Fall 2015 Status Check. How's It Going?

[Dr. Old Bill]

Yay! It's true, GradCafers. Wyatt's Torch and I met today, and it was magical. I'm really happy to report that WT is already wonderfully settled in on UMD's campus and has a SWEET office! Also, he's as kind and thoughtful offline as he is online. 

Gawwww.

[ProfLorax]

All this ProfLorax love is going to my head! Seriously, I have met several GradCafers at conferences or at my program, and we are as charming, brilliant, and driven as you would imagine. Go team! 

[unræd]

Hey, thanks for starting this!

Our departmental orientation was on Monday, and it's been fun to watch the cohort (there are thirteen of us) sort of start to get to know each other, jell, etc. The first day of classes is today--the required theory (among other things) intro doesn't look like the reading for it is too bad (closer to 100 than 200 pages, and spread over two days per week, although more some weeks a bit heavier) since a lot of emphasis is put on our individual research projects for the course, which is cool. What is not so cool--or cool, but terrifying--is the reading load for the history seminar I'm taking, which is about 600 pages of secondary stuff a week--usually most of a couple monographs and then some articles, or one monograph and a larger number of articles. I know historians read differently, and an explicit goal of the course is the inculcation of those sorts of reading habits, but: ah! Combined with the two other courses I'm taking for credit plus the one I'm hoping to audit, that's a little much.

And yes, there is something so delightful about getting to know people from one part of your life in another--it's weird but great to be just beginning in a cohort with someone I met on here over a year ago!

[sarabethke]

I'm a week into the second year of my master's program and I'm having a little trouble figuring out how to juggle everything. I'm taking one graduate level course way outside my area and there's a lot of online work I have to do for that. I'm sitting in on a senior capstone course and doing a graduate level independent study off of that (which is great because  I love the subject but I also foresee it being difficult to prioritize the supplemental work because it's not so structured). My third class is a class to support my first year of teaching, so it's easy enough and the new Director of our writing program is amazing, but then we're required to take a tenth credit hour which is turning out to be ridiculous and research heavy...despite being a one credit course meant to support our work tutoring in the writing center. I'm also auditing a French course so I can improve my speaking ability, and teaching (thankfully only) one composition course for the first time. Plus puppy and gym and GRE Subject test in two weeks and personal statement and conference and polishing a writing sample and other PhD application nonsense. I am seriously struggling.

[1Q84]

I'm a week into the second year of my master's program and I'm having a little trouble figuring out how to juggle everything. I'm taking one graduate level course way outside my area and there's a lot of online work I have to do for that. I'm sitting in on a senior capstone course and doing a graduate level independent study off of that (which is great because  I love the subject but I also foresee it being difficult to prioritize the supplemental work because it's not so structured). My third class is a class to support my first year of teaching, so it's easy enough and the new Director of our writing program is amazing, but then we're required to take a tenth credit hour which is turning out to be ridiculous and research heavy...despite being a one credit course meant to support our work tutoring in the writing center. I'm also auditing a French course so I can improve my speaking ability, and teaching (thankfully only) one composition course for the first time. Plus puppy and gym and GRE Subject test in two weeks and personal statement and conference and polishing a writing sample and other PhD application nonsense. I am seriously struggling.

From someone who pushed themselves extremely hard in their second year of their MA, I feel your pain! It paid off, though, and it sounds like it should for you as well.

This isn't a dig at all pedagogy courses but I found the mandatory ones for preparation in teaching in writing programs were always more busy work than anything. Mine was also extremely research-heavy. While I did all the work , I definitely gave it "back burner" status compared to making proper connections with my recommenders and other important aspects of my Ph.D. app. GRE and audited course? Maybe not so important. It's always acceptable to step back a bit in regards to those commitments. 

I think one of the most important things as you near the finish line is to keep things in perspective. You don't need to be perfect at everything... focus your energies most on what will ensure that you reach your near-term goals.

[Dr. Old Bill]

So after one week, things are still going well...I think. There's a lot of reading, which I expected, though it turns out that one of my research seminars skews heavily toward philosophy texts (Heidegger, Blumenfeld, Nietzsche, Descartes, Pascal etc.) despite being listed as a Renaissance course. It's fine, and I'm sticking with it, but it will definitely provide the lion's share of my weekly reading material. I am a little curious about how much of the assigned readings graduate students actually read. I'm not lazy in the least, and my aim is to read everything, but on particularly heavy weeks, I may have to "skim" a little bit given the weight of the readings.

This week will be the first full week where I balance my GAship and my courseload. I should have a three hour gap on three days out of five between work and class, so hopefully I'll be able to close my office door and use that time productively. We'll see if that works as well as I hope it will (i.e., I suspect people will be knocking on my office door quite frequently...)

