I graduated yesterday.
It’s been a long time coming – as I mentioned, I technically started my undergraduate degree in 2003. But migraines and travel and money slowed things down a bit. There were definite benefits to a slow path through school – I know what I want to do, I’ve learned a great deal about my strengths and weaknesses as a person and a researcher, I’ve had time to explore other interests, like swing dancing and playing the piano, and I know that school isn’t as important as I was led to believe. So I don’t regret the seven years and two schools it took to get my degree, but it was a tense wait for some people, including my grandmother.
My gramma was born into a not very well to do family just as the Great Depression got very, very bad. She’s very sharp and wanted to go to college - she was fascinated by “those new computing machines.” But she was a woman in a poor family with three other children, so she went to nursing school and supported her own family while my grandfather went to college on the GI bill.
My gramma never pressured me, but I could tell she worried I would never graduate. She was thrilled when she realized that I really would. So, even though she hates cooking, she baked and express mailed me a cake this week. I’d include a picture here, but her distaste for cooking doesn’t keep her from making the world’s best pound cake. We’re not going to discuss how quickly I ate it.
My gramma and I have a lot in common – a love of sci-fi, gardening, and shoes, too. A few years ago, she gave me many of the shoes she’d worn when she was younger. She has excellent taste, even if most of them require a date (for a crutch, and a foot massage later). At graduation, I wore a lovely pair of those shoes in her honor. A fitting tribute to one of the most extraordinary people I know.
I graduated yesterday.
It's been a long time coming - as I mentioned, I technically started my undergraduate degree in 2003. But migraines and travel and money slowed things down a bit. There were definite benefits to a slow path through school - I know what I want to do, I've learned a great deal about my strengths and weaknesses as a person and a researcher, I've had time to explore other interests, like swing dancing and playing the piano, and I know that school isn't as important as I was led to believe. So I don't regret the seven years and two schools it took to get my degree, but it was a tense wait for some people, including my grandmother.
My gramma was born into a not very well to do family just as the Great Depression got very, very bad. She's very sharp and wanted to go to college - she was fascinated by "those new computing machines." But she was a woman in a poor family with three other children, so she went to nursing school and supported her own family while my grandfather went
I’m not an undergraduate anymore! It’s taken me awhile – I started college in 2003.
Expect many posts about the GRE and graduate school applications over the next year.
I'm not an undergraduate anymore! It's taken me awhile - I started college in 2003.
Expect many posts about the GRE and graduate school applications over the next year.
So we’ve gotten a lot of snow in a short amount of time. This isn’t unusual for my area, but since the local government is so broke, they can’t afford to plow like they usually do. This means that my university was closed most of yesterday and all day today.
This is finals week and students who had exams yesterday or today can choose to accept their current grade in the class or take the final at the beginning of next semester. I would really like the first option for my plant ecology class and the second for my statistics class. Unfortunately, all of my finals are Wednesday and Thursday, when the university will almost certainly be open.
So we've gotten a lot of snow in a short amount of time. This isn't unusual for my area, but since the local government is so broke, they can't afford to plow like they usually do. This means that my university was closed most of yesterday and all day today.
This is finals week and students who had exams yesterday or today can choose to accept their current grade in the class or take the final at the beginning of next semester. I would really like the first option for my plant ecology class and the second for my statistics class. Unfortunately, all of my finals are Wednesday and Thursday, when the university will almost certainly be open.
Normally at the end of the week, I post a bunch of interesting articles. (You’d better not tell me you think they’re boring.) This week I’m too busy for that. By about this time next week I will have taken two (terrifyingly hard) tests, outlined a review paper, written a research prospectus, alternately beaten and cajoled my model until it gives me results, presented at lab group (yeah, I still find this scary), made a poster, and packed and prepared for a conference (I’ve never been to a conference with required reading before).
Normally at the end of the week, I post a bunch of interesting articles. (You'd better not tell me you think they're boring.) This week I'm too busy for that. By about this time next week I will have taken two (terrifyingly hard) tests, outlined a review paper, written a research prospectus, alternately beaten and cajoled my model until it gives me results, presented at lab group (yeah, I still find this scary), made a poster, and packed and prepared for a conference (I've never been to a conference with required reading before).
