GreenePony

After being out of anthropology completely for ~5 years (got a MA in Museum Studies/American Studies, working in CM since then) I am strongly considering going for a MA/PhD in Applied/Public Anthropology (not Museum Anthropology), blending my undergrad work and my current museum's focus. As I am reaching out to previous advisors, favorite professors, supervisors, etc, I emailed my field school advisor asking for general advice about coming back into the field, slightly switching subfields, etc. Basically his response was that since I was not considering his subfield it was good luck and good bye. So he's off the table for asking for a LOR. I am trying to track down my undergrad advisor (he left the field altogether, doesn't seem to have any public contact information- so I have to resort to going through facebook - ick) but I think I can count on him, otherwise my LORs are someone I volunteered for in a different subfield that I used for job applications, my grad school advisor (different field but kind of close), a museum internship supervisor (different field but understands being disenchanted with museums), and possibly my current supervisor or project lead (different fields but they can attest to my work ethic and dedication.) Am I shooting myself in the foot not including an otherwise obvious choice for a LOR?

DH thinks I'm over-thinking this and it's a non-issue but anyway... I have a second interview with an organization that just hired a close friend for a position that works closely with the position I'm interviewing for. This should be an asset practically speaking, since we know we can work well together. While they should realize we know each other from our resumes, neither of us have had a chance to let the administration know that this is the case. They seem to typically have the entire staff sit in on part of the second interview, so she'll be there when I interview. Is this a conflict of interest? Should I let the admin know ahead of time? I'm sure it will come up in the interview, at the very least "Greene, this is so-and-so" "We've known each other since our first day of college" (Just to clarify, we applied for our positions at the same time, I didn't apply because I'd be working with a friend, they just got to her position first)

If you want to do museum ed- have you looked at GW's Museum Education department? It's not the normal Museum Studies Department program (collections, exhibit design/development, admin, historic house). If you have practical experience then you'll already have the gaps filled that I found the Museum Ed program has (some seem to think that by going through the program they have the other areas of museums down pat if they take an intro class. I've taken a educational programming course but I in no way feel qualified to be an educator.) Like the MSTD department, I believe Museum Ed allows you to have an academic focus, sort of like a minor. I did mine in American studies but I know some who chose art history, general history, etc. Art has never been my emphasis so I can't comment on the quality of the art history department (I do know of my collections management peers who focused on art and did at least one of their two required internships at one of the SI art museums or NGA so they didn't suffer from it at least.)

DH and I "accidentally" eat "clean" for the most part. I have a sensitive GI so I need to control what ingredients go into our food, and I enjoy the process of cooking and baking. So why buy the prepackaged stuff when I spend time away from mindlessly watching TV or surfing pinterest? We also have fantastic farmer's markets here (kohlrabi, three types of kale, a dozen varieties of apples? I never saw that growing up in a farming community.) I think part of the novelty comes from the fact so many of the 20-somethings grew up with quick meals. Despite my in-laws pretentious tendencies towards food, DH hates tomato soup, grilled cheese, and macaroni and cheese because they did not cook when he was growing up, just served the canned/boxed/"cheese product" versions. There is some novelty for me, in that we're buying things at the market not at stands using the honor system, and we can find fun things like a sweet potato bigger than a football.

In the US you are supposed to only use the name (on official, legal documents) that the Social Security Administration has you listed as - however, you are alright using aliases for professional work as long as bank statements and contracts reflect your legal name. I would go with Option 2. I took the GRE before I got married but applied after my name changed. I simply notified the administrations office or department secretary that my scores were under my maiden name and to be sure to match the SSN. All the departments were able to access my scores without any problem.

I'm supposed to be doing 6 hours of exercise (ideally mostly cardio) a week for my cholesterol but it usually works out to 4-5 hours a week of mixed cardio and resistance/weight training. It's worked out for me, over the first three months my cholesterol dropped 80 points, and I go in for my 9 month re-test next week. I've also dropped to an athletic (for women) body comp percentage, which makes my joints *very* happy. Right now between grad school and a job I work out whenever I feel like it but during the school year I would work out in the evening. I run a little, I'm not built for speed or distance so I only really go out when I need some "me time" - maybe once a week. I do walk with DH and our dog a couple of times a week. I was running more earlier in the summer but DC allergies+ humidty= miserable runs. Home practice of pilates and yoga. Pilates for core strength, yoga for flexibility. Looked into PiYo but Beachbody programs are notoriously awful for people with chronic knee problems (like me) and I don't want to compromise good form for speed. Pilates 2-3 times a week, yoga 1-2 times. Dancing. DH and I met swing dancing but stopped after our wedding because of my knees. We're slowly working it back into our routine. I don't think we'll ever be at a place to compete (mismatched height, different ideas on styling, etc), but its a fun social event and good cardio. Dressage. I designed my workouts to improve my riding - core for a deeper seat, cardio so I make it through a tough lesson, flexibility for open hips and a longer leg, etc. Dressage can be a good workout in its own right but I can feel the improvement over the last few months and my trainer has commented on it.

