not all schools are particularly friendly to their commuters, and they may figure that most people live close enough to campus to get there despite the weather. There were also times where I drove to campus, and it took me a solid hour or more to get there in bad weather, only to find that at some point after I'd left, so within an hour and a half of class starting, they'd made the decision to cancel classes due to snow and they were closing all buildings except dorms, so instead of waiting out the storm there, I had to get right back in my car and drive back. Also, when your commute is that far, sometimes weather will be different on campus than it is where you live. Once, the roads by me were icy and I wasn't comfortable driving, but the school was open. So I e-mailed a professor letting him know that I wouldn't be able to get to class because of the weather, and I got a response that it wasn't that bad by the school. Which, great for them, but the roads being fine there didn't mean they were fine by me. You'll find the level of understanding varies from one professor to another. Some may be great about working with you if you can't get to class, others not so much. The other thing to consider is your car. With an hour commute, you'll be putting a lot of miles on your car very quickly and it starts to be a lot of wear and tear on it. Will you be okay covering any issues that may crop up--worn break pads, dead battery, etc.--more frequently with your commute than they would if you lived elsewhere? If the reason you're moving far from campus is to find more affordable rent, you should think about what it will cost to maintain your car. You may find a good chunk of what you save on rent going towards repairs. I commuted during undergrad, and I'll also say I didn't really have a chance to get involved on campus and it also meant I didn't find many friends. It may be a bit different in grad school, and the fact that I had a job close to home may have exacerbated it, but I got into the habit of showing up when classes started and then leaving when my classes were done. I didn't really hang out on campus or get to know people because I was always either trying to beat the rush hour traffic or get back in time for work. The coursework may be doable, but you might find it difficult to have a social life. Again, this is from undergrad, but I didn't start hanging around on campus to spend time with people until my last year, and even then there was always this internal battle of feeling like I needed to leave even when I was having a good time, because it was getting late and I still had a far-ish drive home. Not saying it isn't doable, but those are some factors you may want to consider.

I have it in an email, but I just don't know if it's worth arguing. I have graduated, so he can't really do anything, but I'm afraid to burn the bridge completely. But that was before two other people materialized. And when I approached him about them, he was evasive. I asked who one of them was, because I'd never even heard him mention her. He gave me some useless information and didn't say anything about what she contributed. And I had to really press him to show me the title page, where I'm listed as one of four, and when he did he made a big deal about how he put me first because I got the ball rolling. But his name is also listed above mine as "editor." So big whoop. It still looks like I was riding his coattails and it says nothing about me being the principal translator, which irks me because I did the entire draft. And I proposed the project. We planned it together from the beginning, it isn't like he brought me in on an existing project. It was always partially mine. And this professor corresponds with me over email as if everything's normal and he didn't totally screw me over. But the only leverage I have is threatening to refuse to sign the contract, and I don't know if it's worth starting an argument. It still makes me incredibly angry though. And it kills me that they have to send me an official copy of the contract to sign, so I get to dredge up all the resentment and bitterness again when that happens.