ponytimeexcellent

Thanks, ccarmona! The end of the semester is nearing, and I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Good reminder to NOT do this to someone else. Best of luck to you!

Thanks, everyone, for your responses. You're right, Latte Macchiatto, that much of her behavior isn't abusive - it's just disorganized. However, she is unreasonable at times. In any case, the question remains as to what I'm going to do. I'd love to just skiddaddle out of this university and podunk town, but starting over somewhere else is not an option due to terrible finances and the fact that there's another person at stake (my husband has moved with me twice now for school!). I feel like I have to stick it out, at least for the next semester. Let me throw this out there, if you're still reading, friends. I CAN graduate in one more semester, but if I stay an extra semester, I will have the opportunity to teach a class. This will look good for my future doctoral applications. But who will oversee my teaching of this class? You guessed it. Ok. Talk to my head.

I am in a master's program for which there is one professor who fits my niche of study. Although she is clearly a bit unhinged and difficult to learn from, I have made my mission one of tolerance... until now. I think I've simply had enough of her disingenuous personality, passive-aggressive maneuvers and complete lack of respect for my professional history and path. I have managed to avoid having her as my advisor, but I run an educational program with her as well as assisting her as a TA. Running the program is essentially my job, except that she demands total control and complete detachment at the same time. I am supposed to run the show exactly as she would, but I'm not supposed to have any original ideas about how to do it. What's more, she drops in on the classes only a few times a semester and interrupts, "corrects" and/or dismisses my teaching strategies. She micromanages my every move with the program while giving me no clear instruction on what she actually wants. TA work with her is a nightmare. I often sit in her office, ready to work, while she writes emails (slowly) out loud. Other times, I am sent on pointless errands to "keep me busy". Nevermind that I assist two other professors and have a jampacked schedule. I have made the mistake of letting her think that we are friends. At times, we do get along nicely - however, she is saccharine to everyone that she interacts with. She only lets her guard down around me, and complains incessantly about other students, faculty and staff. I genuinely feel sorry for her, as she's an unhappy person with physical pain... but I also feel that she's dumping on me just because I have to work for her. In an act of desperation, I went to the head of the department to beg for a different TA assignment. The department head is a very reserved fellow, but I ended up spilling a lot more of my feelings about Crazy Mentor than I expected. I need her referral for jobs, I need her to be on my thesis committee (about a topic that she quietly disapproves of or doesn't understand)... yet, I need to be away from her. I told the deparment head that I'm considering quitting just to get away from her. Not sure if my assistantship duties will be changed or not. But, if they're not, how do you think I should handle this very difficult person?