Venting Thread- Vent about anything.

[.letmeinplz//]

Gosh, nothing smells worse than someone opening a bag of Fritos though. They smell like stinky feet. I don't know how people have the audacity to open stinky foods, especially in a small room. I would rather not smell food that smells like a sweaty sock while trying to pay attention. 

My highschool friend's mom always said our hockey bags smelled like Fritos (hard to wash hockey pads so they just kind of sat in the bags all season). So I can't eat Fritos anymore.

[attackonthedoctor]

One semester, I had a class with a guy who would always eat an orange. But he wouldn't peel it into slices and eat it like a normal human being. He peeled the skin off, left the orange held together as a ball, and then would try to take bites out of the entire thing. Even five rows away you'd get hit with some juice droplets and all you could hear was SLURP lip smack SLURP SLURP. I wanted to kill him.

This. Just this.

Then there are the people who drink from a straw and you hear them trying forever to drink what is already gone. One of my former professors actually kicked a student out of class because it was so disruptive.

[ERR_Alpha]

All I want right now is popcorn, but I don't want to risk the several days of pain that will follow from eating it. Meh, applications are causing me to stress eat like crazy!

I feel the love/hate with popcorn... It used to be one of my favorite snacks but now it gives me wicked shooting pain in my stomach

[Munashi]

One semester, I had a class with a guy who would always eat an orange. But he wouldn't peel it into slices and eat it like a normal human being. He peeled the skin off, left the orange held together as a ball, and then would try to take bites out of the entire thing. Even five rows away you'd get hit with some juice droplets and all you could hear was SLURP lip smack SLURP SLURP. I wanted to kill him.

 

What even...  This is not normal.

[.letmeinplz//]

What even...  This is not normal.

You mean some guy with a mustache putting a watermelon on his desk and hitting it with a hammer during a lecture on computer networks isn't normal?

[Munashi]

You mean some guy with a mustache putting a watermelon on his desk and hitting it with a hammer during a lecture on computer networks isn't normal?

 

I mean.. maybe.  What class is the lecture for and is the guy Tom Selleck?

[Cheshire_Cat]

Ugh!  Work is just really hard right now.  I hate my assignment and I don't know what I can really do about it.  I've tried being happy about it, but then I miss something and it hurts my morale. They can't really fire or reassign me because they need people or they aren't going to get done on time.  I'm not detail oriented enough for the job.  Maybe I would be if I had time, but I feel like they are pushing production, production, production, and I don't want to fall behind.  But I don't see things, or I think I've done them because I'm juggling 40 different projects at once, and each project has 50 moving parts.  And to top it all off, I'm sick and all I want to do is sleep.  And I don't like disappointing people, especially not my senior manager. 

If I cry less than twice a week as a Ph.D student, it will be a step up from this job.

[mockturtle]

My friends are getting angry when I say I can't hang out this week, but I have 5 REU applications due from Friday to Sunday, which equals out to a whopping 12 essays to write. 

Short essays.... but still. More essays than a person should ever write in a few days (why did I do this to myself).

[Excruciated]

The one time I pull it together to get out of the house for an academic event, I meet a professor who expresses contempt for my school and opinions, and tells me not to apply to his school but 'Go to Harvard instead', sarcasm probably intended. I know I'm a decent, if not fairly good student, but if I had a dollar for every time a self-important guy in my field was condescending, asked me about 'starting a family', or told me to consider other fields, I could cover all my college tuition.

[mockturtle]

Just found out that one of my recommenders for REU programs still hasn't sent in her letter.... a whopping 11 days after the deadline and after two reminders/follow-ups. I wonder if she could see my soul dying in real time 

[kimmibeans]

Ugh, I hate people who completely ignore the rules we have in place and do whatever they want. We have these two guys at the ambulance corps I volunteer with who completely disregard standard operating procedures and just do what they wish. They constantly come in without any notice and pull out of uniform and without a dispatcher, the latter of which is actually required by the Fire Department if the crew is out prior to midnight. It just pisses me off that they get away with it because they pull when they think nobody else is here and they get a crew out. They're nice guys and good EMT's, it just annoys me that I've seen other people in our corps are reprimanded for similar things but they never do because they are one of our consistent crews.

