Archaeodan

Just signed over my life to Vairo Village! Comparably cheap studio apartment I can afford with my stipend. Included parking, bus pass, gym, outdoor pool, and pets are allowed (personal requirement). Just passed the Arboretum, about 3 miles out of campus. I'm PUMPED.

I got my official university email address!!! It's getting real!

I have trouble accepting that good things in my life are real. Bad things, those are normal, they happen, I deal. But good things? Nope. Can't be real. They must be lies or be taken away immediately. I'm having so much trouble accepting that I got into school and am going and am moving forward with my career. Asshole brain keeps finding reasons why this must be a bad thing. I lost my job because I'm going to school, but even if I hadn't, I'd be leaving this job soon anyway to go to school. So, really not that big of a deal, rationally. But, in my head, because grad school doesn't seem real, losing my job feels catastrophic. The bad thing is real, the good thing is a lie. But reality is that grad school is real, and losing my job is not that bad. But I can't seem to wrap my head around that. Which make me very nervous for grad school (now that I can come up with a bad, it's real...ugh) because there are disappointments and waits and highs and lows, and I can't seem to let the good things be separate and be good. I know I have depression, and I know this is just that, but UGHHHHH knowing doesn't help. Knowing why I'm like this doesn't help, though it seems like it should...nope. (this has been a stream of conscious, thx for partaking, ttyl)

Got fired from my job last week for telling them I'm going to school this fall (which they already knew was a possibility because I told them during the interview but whatever that's fine I guess). Then, they send me an email yesterday asking if I could stay on as a consultant to train the new person on GIS...fine, ok, I wasn't planning on moving until the end of the month anyway...but now, they're having me fudge my hours (I'm paid...was paid salary so hours don't affect my pay) so they don't have to explain to the government that they have two people in the same role. Ok, fine if you want to lie to the government and normally I love a good bit of sticking it to the man, but please don't ask me to? I would like a job with the government someday and there is NO WAY I'm letting this shit job affect my chances. TLDR: my current employment situation is so sketchy and my bosses are having me lie to the government. Can't wait for this month to end.

@suavesana I got my official notice from Boston today. Shouldn't take too long for you to get yours.

Has anyone got any of their travel reimbursements yet? My bank statement is scaring me and I'm an archaeologist AKA way too poor to pay all this out.

MMHMM YUP I AM. I can't finish my term because my POI wants me to come on fieldwork this summer, so I wanted to let my bosses know so they won't be sad/angry/surprised when I only can do 8 months. BUT they decided instead that since I can't do 12, they'll cut their losses and fire me after 4. So like...that's fun. I've...definitely worked in better work environments.

haha psa maybe don't be nice and tell your bosses you got into grad school and are going on fieldwork this summer cause they may FIRE YOU IMMEDIATELY. this is fun this is fine yay

I accepted an amazing offer and now I'm going on fieldwork this summer and grad school in the fall so I get to leave my crappy job and OMG EVERYTHING IS AMAZING (i'm sick rn so i'm trying to remember the positives which ain't easy when your body's trying to murder itself from the inside out)

1a. Research Scientist at a research institute (preferably in Woods Hole) (best of all worlds...get to do my research, travel, and not have to teach) 1b. TT Prof in Boston (I guess that's good enough) 2a. Professional sailor (not like...military...but like...pay me to go around in sailboats all day erryday) 2b. Professional cyclist/rower (turn passions into money, make bank, right?) 3. Artist (considering I'm bad at most arty endeavors, and I have little patience for sculpting which is the only one I don't suck at, this ain't happening) 4. Professionally crotchety lesbian goat farmer (fear me, Pencey-poo)

Omg...after getting nothing last year, the fact that I get to post in this thread is EVERYTHING. I was going into my POI's office for the second time that day at the end of 8hrs of interviewing with a different prof every half-hour, so I was beat and just thinking that this was the culmination big interview/maybe decompression debrief? Nope. I come in and the grad adviser is sitting there with my POI with a manila folder on the table between them. I sit down, we do debrief a bit, and then grad adviser opens the manila folder saying, "We were really impressed by you and we'd be really happy to have you here. You're the first person we've accepted this year, and we're doing so ahead of hearing back from the grad office, so we apologize for the low funding offer. It will go up. Do you have any questions?". Yeah, no, I had no questions. I had tears. And a voice squeaking up 18 octaves while I tried to thank them. They laughed, so that's good. They know I'm a hot mess right out the gate. Good they know before they get false expectations. (NB: that first funding offer was NOT low, still way more than I'm making now, and it has since gone up 1.5x thanks to a merit fellowship so that's...something...omg) (found out about that today while at work and cried in my office right before a meeting with my boss...good times)

