Everyone getting settled in?

[Halfpasser11]

If I recall correctly, there were quite a few of us that started before Labor Day (for those of who haven't started yet...hang in there just another week or two!).

How's everything going? How was the move into town? Do you like it? How's the school/ department/ lab you are going to working in? Have you met everyone yet, or more importantly are you playing nice with others? Did you get your classes/books/ GA ships figured out? It's a stressful time I thought I would take a census on everyone before the real stress begins.

I moved from WI to NM...it's HOT here. I didn't have water/gas/electricity when I moved in because I had to come a day early to meet with my advisor, so I had to get friendly with one of my neighbors real quick! I sat through the terrible school GA orientation...it bored me to tears almost. 8-5 of power points on stuff that if you had enough sense you would just look up on the school website. I had two days after orientation before classes start and I was scheduled to be 'working' as a TA. However, the TA assignments weren't done yet so I got to garage sale/ thrift shop for my new apt (I thought that was pretty slick).

I found out the first day of class I would be TA-ing the colt breaking class (as in horses). Granted I really need and want time teaching in the classroom, BUT breaking horses is one of my favorite things to do and it's great I get to wear jeans and boots to TA in (not to mention getting some sun)!

However, the people in my program are less than friendly. I've made friends with the other new grad students, but all the older students have been pretty bad. We had a grad student meeting for our department and no one talked to any of the new students, introduced themselves, explained the program, or really even made eye contact. It was appalling...the level of professionalism within the group was nil (for example talking mainly about how drunk they get at the rodeo/horse sale/bull sale...etc). As far as first impressions go I want nothing to do with this group. However, having this happen to me I will make sure it does not happen to others in the future and next year I would like to turn it around.

That's my battle at the moment, but so far I understand everything in my classes and I am learning the town and the school little by little. How about everyone else?

[Riotbeard]

Tomorrow will be the second week of classes. So far I kind of love it (I moved in about a month ago). School is already keeping me busy (4 papers assigned the first week?!, to be fair two of them are only one page deals). I like my cohort a lot, and we have already been socializing together a ton. And a bunch the older grad student invited us out for drinks last weekend and they were really nice. Everybody seems pretty chill, and confident enough in their own work to not have to put up a bunch pretense.

In short, so far so good.

[rachaelski]

On 8/30/2010 at 5:56 PM, Halfpasser11 said:

If I recall correctly, there were quite a few of us that started before Labor Day (for those of who haven't started yet...hang in there just another week or two!).

How's everything going? How was the move into town? Do you like it? How's the school/ department/ lab you are going to working in? Have you met everyone yet, or more importantly are you playing nice with others? Did you get your classes/books/ GA ships figured out? It's a stressful time I thought I would take a census on everyone before the real stress begins.

I moved from WI to NM...it's HOT here. I didn't have water/gas/electricity when I moved in because I had to come a day early to meet with my advisor, so I had to get friendly with one of my neighbors real quick! I sat through the terrible school GA orientation...it bored me to tears almost. 8-5 of power points on stuff that if you had enough sense you would just look up on the school website. I had two days after orientation before classes start and I was scheduled to be 'working' as a TA. However, the TA assignments weren't done yet so I got to garage sale/ thrift shop for my new apt (I thought that was pretty slick).

I found out the first day of class I would be TA-ing the colt breaking class (as in horses). Granted I really need and want time teaching in the classroom, BUT breaking horses is one of my favorite things to do and it's great I get to wear jeans and boots to TA in (not to mention getting some sun)!

However, the people in my program are less than friendly. I've made friends with the other new grad students, but all the older students have been pretty bad. We had a grad student meeting for our department and no one talked to any of the new students, introduced themselves, explained the program, or really even made eye contact. It was appalling...the level of professionalism within the group was nil (for example talking mainly about how drunk they get at the rodeo/horse sale/bull sale...etc). As far as first impressions go I want nothing to do with this group. However, having this happen to me I will make sure it does not happen to others in the future and next year I would like to turn it around.

That's my battle at the moment, but so far I understand everything in my classes and I am learning the town and the school little by little. How about everyone else?

If I remember correctly, you are at NMSU, right?