 

[Ramus]

 

So after one week, things are still going well...I think. There's a lot of reading, which I expected, though it turns out that one of my research seminars skews heavily toward philosophy texts (Heidegger, Blumenfeld, Nietzsche, Descartes, Pascal etc.) despite being listed as a Renaissance course. It's fine, and I'm sticking with it, but it will definitely provide the lion's share of my weekly reading material. I am a little curious about how much of the assigned readings graduate students actually read. I'm not lazy in the least, and my aim is to read everything, but on particularly heavy weeks, I may have to "skim" a little bit given the weight of the readings.

No shame at all in skimming. In fact, I think most would agree that it's an essential tool for graduate school. There are even a few professors who are explicit about not expecting you to read everything. I myself haven't mastered the art of "surface reading" (here I mean the opposite of close reading and don't mean to connote the newish surface reading of Best, Marcus, & Co.) theoretical texts, but it's easy enough—and necessary— to do with secondary texts. Read the first three or four pages pretty closely, as well as maybe the last page or so. But through much of those texts you should focus your attention on topic sentences. That's worked for me, anyway, and allowed me to have some time in my life away from schoolwork.

On a related note, you might be interested in reading (or at least flipping through) How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read. I haven't read it myself (that needn't stop me from plugging it!), but I hear good things from those in the know.

[Dr. Old Bill]

Thanks Ramus! That makes me feel a heck of a lot better.

[sarabethke]

GRE and audited course? Maybe not so important. It's always acceptable to step back a bit in regards to those commitments. 

I think one of the most important things as you near the finish line is to keep things in perspective. You don't need to be perfect at everything... focus your energies most on what will ensure that you reach your near-term goals.

Thanks 1Q84. Sometimes I find it hard to prioritize tasks, and I know that's something I need to work on. Thanks for the advice! And, mostly, for hearing me.

[ProfLorax]

Second week back after an eight month maternity leave.

[Dr. Old Bill]

Two weeks down and I'm happy. Lots of reading, of course, but it remains in the "heavy, but manageable" realm.

I have a particularly heavy reading load this weekend, so the wife and I are watching Alcatraz movies all night, obviously.

 

 

[kurayamino]

Two weeks in and I'm also happy! There's some insecurity and anxiety, but it's not nearly as high as I thought it would be. The amount of reading is also very high, but not insurmountable. I am a little nervous about the seminar papers, but I'm trying to ignore that part for now.

[Dr. Old Bill]

Two weeks in and I'm also happy! There's some insecurity and anxiety, but it's not nearly as high as I thought it would be. The amount of reading is also very high, but not insurmountable. I am a little nervous about the seminar papers, but I'm trying to ignore that part for now.

It's funny because you're right, of course, about the seminar papers...but I was actually rather relieved in my Super Heavy Seminar to discover that I only have to write one paper. I mean, it's a 25-page paper (or, incidentally, a creative project with a 7-10 page explanation of the project's methodology, which is slightly intriguing...), but still, I think one of my favorite aspects about grad school is the relative lack of exams. Give me papers to write and I'm happy. Give me lots to read and I'm happy. Give me topics to present and I'm happy. Give me exams to take and I'm...not so happy.

 

[allplaideverything]

I finally had my first seminar today! UC-Davis (and, I gather, many of the other west coast public universities) is on the Quarter system & starts super late. I don't get paid until November, which I wish they'd told us earlier.

But seminar was so much fun! And yes, I echo all the OMG-SO-MUCH-READING. I guess I decided to do a PhD in Lit. mostly to get better at reading, and to read more widely and just more. So I'm definitely happy & excited about it. But it's a real change of pace from reading a stack of poems & a couple craft essays per week.

[Dr. Old Bill]

I echo all the OMG-SO-MUCH-READING. I guess I decided to do a PhD in Lit. mostly to get better at reading, and to read more widely and just more. So I'm definitely happy & excited about it. But it's a real change of pace from reading a stack of poems & a couple craft essays per week.

Yeah, I had a mini-breakdown last week, as balancing work and school has been getting tougher and tougher. I've been in this building for eighteen days straight now (mainly because I find it easier to get reading done on the weekend in a quiet, academic setting), and I haven't even hit any of my big assignments yet (though a 30-item annotated bibliography is on tap for next Thursday).

