I Give Up
Do other doc students just stop caring, do you think? I keep coming up with new ways to procrastinate. I have my public health final in less than 24 hours and I no longer care. Instead, I Googled my two best friends from seventh grade. They were both awesome artists and completely hilarious and they let me hang around with them because everybody needs a gawking fan, even when you're 12.
Guess where they are? No, not prison. M #1 is a professor at a small college in the midwest. Her website tells me she was just awarded tenure. Her CV includes the list of articles she has published, and it is long. M #2 is a doctoral candidate (meaning she has finished all her coursework and is probably finishing her dissertation as we speak.) She was interviewed for something and she spoke eloquently about the grueling (yet tremendously rewarding) experience that is her doctoral program. She also spent a year or so in Africa, studying African art. Publishing papers and going to Africa. My, how far they have come from our Sister Mary Hot Flash at Our Lady of Perpetual Sentence Diagramming days. And what am I doing? Googling them.
Today, I administered my Human Sexuality final and Inappropriate Sister missed it. Of course she did. No good reason. Just thought she had more time than she did. Why not go out in a sputter of apathy and below-average effort? She graduates on Saturday. Her degree is not worth the paper on which it is printed. Her parents should ask for their money back.
So, I have decided to copy her. Finals week ends now.
But seriously. I have at least one more year of coursework and gob only knows how long it will take me to write a damn dissertation, and I just wonder if I can make it. I'm awfully tired for only two years in.
Also, this has nothing to do with that, but I think I'm in love with the new Starbucks' Green Tea Latte. It is so delicious.
Perhaps I am sleep deprived? Does sleep deprivation cause incessant watching of crappy television and feelings of overall hopelessness? Anyone?
Guess where they are? No, not prison. M #1 is a professor at a small college in the midwest. Her website tells me she was just awarded tenure. Her CV includes the list of articles she has published, and it is long. M #2 is a doctoral candidate (meaning she has finished all her coursework and is probably finishing her dissertation as we speak.) She was interviewed for something and she spoke eloquently about the grueling (yet tremendously rewarding) experience that is her doctoral program. She also spent a year or so in Africa, studying African art. Publishing papers and going to Africa. My, how far they have come from our Sister Mary Hot Flash at Our Lady of Perpetual Sentence Diagramming days. And what am I doing? Googling them.
Today, I administered my Human Sexuality final and Inappropriate Sister missed it. Of course she did. No good reason. Just thought she had more time than she did. Why not go out in a sputter of apathy and below-average effort? She graduates on Saturday. Her degree is not worth the paper on which it is printed. Her parents should ask for their money back.
So, I have decided to copy her. Finals week ends now.
But seriously. I have at least one more year of coursework and gob only knows how long it will take me to write a damn dissertation, and I just wonder if I can make it. I'm awfully tired for only two years in.
Also, this has nothing to do with that, but I think I'm in love with the new Starbucks' Green Tea Latte. It is so delicious.
Perhaps I am sleep deprived? Does sleep deprivation cause incessant watching of crappy television and feelings of overall hopelessness? Anyone?
posted by Teacher lady | 12:01 AM
9 Comments:
Are you coming down off of the GG season finale, perhaps? Are you wondering what will happen between Lorelei and Luke? I am thinking that she and Christopher almost make a better couple........
And back to reality: this is what we all go through during Finals Week. So, drink yourself into a Green Tea Latte oblivion and know that it will be all over soon!
You said, "Perhaps I am sleep deprived? Does sleep deprivation cause incessant watching of crappy television and feelings of overall hopelessness? Anyone?"
I think, ultimately, grad school causes this. Think of it this way, you wouldn't be sleep deprived were you not teaching or studying for dumbass finals. (dumbass, as a descriptor, is my word of the week)
I'm also feeling a little down this week. What are your plans for summer? Do we have more papers and inane comments to which we can look forward?
Oh gob! You posted that at 1am?! You're almost as good at procrastinating as I am! :)
If sleep deprivation causes incessant watching of crappy television and feelings of overall hopelessness, I must have been sleep deprived for the last 16 years...
Hope you survive your public health final! Good Luck!
Gals, you are truly wonderful. Mrs. T.- the Gilmore Girls finale was a serious downer, so I suppose that doesn't help. Lauren, I am teaching a summer session of Human Sex, working weddings and helping my advisor do research on tobacco use in college students (and hopefully getting paid for it!) so I will not lack for material. Oh - and I'm helping out a couple of hours a day with the incoming freshman orientation program (includes parents - that's always fascinating!)
"Feelings of overall hopelessness" are the companion of any doctoral student. It's part of the deal. Take breaks, find things to look forward to, and commiserate with other folks going through the same thing. Things will look different soon.
When I went off to college my SIL gave me the following advice: You will never study for your last final. Ok so it wasn't technically advice, but I always found it true and helpful, which is more than I can say for a lot of what I told then. I feel that, modified slightly, it applies to your situation.
And when I saw this: http://classiclit.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=classiclit&zu=http%3A%2F%2Faldaily.com%2F
I thought of you! I'm sure we can both get a good blog out of this! Sorry to post this in comments but I don't have your email (this isn't a hint). But I hope the link works. It's an article in the WA times about Putin's plagiarism.
I can't believe I.S. missed the final! Okay, actually, I can. But my GOB! She is frickin' ridiculous!
Maybe I will finally try the green tea latte. Everyone's raving and now that I have T.L.'s good word on the subject, I trust the hype. It'll be my next purchase at Starbucky's.
Good luck with your public health final!
Sleep deprivation is also known to cause inexpicable crying, so hit up a Starbucks asap. Good luck with your dissertation.
Hi! In my infinite boredom I found your site through linking from friends sites (the internet version of 6 degrees of separation). I love your site, thanks for the laughs! It's completely believable that sleep deprivation could cause incessant TV watching. I've spent many pre-dawn hours scrubbing my bathtub in my own self induced insomnia, so I can relate.
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