I am north a couple hours at UNM in Albuquerque. This is my second year in the program, but my first as a full-time student. Getting used to the pace of my schedule and new organization of my life has been interesting. Two of my classes are on-line, and my other two classes start after 4pm (as well as my class I am teaching), so it's weird to not have to get up and go somewhere right away. That should change after labor day, when I begin leading a play-based cooperative preschool group from 9-12 on Mondays and Tuesdays. I am really enjoying reading right now. I am taking a seminar on international children's literature, and the readings combine journal articles and adolescent novels. It's nice to HAVE to read a novel each week. I am slowly getting into shape. Riding my bike back and forth has been a lot of fun.

Look forward to hearing from everyone else.

[rachaelski]

Halfpasser, that sucks about your unfriendly classmates! Yuck. They are certainly not representative of New Mexicans in general.

[Bumblebee]

Well, all I can say is so far, so good. I had two weeks of orientation (one for international students, which was useless since I've already been living in the country for 3 years) and my department's orientation that was intense and, as we say in Spain, longer than a day without bread. However, I got to know my cohort and they're all great. We get along very well and we have been going out together since day 1. We even went to a drive in movie on Saturday (my first ever!!!). We also got to meet people in other years of MA and PhD and they're really nice and helpful. They all offered themselves to help and they even passed on the material for the courses we're teaching.

As far as courses are concerned, today was my first day of class (yes!!! I'm officially a grad student) and I'm already stressing out with things. Ok, I must confess I'm a perfectionist and want to have everything well done, organized and done ahead of time. Let's see how I survive the week!

[RNadine21]

Well honestly, my time here started out horribly. To make this as short as possible

- My grandma was in the ER days before I left, so half of me didn't even want to leave (she was fine by the time I left)

- I didn't have much time to get settled in my new place before orientation because we couldn't leave until the last second

- On the first day of orientation it seemed like everyone knew each other, and I went from excited and confident to terrified in about 0.5 s

- I was broke until the first day of classes because the financial aid office took forever to process my bill and send my refund

- I had to set up a carpool at the last minute barely knowing anyone because I don't have a car and underestimated how difficult it'd be here without one

- No lie, I was hysterically crying the night before classes asking my mom if I should just drop out because I couldn't figure out how to stay independent without a car here

But everything turned around very quickly. I have a carpool and can get downtown myself, I have money now, and everyone warmed up to each other and overall we all get along great. The older students are very welcoming (there's only about 50 of us total) and there's been a lot of opprotunities for socializing. I'm in the swing of classes, and I'm starting to teach labs this week. I love my new city, and I've already planned out getting my SC license since (hopefully) I'll be working here once I'm done with school. The only thing is that the older students have warned us that the program is very gossipy due to the small size and the ridiculous amount of time we spend together (I already barely see my roommate who isn't in my school), so we'll see if that becomes a big issue. But so far I'm loving it! I wouldn't give this up for anything.

[breakfast]

All of your stories about having no time to get your apartment/house/living situation organized make me grateful that I moved to grad town more than a month before courses started. I had my new state license, bought a car (and got all of that paperwork and registration stuff done), got internet set up, got all of my university paperwork done, got my ID, and was able to familiarize myself with my new home.

A lot of my cohort only moved here a week ago (classes started yesterday). Getting set up here was a huge pain (especially the license part, since our state DMV has the most ridiculous requirements for getting a new license in this state), and I feel bad for all of my fellow students who are going to have to deal with all of that on top of coursework.

So for anyone reading this that is going to be starting grad school in Fall 2011: Move to your new grad town/city more than a week ahead, especially if you are moving to a new state where you need to work on establishing residency in your new state. A month was a perfect amount of time.

I'll also share my car experience. I moved here without a car, assuming I would be able to live without one. That was a mistake. I quickly realized I would need a car, and luckily I had plenty of free time to look. I wouldn't have been able to do that in the few odd hours I have free now that I have started my courses. Getting the car inspected and registered would have been a nightmare during school too.

Edited September 1, 2010 by breakfast

[newms]

So for anyone reading this that is going to be starting grad school in Fall 2011: Move to your new grad town/city more than a week ahead, especially if you are moving to a new state where you need to work on establishing residency in your new state. A month was a perfect amount of time.

I'll also share my car experience. I moved here without a car, assuming I would be able to live without one. That was a mistake. I quickly realized I would need a car, and luckily I had plenty of free time to look. I wouldn't have been able to do that in the few odd hours I have free now that I have started my courses. Getting the car inspected and registered would have been a nightmare during school too.

I hope to be able to use this advice next year. Thanks for it

[captiv8ed]

Great@!