DH and I have been together for 5 years or so and I'm still pushing him to stand up to his parents (it is getting better.) Sometimes I've found it's just easier to stay quiet and just rant to DH (who has his own rants) when they're gone. However, I have made DH call them back when they inform us of their plans without consulting us, and he didn't stand up to them. In a competition of stubbornness, I win. I have made it a rule that I will not live within several hours of them. So far the closest job I have considered is 8 hours away, in another state and another time zone (my parents only get a 30 mn buffer, mostly because I don't want to live near my hometown.) They're sexist, racist, pretentious, and play favorites with DH's brother so I've got plenty of material to complain about. When DH's brother's girlfriend of less than a month moved in with him (note, they had a problem if DH and I were too cozy on the couch when engaged) she was quick to "comfort" me by saying after noting that said girlfriend was Ecuador, "She's not that brown" Over graduation weekend she didn't trust me, DH, or a peer to navigate the metro, she made us miss a train to harass a metro employee for an actual map so she could feel in-charge. It certainly adds up over a visit. My wonderful parents, everytime they hear she's going to be in town, will tell me they're praying for us to get through the visit

DH really wanted/wants to green card hop around the EU as a programmer while we're still young but two problems have come up (he's qualified enough that getting a job wouldn't be as much of a problem): 1. This plan was devised before he realized how hard it is for me to find a job 2. How sick I got at field school and our honeymoon made him realize just how poorly I travel and how much I need a doctor I can clearly communicate with - the only modern languages I know are Spanish and Norwegian and neither well enough to communicate my health concerns As far as Norway is concerned (caveat, we've been putting off visiting Norway for close to 20 years) - Norwegian is not an easy language to learn, you need to be immersed or take a class. Rosetta and that sort of programs don't cover Norwegian. People have mentioned how expensive is it is, when my cousins visit (they live around Bergen and Oslo) they LOVE shopping because of how cheap everything is in comparison. Now I did have a professor who did a Fulbright to teach in Oslo and loved it, a fellowship/grant seems to be the way to go to at least try it.

It wouldn't matter if the teachers remember the OP or not. Knowing that they made a difference in a student's life is important and appreciated. Coming from a family of teachers, I've seen how many students they remember and how keeping in touch and running into students later on in life is enjoyed. Kleene- an option could be to write a note to a teacher you have a closer relationship with and ask them to post the letter in the teacher's lounge so that everyone has an opportunity to read or a similar space if they don't have a lounge in the school. I think it's a thoughtful gesture.

For two adults, one with food restrictions, we pay about 110-130/week. This includes: little to no meat,organic produce if we eat the outside, no snacks other than fruit, way too much iced tea for DH (I want to make our own but I got him addicted to Turkey Hill when visiting my family), and occasionally some special ingredients like more expensive spices. With my food restrictions we eat mostly vegan so that does have an effect on the cost.

If your schedule allows and you are a competent dog-person, I had a friend who worked as a dog walker during our grad program. It's easier/safer to be employed by an agency/company who organizes the bonding and insurance (which protects you AND the client). She spent a couple of hours around midday and there were occasional evening and weekend walks, too. Her company paid her half of what they took in for each walk, plus tips (I tip my walker ~15%) so for a 30 mn walk, she is paid $10. Some companies do require you to have access to a car, depending on the quality of public transit and how dispersed the clients are.