My university doesn’t have a fall break. In addition to generally being a cruel policy, it ensures that by this point in the semester I absolutely hate all of my classes. This semester would be more manageable than some, but I’m going to a conference in November. I’m really excited about the conference, but missing a week of classes (and not doing any hw for a week) isn’t going to make the following weeks pretty.
My university doesn't have a fall break. In addition to generally being a cruel policy, it ensures that by this point in the semester I absolutely hate all of my classes. This semester would be more manageable than some, but I'm going to a conference in November. I'm really excited about the conference, but missing a week of classes (and not doing any hw for a week) isn't going to make the following weeks pretty.
Classes started yesterday. I’m always so excited to start each semester. The amount of time I stay excited after they start, however, decreases every year - it’s just the second day of classes and I’m only a little excited.
I’m taking a plant ecology class and a “math stats” course that looks at the theory behind statistics. The plant ecology class has more reading than I know what to do with. I’ve heard math stats is difficult, but I haven’t been yet, so we’ll see.
Classes started yesterday. I'm always so excited to start each semester. The amount of time I stay excited after they start, however, decreases every year - it's just the second day of classes and I'm only a little excited.
I'm taking a plant ecology class and a "math stats" course that looks at the theory behind statistics. The plant ecology class has more reading than I know what to do with. I've heard math stats is difficult, but I haven't been yet, so we'll see.
Last year I got enough scholarship and grant money that I didn’t have to take out any loans. This year has gone even better, despite not getting the Udall. In addition to having enough to pay for school, rent, and all my bills through August 2010, I’ll be able to get new glasses (which I desperately need), pay off my E.R. bill from 2006 and a small student loan from the university I briefly attended in NC, AND get a cheap couch off of Craigslist. I’m pretty excited about not having to sit on the floor if I want to hang out in my living room.
Even more exciting is the prospect of getting rid of all of my medical debt. Since my financial aid has been so much better the last couple of years, I’ve been able to put a lot of my paychecks toward the $5000 of medical debt I accrued between 2003 & 2006. With the amount I’m getting this year, I’ll have all my old medical bills paid off by next August as long as I can control my shoe problem.
Once my ER bill and my other medical debt are gone, I’ll just have student loan debt - about $24,000. $24,000 isn’t that bad considering I’ll have been in school at least part time 5 1/2 years by the time I graduate and 2 of those years I was paying out of state tuition. I’m also lucky that my loans are all subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford, not the nasty Sallie Mae kind. I’m hoping that I’ll have all of those paid off before I finish grad school.
Unfortunately, I still can’t afford health insurance… Hopefully wherever I go for grad school will have decent benefits.
Last year I got enough scholarship and grant money that I didn't have to take out any loans. This year has gone even better, despite not getting the Udall. In addition to having enough to pay for school, rent, and all my bills through August 2010, I'll be able to get new glasses (which I desperately need), pay off my E.R. bill from 2006 and a small student loan from the university I briefly attended in NC, AND get a cheap couch off of Craigslist. I'm pretty excited about not having to sit on the floor if I want to hang out in my living room.
Even more exciting is the prospect of getting rid of all of my medical debt. Since my financial aid has been so much better the last couple of years, I've been able to put a lot of my paychecks toward the $5000 of medical debt I accrued between 2003 & 2006. With the amount I'm getting this year, I'll have all my old medical bills paid off by next August as long as I can control my shoe problem.
Once my ER bill and my other medical debt are gone, I'll jus
I’d apologize for the lack of blogging, but I’m pretty sure most of my readers have either experienced the end of a semester or heard me whine enough to understand exactly why I’ve disappeared the last few weeks. I don’t actually have any finals this semester, but I do have large papers and projects to turn in. Ultimately, these end up being a lot more work than a big test, but I prefer them. Most exams just require you to vomit up some large percentage of the information presented in class that semester, but a term paper or project forces me to think about what I’ve learned in different contexts, apply it, and synthesize it. Much more useful and interesting than regurgitating Ohm’s law in all its permutations for plant physiology (Dr. Isis is right about everything in physiology boiling down to Ohm’s law) or listing the advantages of a hierarchical Bayesian modeling approach.
