If – for Grad Students* If you can keep your mind when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust your laptop with the I.T., But make allowance for a virus too; If you can live sans sleep and keep your eyes from drooping, Or, after three espresso,Continue reading “"If" – graduate student edition”
Author Archives: Jen
He Thought It Was Worth It
Hope!! From entrepreneur to college lecturer: Ditching a $500,000 salary to teach lit. (CNN Money) Now I just have to figure out the $500,000 salary part.
The Finals Countdown Has Begun
The Finals Countdown Has Begun …and is so extreme that it requires caps to describe… Remaining classes: 4Class days left: 3Writing Center hours to go: 5Final exams: 1Pages due: 52Days until the end: 17 Let’s do this.
Paperwork Potpourri
Getting ready for international travel (this summer!) is akin to climbing a hill of sand trying to reach a beautiful scenic view, except that in this case, the sand is paperwork. Have I mentioned that I don’t like forms?Have I mentioned that this is not paperwork-filling-out weather? Keeping the end goal in sight can beContinue reading “Paperwork Potpourri”
It’s Raining Pollen
Welcome weird spring/summer weather. Please stop raining pollen on everything. I need to be able to see to write papers, and Kleenex is pricey stuff. The drug companies that make allergy medicines can’t be paying you that big of a bribe, can they? I’m sure I could match them if I took up a collection.Continue reading “It’s Raining Pollen”
McDonalds March
I think (?) every graduate student has a “McDonalds month” now and then. March was mine. (Substitute your favorite stress-antidote, if you like.) In a very sneaky, very perceptive advertising strategy, our favorite golden arches sent out a book of really good coupons in January … starting off with a no-strings-attached free frappe and goingContinue reading “McDonalds March”
Throwing (Out) the Towel
There are very few positive things about a stomach virus. In fact, I’m having trouble thinking of one. Nor do I intend to waste time trying to gross you out. But last week, as I was recovering from one, I started to think about the defining post-virus moment, and how difficult it can be toContinue reading “Throwing (Out) the Towel”
8 Ways to Tell…
Warning: dealing with sleep-deprived graduate students can be dangerous to your health, mental stability, and ability to get your morning coffee in a timely fashion. But not all individuals fitting this description wear a convenient neon sign. So how do you pick one from the crowd? Eight Ways to Tell if You’re Looking at aContinue reading “8 Ways to Tell…”
Professional Development
Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead. ~Gene Fowler I’m beginning to think the experience of writing this particular paper should go down on my resume under the category “Professional Development.” If this hasn’t given me sympathy for theContinue reading “Professional Development”
When it Comes to Papers
Paper, go write yourself. Somehow I feel very rude saying that. And yet if I were writing it in Latin, I would use the subjunctive in its optative sense: Paper, would that you would write yourself. Not rude at all. Utinam haec charta se scribeat. Je voudrais que mon essai s’ecrive. Or something like that.Continue reading “When it Comes to Papers”
Snark on the Side 