[GhostsBeforeBreakfast]

I am absolutely devastated that I haven't received any word from three of the schools I applied to now that I know they're interviewing or unofficially accepting others. I want to believe that these schools don't interview everyone but I have a really bad feeling this means I've been denied. I think I'm just going to stay in bed the rest of the day....or until I hear news from a school. I know that one of the schools I haven't heard from has basically the best networking opportunities of all the programs.

Edited February 12, 2015 by GhostsBeforeBreakfast

[pianocognition]

Dealing with brilliant and passionate professors is both freaking amazing and extremely draining. 

[scarvesandcardigans]

Just found out that one of my recommenders for REU programs still hasn't sent in her letter.... a whopping 11 days after the deadline and after two reminders/follow-ups. I wonder if she could see my soul dying in real time 

 

Oh my god. Were any of those follow-ups calls? Can you talk to this recommender in person? I'm so sorry! I hope you get it sorted out! Sending good vibes your way!!!

----

Meanwhile, I have seen two acceptances come through for Ohio State's MA Spanish & Portuguese program and I haven't heard a thing. Website still says the application is pending. I'm getting worried that it means rejection, especially since I submitted dangerously close to the deadline (I thought it was Dec. 15 but the program-specific deadline was Dec. 1...trying not to relive that now) and one of my references (this is where I feel you on an immense level mockturtle) submitted her letter late. I want to live in ignorance if it means I've been rejected, but I also just really want to know. Ugh. It's been almost 10 weeks. 

 

Also let me tell you guys. December graduation is no walk in the park if you don't have a solid plan/spring start for grad programs. The most feasible option for me was to move back home and try to get a job, but I am struggling hard. It doesn't feel good being the live-at-home college grad but I know it's becoming more normal. I am ready for August more than I can describe. I have never felt more smothered and unappreciated than how I feel now. It's like being 17 again, in the bad way. Applying to college, waiting it out, living at home, trying to find a job that I can sustain myself with while knowing that it's only temporary? Hello high school... 

 

Sending good vibes to the whole thread. We got this.

[mockturtle]

Oh my god. Were any of those follow-ups calls? Can you talk to this recommender in person? I'm so sorry! I hope you get it sorted out! Sending good vibes your way!!!

The first reminder was face-to-face, actually (she promised she'd submit in the next couple days), and when I didn't hear back I emailed her (and she said she "forgot", but would submit that night). That was yesterday, so I'd feel like a jerk for approaching her so soon to ask if she's gotten it done...... but maybe I should.

I gave her 6 weeks notice and everything...

[scarvesandcardigans]

The first reminder was face-to-face, actually (she promised she'd submit in the next couple days), and when I didn't hear back I emailed her (and she said she "forgot", but would submit that night). That was yesterday, so I'd feel like a jerk for approaching her so soon to ask if she's gotten it done...... but maybe I should.

I gave her 6 weeks notice and everything...

 

I would say you should. I don't think it would make you a jerk at all. The deadline has passed. If anything, to maybe make it a little bit of a "softer" approach, you could ask her when she feels like she will have it done? That way it gets her thinking about when she will be able to do it and actually commit to it? I'm so sorry!

[geographyrocks]

The one time I pull it together to get out of the house for an academic event, I meet a professor who expresses contempt for my school and opinions, and tells me not to apply to his school but 'Go to Harvard instead', sarcasm probably intended. I know I'm a decent, if not fairly good student, but if I had a dollar for every time a self-important guy in my field was condescending, asked me about 'starting a family', or told me to consider other fields, I could cover all my college tuition.

You should have asked the "starting a family' question right back at him.  What a jerk! 

[geographyrocks]

Dear unnamed student,

 

If you continue to ask me questions about every SINGLE thing that you have to do for an assignment simply because you can't be bothered to READ the entire f'ing sentence before deciding it's too complicated for you to figure out, I will beat you with my stack of papers. 

 

Example: (The assignment has step-by-step instructions)

Student: Why won't this work?

Me: Did you do the 5 things listed above it? 

Student: But it's this part that won't work.

Me: Did you do the 5 things listed above it?

Student: I don't have a problem with those. It's this thing that won't work.