I turn in my modeling project at 7:30 AM tomorrow and my plant physiology mock grant proposal on Thursday morning. Then I’m going to reward myself by replacing the cheap, falling apart plastic plants some of plants live in and sit on my balcony in the sunshine playing in the dirt for a few hours.
And then you might hear from me again.
I'd apologize for the lack of blogging, but I'm pretty sure most of my readers have either experienced the end of a semester or heard me whine enough to understand exactly why I've disappeared the last few weeks. I don't actually have any finals this semester, but I do have large papers and projects to turn in. Ultimately, these end up being a lot more work than a big test, but I prefer them. Most exams just require you to vomit up some large percentage of the information presented in class that semester, but a term paper or project forces me to think about what I've learned in different contexts, apply it, and synthesize it. Much more useful and interesting than regurgitating Ohm's law in all its permutations for plant physiology (Dr. Isis is right about everything in physiology boiling down to Ohm's law) or listing the advantages of a hierarchical Bayesian modeling approach.
I turn in my modeling project at 7:30 AM tomorrow and my plant physiology mock grant proposal on Thursday morning. Then I
Outside it is snowing very hard and is very very cold. Last night the wind blew the ice into the windows so hard I couldn’t sleep. I am glad to be inside and wrapped up in my coziest sweats and am enjoying my work. If the deadlines weren’t so soon, I’d be enjoying it more. I’m working on a term paper about something I find very exciting. My mentor wants to use my paper as the basis for a grant proposal, which gives me the warm fuzzies. Hopefully she won’t change her mind once she actually sees the paper.
Later on today I’m going to put together a presentation for a modeling class I’m in. I’m the only undergrad in the class, and even though I know what I’m doing, I’m still pretty intimidated. Cross your fingers for me!
Usually on Tuesday or Wednesday, I give you an update on my migraines. I’m not going to be doing that anymore. Keeping track of my migraines is far too depressing.
Outside it is snowing very hard and is very very cold. Last night the wind blew the ice into the windows so hard I couldn't sleep. I am glad to be inside and wrapped up in my coziest sweats and am enjoying my work. If the deadlines weren't so soon, I'd be enjoying it more. I'm working on a term paper about something I find very exciting. My mentor wants to use my paper as the basis for a grant proposal, which gives me the warm fuzzies. Hopefully she won't change her mind once she actually sees the paper.
Later on today I'm going to put together a presentation for a modeling class I'm in. I'm the only undergrad in the class, and even though I know what I'm doing, I'm still pretty intimidated. Cross your fingers for me!
Usually on Tuesday or Wednesday, I give you an update on my migraines. I'm not going to be doing that anymore. Keeping track of my migraines is far too depressing.
A couple of months ago I found out about a $4000 scholarship with very narrow eligibility requirements that I fit. Unfortunately, I found out about it the day before the deadline. I emailed the scholarship contact and they said, yes, turn it in late. The scholarship required 3 recommendations. My two research mentors normally write me recommendations and another professor writes for me when I need a third letter. All of them were wonderful when I asked for the recommendation on such short notice. Then my third recommender dropped off the face of the earth.
So, I missed the late deadline. And probably missed out on $4000. I know that professors are incredibly busy, but I wish my third recommender had told me he was too busy instead of agreeing to write the letter and then ignoring me. It’s been 3 weeks and he still hasn’t gotten back to me – even after I politely emailed him and let him know that I’d missed the deadline and no longer needed a letter.
A couple of months ago I found out about a $4000 scholarship with very narrow eligibility requirements that I fit. Unfortunately, I found out about it the day before the deadline. I emailed the scholarship contact and they said, yes, turn it in late. The scholarship required 3 recommendations. My two research mentors normally write me recommendations and another professor writes for me when I need a third letter. All of them were wonderful when I asked for the recommendation on such short notice. Then my third recommender dropped off the face of the earth.
So, I missed the late deadline. And probably missed out on $4000. I know that professors are incredibly busy, but I wish my third recommender had told me he was too busy instead of agreeing to write the letter and then ignoring me. It's been 3 weeks and he still hasn't gotten back to me - even after I politely emailed him and let him know that I'd missed the deadline and no longer needed a letter.
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