Omg.....I got the Enhanced Graduate Scholar Award for Penn State...my funding offer just jumped...a lot...holy shit (Follow your dreams, kids, and you too may someday be crying in your office unable to believe that people think you're smart and capable)

@Indiana_Bones I am yeah, one more. Got my Chicago interview coming up next week. (Side-stepping the fact that Brown is probably a rejection cause I haven't heard yet)

@Indiana_Bones Yeah, just awkward. They told me some info right at the beginning which confirmed my suspicion that the program wasn't a good fit for me, so for the next 25 minutes, I was awkwardly me trying not to rude but actually only kinda interested in what they were saying, and they seemed only kinda interested in what I was saying cause the fit was iffy and so ahhh....yeah, not great all around.

Just had a kinda super awkward interview...that was fun.

During one of my interviews, a couple of the current grad students mentioned having read my SOP...that was a horrifying moment. Trying to remember what i put in it as the damn thing went through so many iterations and different schools got very different versions. I also DESPISE talking about myself, so knowing that "my peers" had this other knowledge about me was SO UNCOMFORTABLE. I've been rereading my SOP for hours trying to pick apart how embarrassing it sounds (catastrophizing and ruminating are my specialties)

I GOT ACCEPTED AT PENN STATE!!! I LOVE THEM AND IT WAS GREAT AND I'M DEFINITELY GOING TO GRAD SCHOOL THIS FALL

Hey @lylark, I wouldn't think too far ahead of that comment. Ask them about what they mean by it, but where I went for my masters had the same philosophy and it was a GOOD thing. Competitive atmospheres can be bad, in that it can make for a toxic work environment of people not trusting each other/professors and grad students trying to one-up each other/other nastiness. Think about it this way, if everyone's always trying to win, there are gonna be people who lose, and the morale of the department could be worse for it. In a working environment like grad school, you're there for far too long working with the same people for years...do you really want that kind of rat race animosity in the department as well? Some places recognize the value of being there to lift each other up/fostering collaboration/being a safe haven away from the rest of the shit show of academia where everything is a competition. Limited competitive atmosphere means you can go talk to/use facilities of other professors, talk out difficult questions with other students, basically have a pleasant working environment. Don't knock it or worry about it until you know for sure how they mean it. Chicago's rep is great, I don't think they mean to ease up on their rigor.

I feel like I'm literally getting sick with how stressed I am over grad school decisions.

Finally got the go ahead to create an Instagram for the non-profit I work for, which is GREAT because as the outreach coordinator I CAN DO OUTREACH NOW. WOOOO

Drank way too much coffee yesterday to get through a particularly difficult day at work and gave myself a massive headache. So, today, in order to fix my headache, I didn't drink any coffee. This obviously made my headache a million times worse. I. Can't. Win.

@Grace Bones Alright, for living in the private housing...closer to city center, Ecclesall Road has some decent cheap apartments/houses you can share. This is around the other uni in the city, Sheffield Hallam, so you can get good places. Get closer to around Hunter's Bar and the houses get giant and way out of student price range, but they are worth a walk past to see (and cry about the riches we will never have as archaeologists, but that's neither here nor there). Sheffield's bus system is absolutely great, so are the more pricey trams, but they go fewer places. Oh, also, check out housing near/in Kelham Island. Hipster district down were the steel mills used to be, but now there's just a museum, a few great pubs, and a to-die-for doughnut shop. All of my friends were within the department/were roommates with my department friends. That said, not impossible to like the people you end up living with, but finding good roommates without knowing anyone is a crap shoot. Also that said, most of my department friends lived in the same complex as me...so, I guess both in my case...but I didn't know that going in. Making friends in the department was just really easy, cause the department is small so you see the same people all the time and the people were great. I'd suggest not trying to force it by trying to make a house work if you're moving somewhere where you know no one. What worked for me was putting my social efforts into trying to make connections with people I saw a lot/had something in common with. In my case, that wasn't my flatmates. That said, that was just my experience. Eh, your experience coming into it sounds a lot like mine before I went. You're more adaptable than you think. It'll be hard, but you'll do it, and you'll do it well. Trust yourself.

