Prepping for Fall 2019

[havemybloodchild]

Hey y’all!

Returning to my favorite corner of the interwebs to chat preparation for starting grad school this fall. What are y’all doing? I don’t mean strictly school related stuff, perhaps you’re taking the time to hang out with friends and family you’ll be moving away from/read what you want to read/travel, etc. Personally I’m doing most of the above, but I also contacted my future advisor to ask what he’d recommend I do to set myself up for beginning coursework. I’m looking at taking an intro to Spanish course over the summer, and I also got a list of reading to do from Dr. Sae-Saue, which I’ve started on excitedly. Right now I’m reading The Revolt of the Cockroach People and City of Night. What are you all up to?!?!

[onerepublic96]

Sounds great!

I'm midway through my MA, trying to finish up term papers so I can focus on dissertation ... whilst also trying to wrap my head around what's going to happen in the fall. I took the GRE subject test to be done with it but had a terrible experience and didn't finish the exam so will probably have to brush up a bit for that in Sept. Basically a total mess right now!  I bought Simon Sebag Montefiore's The Romanovs to read over Easter break but... ???

[jadeisokay]

i'm in the midst of finals and trying to apartment hunt at the same time because i'm moving up to chicago in a few weeks. luckily, a good friend already lives in the area and has been touring and meeting with landlords. i'm working on getting a summer gig lined up serving/bartending at a fantastic pub and have another opportunity for a career forming in the pipeline! just had my last night at my crappy job and i feel like i lost ten pounds. i'm currently reading a book called journey by moonlight by a hungarian writer, and i'm really enjoying it. i came across it in the stacks looking for another book, and went with this instead. my last week or so here should be relaxing. my brother's birthday is during my graduation weekend, so i'm going to skip walking and just celebrate my brother and hang out with my friends and family.

that was a lot. it's been a long month. 

[cassidyaxx]

In just over a month I'll be taking a two week trip to Europe! I'm very excited for that. Currently I'm a manager at a campus bookstore so I'll be doing that probably until the beginning of August. I'm hoping to start doing some reading and writing, and I started to work on a paper that will be comparing Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury to Martin Mcdonagh's The Beauty Queen of Leenane. I'm also signing up for a beginners Irish course! I'm just so excited to know I'm going back to school after taking a gap year. I'm really excited to be able to teach some sections of freshman writing as well as get back into my studies. 

[havemybloodchild]

1 hour ago, jadeisokay said:

i'm in the midst of finals and trying to apartment hunt at the same time because i'm moving up to chicago in a few weeks. luckily, a good friend already lives in the area and has been touring and meeting with landlords. i'm working on getting a summer gig lined up serving/bartending at a fantastic pub and have another opportunity for a career forming in the pipeline! just had my last night at my crappy job and i feel like i lost ten pounds. i'm currently reading a book called journey by moonlight by a hungarian writer, and i'm really enjoying it. i came across it in the stacks looking for another book, and went with this instead. my last week or so here should be relaxing. my brother's birthday is during my graduation weekend, so i'm going to skip walking and just celebrate my brother and hang out with my friends and family.

that was a lot. it's been a long month. 

I’m stoked for you, damn Chicago is so cool and I hope you have an amazing experience!

[jadeisokay]

thanks so much, and same to you!

[tacocat211]

Whew! I'm focusing on graduating right now (from my MA, like two weeks left ahhhh!) and getting a living situation settled in Chapel Hill. After that I'm going to work my lifeguard job in my current city until my lease ends, then I'm moving back home for the summer to spend time with my family and relax a bit before moving across the country. I have a loooong reading list that I'm sure I'll be getting started on, and I've been in touch with my advisor for my new program. I'm excited to get started with everything, but also excited to take some time off with my family before the big move.

[illcounsel]

In terms of academic preparation, I am reading as much as possible! I am rereading most of Shakespeare's comedies and tragedies. I've been in contact with the professor I would be working closely with for recommendations on what she is currently reading and have purchased a few of those books. I also have been trying to catch up on current scholarship by emailing various people asking for articles that I have seen get recently published. Being out of school for a few years, I don't have access to journals and publications, but this approach seems to be working. 

In preparing to move, I am spending as much time as I can outdoors. I live in the Southwest currently and the weather has been so beautiful recently. My partner and I have also created a 'bucket' list of things to do before we leave and have been having lots of fun checking those things off!

Edited April 22, 2019 by illcounsel

[havemybloodchild]

17 hours ago, cassidyaxx said:

In just over a month I'll be taking a two week trip to Europe! I'm very excited for that. Currently I'm a manager at a campus bookstore so I'll be doing that probably until the beginning of August. I'm hoping to start doing some reading and writing, and I started to work on a paper that will be comparing Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury to Martin Mcdonagh's The Beauty Queen of Leenane. I'm also signing up for a beginners Irish course! I'm just so excited to know I'm going back to school after taking a gap year. I'm really excited to be able to teach some sections of freshman writing as well as get back into my studies. 

So exciting! I can’t afford to visit my friend in Germany this year so she’s coming to see me in Dallas once I get settled. Not exactly the same, haha. Have so much fun!

Good luck with Irish, that language is amazing and, imo, terrifying. I’d really like to learn a little of it, so I’ll be curious to hear from you if it’s as tricky as I’ve built up in my mind. 

And yessss about the relief of returning to school after a year. I reorganized my collection of research articles in celebration. Typing that I realize that is a weird thing to do, but....well you guys understand.

[MetaphysicalDrama]

My prospective adviser offered to look over my writing sample (he wasn't on the committee) and offer comments for revision, so that's in his queue.  It's really nice of him to offer to do that before I've even moved up there.  Outside of that, I'm trying to read some scholarly texts that fell through the cracks on my thesis and work on my Italian.  Speaking of Italian, I'm heading to Italy for ten days at the end of May.  That'll be the highlight of my summer. 

[mandelbulb]

i'm not doing anything specific, but i have a lot of things planned! going to a science fiction writing conference in may, then a science fiction research conference in june. a trip to europe in july, as well as possibly opening a speculative fiction short story/poetry magazine. i haven't really talked with the person i hope will be my adviser, as she has seemed incredibly busy with personal projects, but i plan to take a class with her my first year and foster our working relationship when i'm on campus

i guess, more or less, i'm just continuing on with my life as it is and trying not to stress out over moving.

[seizing]

I'll be finishing my MA in December, and until then I have the rest of this semester (teaching a class and taking a class) and a summer fellowship in my field! I'm also playing on a baseball team in a Sunday league, which has been a ton of fun. I'm still shopping around for Theater PhD and MFA programs, so whatever time I have left will be dedicated to that. 

[madandmoonly]

I'm traveling, visiting family and friends, etc. In terms of academia-related things: nothing, really. Actually, I'm actively trying to spend my time reading stuff that's unlikely to end up on an eventual comps reading list. I have two theory books written by future profs (fingers crossed one of them ends up as my advisor) that I'd like to read before school starts, but other than that I'm staying away from theory till then. Trip to Alaska (graduation present) and my actual graduation ceremony in a couple weeks!

Edited April 24, 2019 by madandmoonly

[merry night wanderer]

Waiting for my GRE Lit scores, and hoping they'll be suitable. Prepping for the general GRE while I finish my collection of short stories. Then it's time to hit the big ones: the WS and the SoP. I have a plan for that which involves reading a critical article/chapter a day, using a list of scholars I've accumulated. I have my era picked out and a vague idea of my interests, but I need to hone it and crystallize my critical approach... no pressure!