MDLee

I really am glad to see that I'm not the only one who is having trouble with this transition. On the one hand I feel like a total baby...I mean, how am I supposed to be a big-bad world traveling academic if I can't even separate myself from home? Not to mention that none of my colleagues are having the same separation anxieties that I feel. And I also feel a little ungrateful--I mean, this is the most awesome opportunity I've ever been afforded and I'm doing what I love. I do find that as time goes on (and I get busier) I find small things to keep me occupied in my off time, I go out a little, and even though I miss home this is becoming a little more like home every day. I really have a couple of people I wish I could just transplant, but now at least I have a good excuse to visit my home city whenever I can afford it. Trouble is that very few of us are independently wealthy and trying to fund trips home AND trips to conferences on a grad student budget is damned near miracle-working. And we proceed

WOW...I thought my 2300 mile move from home was a big deal. At least I'm in the same country (or so they tell me, heh). I can relate to the missing family and friends though. My colleagues here are awesome, but my lifeblood is at home.

I was all too glad to change my license and registration over...but I am definitely with you on the countdown. I'm trying to plan a trip home for my birthday, but since that happens so close to the holidays I may just wait. Sigh. Love it here. Still miss home

Here I am...2300 miles from home. I'm doing what I love and loving what I do. My department is awesome, my research is swimming along, I'm looking like I'm about to have an amazing few years... but I miss home SO badly. This DOES go away at some point...right?

I agree entirely. I was actually worried about some of my potentials...I'm from the desert. I was not looking forward to moving to the middle of the winter-all-the-time zone. Thankfully, I ended up somewhere warm. Now I just need to invest in some solid bug spray.

Isn't it funny how quickly we could all become like family on here? In fact, I trust most the people on this board to understand my travails with this process than my real family! LoL!

no, no...getting caught is half the fun. Then you get to act all loads of offended "I can't BELIEVE you question ME!!"... *NOTE: This only works when they've already given you the key to the Ivory Tower...as a grad student it could end the career before the career starts.

The key is to act like you're following their lead until you get in...then RAISE HELL.

Reno is still beautiful. The hiking/fishing/camping is awesome. The campus is beautiful. The parking is expensive (the passes are ridiculous) but broken into zones and times of day, so if you have a lot of night classes you can pay less. Cost of living is reasonable, though not incredible. I'm from Vegas, but my best friend is at school in Reno and she'll be attending grad school there in the fall.

Hello all! I just finished my thesis defense (and am now knee deep in revisions) but I thought I'd share the scene for you, because I found it amusing. Last year one of my committee members sat me down and told me that I needed to re-evaluate my purpose in grad school, and consider whether it wouldn't be better for me to just give up all together (she didn't say it quite like that, but it was pretty close). She didn't believe anything I had written was fully explored, she thought my methods were unorthodox and strange. So, as I sat in on my defense, this professor states for the committee and my entire gallery (which included half of the department) that she felt the thesis was weak because I was breaking rules I had no right to break as an MA student ("when she's published five books, we can talk.") My committee chair tells her that because what I study is inherently interdisciplinary I was simply following in the footsteps of all of my mentors and therefore was entirely within my rights to write as I had (outside of the rigid boundaries of departmental confines). The first professor retorted that I was attempting a history thesis, and HAD to follow those rules. My chair calmly put her in her place...It was kind of a funny conversation. I imagine its a forecast of the kind of unorthodox academic I'm going to be. I figure when I get my PhD I'll be the one at the top of the ivory tower acting like academics should be thoroughly grounded in the real world and the rest of my cohort will wonder who the heck let me into the club... "Oh yah...that was us." LoL Cheers

I will be attending the University of South Carolina, Columbia. I'm getting a PhD in some combination of world history studies...focus comparative genocide and human rights.

I heard that those POD things are a great way to get your stuff moved--you pack it, they haul it. That gives you more opportunity to worry about your pets. I don't know about dogs or fish, but for cats I hear there is an herbal remedy that you can give them that won't sedate them but will calm them down considerably. I'm a little nervous to be moving 2,000 miles away from home with two cats...my big concern is how long are cats good for in the car? sigh...this is going to be a much bigger endeavor than I'd originally thought.

I got lucky enough to meet someone this semester (my last semester at my current grad school before I transfer out for PhD work). The dating was great. But...when faced with the possibility of distance, he decided it wasn't THAT great (LoL). It is possible though. Several of the PTI's in my department are actually couples who met and married while getting their PhD's. Academic couples are kind of adorable in their own nerdish way. I only hope to someday be so lucky

What's really funny is that when I first got my acceptance (to a master's program w/o funding) I was like "Whatever" then when they upgraded me three days later to the PhD without funding I was like, "Carrot-and-Stick routine people!"...the day I got the email about my funding I was sitting in the grad assistant office thirty minutes before going in to defend my thesis. I screamed my head off and printed the email out for my committee chair who promptly took it around to every open door in the department to tell them that I had made it in with funding. I guess she's kind of proud of me April 16 was a good day.

::blushing:: aww shux. Thanks