Apply for your visa early. Mine got delayed for stupid reasons and I almost didn't get it in time. Start as early as you possibly can. Fly into Manchester, use Trainline.com to book you train tickets to Sheffield. The train is cheaper if you book before you get on, takes less time than buying at the station (though you still have to pick up your ticket from the auto kiosk), and is much more convenient than taking the bus. Costs less, too, if you book for a specific time, but give yourself at least an hour, maybe more depending on whether its a big day for student travel, to get off the plane to get to the train. Border control for student visa holders can sometimes get really packed with all the students coming back. The train station is an easy walk from the terminal. Manchester to Sheffield takes more or less an hour. DON'T COME FROM LONDON UNLESS YOU WANT TO PAY A BAJILLION POUNDS. London to Sheffield is 4 hours. If you choose to take a trip to London, take the bus. RyanAir is your friend. Travel often. Sheffield is ridiculously hilly. Like, for real. Unless you live in City Center which is 5 mins from uni, student housing in Endcliffe is a half hour up the hill, Ranmoor is 45 mins. Getting to class, the walk is nice, coming home, it...takes getting used to. You can take the bus, but I'm cheap and appreciated the walk at the end of the day to clear my head. I lived in Endcliffe, where most students live. It was nice, felt like the suburbs. I often took the long way home to walk through the Botanical Gardens (so much so my friends thought I lived in the gardens, but check them out, they're beautiful). The postgrad housing is not in the same complex as the undergrads, so it's quieter (though we did have this one guy who played endless ukulele at all hours of the night...don't be that guy). It is near a couple tiny kid schools, so you will see many small children in uniforms. I thought it was adorable, but it did get dicey to go running in the afternoon trying to dodge them (i joke) (kinda). Classes are harder than in the US. Your entire grade in a class may be one 3000 word paper. Paper writing is also different, more scientific. Prepare yourself by analyzing what makes a journal article good (organization, clarity of descriptions, concision). The grade scale is also different. A 70 is an A and they're hard to get, 50s and 60s are things you will probably get. It's based on the idea that a Nobel Laureates best work is a 100 and everyone gets graded on that scale. Being 70% of a Nobel Laureate is an A for a Masters student. Fear Human Anatomy. That class literally made people in my year cry it was so much work. I was osteo, so I didn't have to take it, but I was told the best thing is to just trust Pia to get you through it. Though it's hard af, the human osteos knew so much about the body by the end of the year, it was awesome. Also, Human Osteology quizzes suck, but again, you'll feel like a superhero by the end of the semester because you'll be able to identify any bone in the body by feel (literally you'll have to do identifications of a bone in a cloth bag by feel) (it's cruel, but also kinda fun). Lean on your fellow students. The archaeology department is big into discouraging a competitive atmosphere between the students. They want you to collaborate (not cheat, obvs), so embrace the camaraderie and raise each other up. The archaeology building is different this year as Northgate House was falling over (), so I can't speak to the labs, but I've been told they're better than before, and they were awesome. If you get after hours access to the building, take advantage of it. You seriously will need that hands-on time to study. Get involved in everything. The Human Osteo people are great, so are the Zooarchs (I'm still friends with a bunch of them, profs included). Take advantage of the fact that the archaeology department has a pub. You will spend more time at the Red Deer than you'd think is humanly possible. Embrace it. Embrace Sheffield. It's really a wonderful place and I miss it so much. I'm going to stop writing now as this is getting ridiculously long, but if you have more questions, please ask. As you can tell, I could talk about Sheffield all day.

Found my way to the band Te Vaka and am falling down the rabbit hole of South Pacific music. Omg I love it.

@Grace Bones SHEFFIELD IS THE BEST. GO. THEY'RE AWESOME!!!!!! PIA IS SO COOL! If you have any questions whatsoever about Sheffield/Sheffield Arch/Sheffield Osteo omg please feel free to ask. I had the best time there (and I was a prospective student guide) and I literally love everything about it.