We moved in two weeks before orientation. We moved across the state with three kids. We love our new house and our neighborhood is fantastic. We are not in College Central, but it is only 1.5 miles to where my building is on campus. Uphill though!! I have been walking to and fro every day and have lost 7 pounds!

Orientation was 3 days long and not too bad. There was a dept picnic and then a picnic and hike that the grad students hold for everyone, but especially for the new cohort. A chance to talk without faculty around. One of the grad students I met during the spring threw us a dinner party the week we got here, so we got to meet a lot of people that way as well. I really like the people. I have a workout buddy and definitely people I would call friends already (including my workout buddy ) My TA position is fantastic, and the workload for it is quite reasonable. I have already nearly formed my thesis committee and I have a good solid topic for it, so I will be working on my proposal this semester. I like my classes and I feel absolutely stupid in one, which will keep me humble!

And yes, I really appreciated having the extra time to get settled before the crush. I recommend it as well.

[Sparky]

Everything...is...amazing. What's that quote again? "And it was everything that I thought it could be." Or maybe it's more.

I'm still in shock that they let me in.

[jlee306]

I started my classes on Monday, August 30th. Let me just tell you, I was an emotional wreck the night before classes started and the night right after my first class had ended. So I live an hour and a half away from the University I attend, therefore I stay with a friend at her apartment (which is right across from the University) Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights so I do not have to commute so much during the week. The night before classes started, I was at home trying to pick out the clothes I would take with me for the week...and I just started crying for no reason what-so-ever! The next morning, I finish packing everything for the week and take off on my hour and a half commute to school. I then go to my first day at my new job on campus (data entry stuff) and learn what I will be doing. Then I have a class from 5:30 pm to 9:20 pm. That was my first day of graduate school. I went to my friend's apartment after class and I was feeling sort of depressed but not fully. While I'm talking to my friend that I stay with during the week, I start to cry again. I told her not to think anything of it and that in a week or two, I would be used to the change and will look back and think to myself that I stupid for crying.

I have never been a person who likes changes and it started to overwhelm me with all the new changes: Starting a new program, starting a new job, having all night classes, staying in a new place during the week, not getting to see my mini chihuahua (LoRyder) for several days, missing my mom and fiance, etc.

By the second day, I was back to normal and loving my grad program and am super excited about all the stuff I get to do this semester. I didn't even have to wait a full week or two to feel stupid for crying...I got to feel stupid the very next day! The people in my cohort are great and I am loving my profs thus far. It's going to be a super busy semester, but I am finally getting to do what I really love and could not be any happier!!

[rachaelski]

I started my classes on Monday, August 30th. Let me just tell you, I was an emotional wreck the night before classes started and the night right after my first class had ended. So I live an hour and a half away from the University I attend, therefore I stay with a friend at her apartment (which is right across from the University) Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights so I do not have to commute so much during the week. The night before classes started, I was at home trying to pick out the clothes I would take with me for the week...and I just started crying for no reason what-so-ever! The next morning, I finish packing everything for the week and take off on my hour and a half commute to school. I then go to my first day at my new job on campus (data entry stuff) and learn what I will be doing. Then I have a class from 5:30 pm to 9:20 pm. That was my first day of graduate school. I went to my friend's apartment after class and I was feeling sort of depressed but not fully. While I'm talking to my friend that I stay with during the week, I start to cry again. I told her not to think anything of it and that in a week or two, I would be used to the change and will look back and think to myself that I stupid for crying.

I have never been a person who likes changes and it started to overwhelm me with all the new changes: Starting a new program, starting a new job, having all night classes, staying in a new place during the week, not getting to see my mini chihuahua (LoRyder) for several days, missing my mom and fiance, etc.

By the second day, I was back to normal and loving my grad program and am super excited about all the stuff I get to do this semester. I didn't even have to wait a full week or two to feel stupid for crying...I got to feel stupid the very next day! The people in my cohort are great and I am loving my profs thus far. It's going to be a super busy semester, but I am finally getting to do what I really love and could not be any happier!!

Glad to hear it came together and you are enjoying yourself. Based on your post about your schedule, you are going to be one busy momma!

[ed_psy]

Glad to hear it came together and you are enjoying yourself. Based on your post about your schedule, you are going to be one busy momma!

I just finished my second week of class. All is going well so far. Sounds like a lot of work to do, but I'm sure it will be manageable. On top of that I'm worried if I can keep up with the part time job that I have. The busiest time of the year at work begins around late october to december. I'm liking the program and meeting new people. Waiting for the proseminar to learn more about the program's club for students.