My WTP team was a lot like that- I'm still surprised one guy even graduated. A mixed bag, especially if you look at where we are all now- think tank researcher, environmental conservation, software engineer, mass com major, bar manager, landscaper, and museum collections manager. We ended up coming in 2nd at states behind a team that combined two class to get close to 40 people (we had 8.) In the end, we still went on a trip to DC, but for fun and we didn't have to pack suits

You're not the bad guy for furthering your career, at least in my book. Relationships are about compromise, it's not like it's a permanent move to the far off yonder (necessarily) so there's a chance you could end up closer later on down the road. I mentioned before, when making life altering decisions I did consult DH on his opinions (he won't drive in snow) but he also wanted to keep in mind the best programs for my success. My first choice program was in the middle of no where, where it snowed a lot, but is one of the best in the country. He was supportive, but not thrilled about that move (I did promise we wouldn't stay there after graduation.) (I should add that DH gets paid significantly more as a contractor, and gets to work in his PJs so he did sort of come out ahead with this move)

DH and I lived apart some summers when I was in undergrad. It's sounds corny but we had movie nights out- we would coordinate showtimes that closely matched each other, talk on the phone until the previews started, then call each other when it was over. Though we made the awful decision of watching Up. Absolutely awful decision, thankfully I was pretty much the only one in the theatre so no one could see (or hear) me sniffling. And fights... they happen. Don't do what I did and purposefully ignore their calls because you're mad at them. DH got so worried, he thought something happened to me. Obviously LDR (for 3 months at a time) worked for us - though DH did drive 21 hours with one day's consideration because he couldn't handle it one time (thankfully, he didn't try that when I was in Guate.) And I have several military couple friends who have survived deployments to high risk areas. It's tough but it can work. I married at 21 so keep that in mind. After I finished undergrad (DH was 4 years ahead of me), DH became a contractor for his company and moved with me several states away from his family, friends, and his job. It has been tough for him at times, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't regret it. When applying for jobs and the program I'm in now, I do keep his comfort in mind (he's not a country boy )

Plenty of people in my program wear shirts from their undergrad- lots of X University Alumn or generic X University shirts. No one comments on it. As a function of my undergrad being t-shirt happy (I made a queen size quilt from only half of DH's fraternity shirts) most of my t-shirts are undergrad themed (blood drives, club shirts, game day shirts, crush shirts, etc)

We kept ours (DH and I went to the same undergrad), I know people who put both undergrad and grad stickers too. I consider myself an alumni of my undergrad, not of my grad school- that's just personal preference and experience with the universities. I don't fit the student body of my grad school.

My trainer and her working student had me watch it. I can't decide how I feel about it. They're over the top in conspicuous spending (so much plastic surgery), but as far as family dynamics go, they're pretty normal. Actually... they remind me a lot of my in laws.

For all the comments about Christians pushing babies... the churches DH and I have attended as a couple have had married w/o children groups where we have had zero pressure to have children- most people do not "graduate" to the with children classes and are very happy. These aren't non-denom/emergent/liberal/post-liberal churches, these are Baptist (BGCT and SBC) churches (admittedly, not the most conservative examples of either, I do wear jeans on the occasional Sunday.) Not saying that others aren't putting a lot of pressure on singles and couples, just that there are groups that definitely are not.

The undergrad university had 3-4 days between grades were due (there doesn't seem to be an official due date for grades here, I got spring grades in August last year) and the first commencement ceremony. There was a person standing at the bottom of the stage steps to make sure the name they called was your name, even though you should be in the order they put you in before processing in. We have to marshal 30 minutes beforehand anyway, doesn't take that much time to get people in correct order. Maybe I'm just bitter because organization and administration are apparently not among the grad university's strong-suits in general.

I found out I have two ceremonies for masters - one Friday morning for the College of Arts and Science degrees, when we actually walk in an auditorium, and one Sunday morning for the entire university on the National Mall when the degree is actually conferred. No clue if the second one is worth it but my in-laws and parents are both going to be in town so we're going. Also, they don't give you the actually diploma, they mail it at the end of the summer. My undergrad was bigger and they managed to hand everyone their degree as they cross the stage, without problems.

FFA- Still have my courderoy coat with award pins... somewhere. But also did marching band, concert band, community band, MUN, We the People, Close Up, musical theatre, AP classes, NHS, etc so I didn't really fit in with the rest of my CDE team (FFA competition) who all had the boots and beltbuckles.

Egg Noodles with salted butter- DH thinks it's weird and I pay for it later (not supposed to have dairy, eggs, or white flour) but for a little while I'm happy.

Personally, backpacks are uncomfortable- I have narrow sloping shoulders with a wider bust so the straps just dig in and pull. I got an Ellington shoulder bag (roughly the size of their Heidi Messenger) but I don't carry a lot into the city - water bottle, notebook, folder, wallet, Kindle and the usual miscellaneous (chapstick, pens, travel container of Ibuprofen/pepto/immodium/midol/half my medicine cabinet). When I need to bring a change of shoes for a longer walk or working in the warehouse I brought a gym bag too. For my program I really don't need textbooks and most can be bought for kindle so I do save space there.