Fortunately, after exasperatedly going out for coffee last week at the end of my work shift, I bumped into a Ph.D. candidate here who I'm friends with, and he gave me the skinny on the reading...something I had already kind of cottoned on to, but needed to hear it anyhow: you just can't do all of the assigned reading, and work, and have any kind of social life. He said that you have to made an educated guess about what readings are going to be most important to the class, and then learn to "skim" the others -- read the introduction and conclusion, and speed through the body to find any points or concepts that seem key. Sure enough, I just didn't have time to read an essay for Monday, and no harm befell me... It was only discussed in class for about five minutes, and those five minutes probably told me all I needed to know, whereas actually reading it would have taken at least an hour and a half (since I'm painfully slow at close-reading).

My mentor says she considers three courses to be a full-time job unto itself. Add on the 20 hours per week I put in for my GAship (which is really more like 25, though that's on me), and it starts getting pretty hairy. And of course, I haven't found much time for my own research, or had as much of an opportunity to attend meetings and professionalize as I would like.

Having said all of that, I'm in two classes with a woman who arrives after having taught high school English all day. She doesn't seem very approachable, but I really want to ask her what her secret is to balancing it all...

Edited September 30, 2015 by Wyatt's Terps

[kurayamino]

Yeah, I had a mini-breakdown last week, as balancing work and school has been getting tougher and tougher. I've been in this building for eighteen days straight now (mainly because I find it easier to get reading done on the weekend in a quiet, academic setting), and I haven't even hit any of my big assignments yet (though a 30-item annotated bibliography is on tap for next Thursday).

Fortunately, after exasperatedly going out for coffee last week at the end of my work shift, I bumped into a Ph.D. candidate here who I'm friends with, and he gave me the skinny on the reading...something I had already kind of cottoned on to, but needed to hear it anyhow: you just can't do all of the assigned reading, and work, and have any kind of social life. He said that you have to made an educated guess about what readings are going to be most important to the class, and then learn to "skim" the others -- read the introduction and conclusion, and speed through the body to find any points or concepts that seem key. Sure enough, I just didn't have time to read an essay for Monday, and no harm befell me... It was only discussed in class for about five minutes, and those five minutes probably told me all I needed to know, whereas actually reading it would have taken at least an hour and a half (since I'm painfully slow at close-reading).

My mentor says she considers three courses to be a full-time job unto itself. Add on the 20 hours per week I put in for my GAship (which is really more like 25, though that's on me), and it starts getting pretty hairy. And of course, I haven't found much time for my own research, or had as much of an opportunity to attend meetings and professionalize as I would like.

Having said all of that, I'm in two classes with a woman who arrives after having taught high school English all day. She doesn't seem very approachable, but I really want to ask her what her secret is to balancing it all...

I'm sorry about your mini-breakdown WT. Finding the right balance between all of these new responsibilities is super difficult. This week I was sort of forced to adopt the skimming strategy as there just weren't enough hours in the day. And, to my great surprise, I was still able to talk about the texts. It seems as being able to do this will become more and more critical during orals prep as well.

I lead my first discussion next week for one class, and I'm only slightly anxious about it. I wouldn't say I have full blown impostor syndrome, but it definitely feels like there's something on my face, or maybe my shirt isn't tucked in, or I' m wearing white after Labor Day, etc.

I can't imagine coming to coursework after teaching high school English all day. That's 6 periods of lecturing and papers to grade... and then to be functional and prepared for course? Jeez. Maybe she's secretly a super hero

[Dr. Old Bill]

I'm sorry about your mini-breakdown WT. Finding the right balance between all of these new responsibilities is super difficult. This week I was sort of forced to adopt the skimming strategy as there just weren't enough hours in the day. And, to my great surprise, I was still able to talk about the texts. It seems as being able to do this will become more and more critical during orals prep as well.

I lead my first discussion next week for one class, and I'm only slightly anxious about it. I wouldn't say I have full blown impostor syndrome, but it definitely feels like there's something on my face, or maybe my shirt isn't tucked in, or I' m wearing white after Labor Day, etc.

I can't imagine coming to coursework after teaching high school English all day. That's 6 periods of lecturing and papers to grade... and then to be functional and prepared for course? Jeez. Maybe she's secretly a super hero

*HUG*

I hear you about leading discussion. I boldly (read: stupidly) chose to sign up for the first of the mandatory class demonstrations in my Teaching Composition course last week. It didn't go badly, but even though I was always extremely confident about presentations as an undergrad, I was admittedly a bit nervous at this level.

I probably shouldn't have used the term "breakdown" as it was more just a bad day of stress, frustration, and wonderment over why I'm going down this path. But still, it was very out of character for me. I even snapped at my boss (and probably looked like my avatar in the process).

The long and the short of it, I guess, is that you just have to get used to it and figure it all out for yourself. It's one thing to "know" how busy and stressed you'll be in advance (I really did anticipate it!), and a whole other thing to experience it.