Me: You HAVE to do the 5 things above it before hitting OK or it won't work.  You HAVE NOT done those things because I'm looking at it right now and they ARE NOT done. 

Student: Oh.

[shadowclaw]

I have a student like this in my intro bio lab. The lab manual has step by step instructions. The activities are very easy, but perhaps awkward for someone who has never done it before. One student consistently asks me for help before every activity. No, not help. What she wants is for me to explain exactly what to do, step by step, instead of just reading the manual. Worse yet, this student (and many others) typically asks for help with the many of the questions, simply because she didn't bother to read the background info at the beginning of the chapter of the manual.

It could be worse. At least I don't have to teach them algebra. I somehow got partnered up with students in labs during undergrad who had no clue about math. Then again, I had to show several students how to make a scatter plot by hand.

[Crucial BBQ]

I mean.. maybe.  What class is the lecture for and is the guy Tom Selleck?

The guy is Gallagher.  Or his brother, also named Gallagher.  It is a sad day when cultural references no longer mean a thing.  One day you are going to say "meat suit" to some kid and he is going to be like WTF!?  Lady Gaga nor Ed Gein will cross his mind (I suppose that would be a good thing).  

[uselesstheory]

....there are people who are like "oh goodness well at one school only FIVE faculty members are recruiting me whereas at another school THE ENTIRE DEPARTMENT is calling me 24/7 and I am uncertain about the former school's actual desire for me to attend their program" and then there are people who are like "oh yes, my friend was accepted to so many schools, they were able to get a $40k stipend and an amazing apartment and a god damn limo service"

 

...like there is a fine line between divulging helpful information that allows users of this website to determine if their experiences are the norm re: grad school admissions/helping people figure out what to do with offers and applications (and so on) and just telling absurdly unrealistic stories (true or untrue) that make everyone in realistic (read: mostly rejections, probably one or two funded acceptances) situations feel useless and horrible about themselves and their future careers

 

nobody wants to hear about how every department in north america will sell the souls of every member of their faculty to recruit you as a graduate student when most of us will beg for a funded acceptance at any good department, so stop, shut up, please.

[SLPosteriorCricoarytenoid]

I would like to vent about loud vents. Some days ambient noise really annoys me. 

[Mattie Roh]

Why is it that families on ski vacations are particularly rude? One group let their six kids run in and out the doors of the museum 3 or 4 times before we asked them to stop (it's 5 degrees outside!). Another woman got angry at me because I told her that i didn't think she should touch the art (when she asked me; I was reading on my break) and proceeded to explain that this policy was "crazy" because the paper in the exhibit was "crunchy" and next to the kid gallery. Not *in* the kid gallery, mind you, but next to. FWIW, the exhibit in the kid gallery at this point is also hands off.

 

Also, I realized that people in the generation above me (in their 40s) who say "you'll get in" when I mention something about grad school think about how PhD programs were during a time when it was a lot easier to get in. They must think I'm really dumb for being shut out of so many schools.

[Sammari]

I just heard from a common friend of me and my roommate that my roommate's boyfriend (a new one, they have only been together for 3 months) has a key to our flat. Now I'm just pissed that no one bothered to even mention this to me, and also my roommate knows that I wouldn't be comfortable with him having his own key to our flat.

 

Just wanted to vent somewhere.

Edited February 15, 2015 by Sammari

[FinallyAccepted]

Dear unnamed student,

 

If you continue to ask me questions about every SINGLE thing that you have to do for an assignment simply because you can't be bothered to READ the entire f'ing sentence before deciding it's too complicated for you to figure out, I will beat you with my stack of papers. 

 

Example: (The assignment has step-by-step instructions)

Student: Why won't this work?

Me: Did you do the 5 things listed above it? 

Student: But it's this part that won't work.

Me: Did you do the 5 things listed above it?

Student: I don't have a problem with those. It's this thing that won't work.

Me: You HAVE to do the 5 things above it before hitting OK or it won't work.  You HAVE NOT done those things because I'm looking at it right now and they ARE NOT done. 

Student: Oh.

 

Reading your response above made me think of this: https://chroniclevitae.com/news/908-dear-student-no-i-won-t-change-the-grade-you-deserve

 

I'm an educator, and it's things like this which make me want to pull my hair out.