I just sent my first email over a national association’s listserv. It was slightly terrifying. I’ve never proofread a two sentence email so hard in my life.
Check In: April 1, 2013
I haven’t done one of these since early December. Since it’s the first day of April, I figured it’d be a good time to check in with myself.
Obsessing Over: Cute spring clothing and all the sunshine we’ve had recently. I’m so ready to put away my Uggs and Bean boots and bring out cute flats and dresses.
Working On: About to start hardcore revising my literature review for my thesis. The revisions are due on Friday and I won’t have any other time this week to really work on it. I’m using a vacation day at work so I can plug away at it.
Thinking About: How much work I still have left to do on the lit review. The faculty domain of it is being a pain in my ass. I can’t figure out what my literature should be talking about, which makes lit searching hard.
Anticipating: The drive back to my apartment later today, being done with the lit review once and for all later this week, my last “first day” of classes this week as I start my final term of grad school.
Listening To: Some annoying old masterpiece BBC mystery crap my parents are watching.
Drinking: Nothing currently
Wishing: that a cheaper apartment unit in my building becomes available, because I need to let them know if I’m moving when my lease ends at the end of May, and I can’t afford the rent hike for my current unit. I really don’t feel like moving, so if i can stay in the building it’d be a relatively easy transition.
There’s a job posting for my ultimate end-goal position right now on LinkedIn (Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at a medical school*)…too bad it requires 5-7 years of experience, not to mention I’m still younger than a lot of medical students, so I can’t imagine that they would hire a dean under age 30 anyway. Surprisingly, it doesn’t mandate a doctoral degree. This bodes well if I decide I’m too lazy to do a Ph.D. (but realistically in 5-7 years when I have the experience, it probably will require a doctorate).
I’m keeping my eye out on job descriptions for these top-level positions to see what kind of qualifications I’ll actually need. Granted this would be a minimum of 5-10 years in the future, but still. It’s nice to see that I have all the other required knowledge/experience (once I actually get my master’s degree this spring), with the exception of the 5-7 years of experience. All in good time.
So if anyone is interested in this position, click through. I don’t mind telling people about it since I’m no where near ready to apply to such a position. Plus, I kinda love my job that I have now anyway :)
*oddly enough I did an informational interview with the person currently in this position at this university a few months ago to discuss career trajectory.
It’s so nice to be working in a job that I care about
I don’t just mean a job that I like and I do well, but a job that I actually care about. I know a lot of people who like their jobs, but don’t necessarily care about the work they do (I also have plenty of friends who don’t like what they do, which I think is tragic). For example, yesterday I helped out at a career services event for our students to help prepare them for job and grad school interviews (depending on the student’s field of interest). I worked with one student who is making a career change from finance to the healthcare industry. This student mentioned that while he or she did very well as working in finance and liked the job, this student did not care about the work at the end of the day, which is why a career change was in order.
As with any job, mine can get a little stressful at times, especially since I’m working primarily with premedical students who are taking demanding courses and can be extremely stressed out (with good reason) as application season approaches right about now. But, at the end of the day when I’ve had a great conversation with a student, or help them with a question or concern they have, or yesterday helping students prepare for interviews, it’s really rewarding. I come home at the end of the day and it’s impossible to completely shut off my brain from work mode, but I don’t mind that I’m still thinking about something a student said. While some days I may not want to get out of my comfy warm bed and leave my super cuddly kitty, I never dread going to work, it never feels like something I “have” to do, and I actually look forward to it. It’s so refreshing.
In this economy, I feel extremely blessed to not only have a job but do something I love, especially since I know a lot of people who feel like they can’t leave their job they don’t like because they’re afraid of being unemployed. Since most of our adult lives are spent working, I find it sad that people are stuck doing things they don’t enjoy. To me, my happiness is worth so much that I couldn’t live like that.
It’s weird to think that had I stuck with physical therapy school, I would be graduating with my doctorate this spring instead of graduating with my master’s in higher ed. I took a big risk by leaving a program that essentially has 100% job placement in an in-demand industry for something that’s a little more uncertain, but so far it’s worked out great and I have no regrets.
How do you deal with or have you ever encountered parents who don’t want to vaccinate their children? - anon
I hesitate to even respond to this question because I know I’m going to get some hate mail on it, but yes, I have. These people are everywhere. I honestly don’t…
I’m sorry, but there is no ‘debate’.
VACCINATE YOUR CHILDREN!!!
I’m taking a class on the history of medicine and bioethics, and this was the big discussion topic this week. The nice thing is that we never argued pro/anti vaccines, but rather looked at the historical context of the issue.
I didn’t realize just how far back the issue goes (no, it wasn’t Jenny McCarthy and autism that started the anti-vaccine crusade….it predates that by several decades, possibly even more since we didn’t read everything ever written on the topic. If you read about the Polio vaccine trials it’s terrifying. Granted that would never happen now because IRB would never let people go test out vaccines on institutionalized kids, but still).
It’s easy for people to jump on an anti-vaccine bandwagon because autism is on the rise and celebrity moms said it’s connected, but the original advocacy organizations (DPT, NVIC) certainly did their research, had legitimate concerns, and in some cases had support from national medical associations (including the Academy of Pediatrics) and passed public policy.
That said, I certainly think the slight risk of the vaccine is worth not getting a potential deadly disease, and if I ever have kids I will vaccinate them (but really that’s a moot point because I don’t want kids…especially after watching yet another birthing video in the same history of medicine class that was targeting to train African American midwives in 1952.) I had a horrendous reaction to a DT vaccine in high school (3 days of 104 fever, passed out on my kitchen floor, couldn’t eat, couldn’t stand up…slight chance it may have been West Nile since I never got tested, but it started 3 hours after I had my vaccine). I legitimately thought I was dying. Fortunately I’ve had a tetanus booster since then after a dog bite without any bad reactions, and I’ve never had issues with the meningitis vaccine or flu shot (knock on wood).
The DPT and NVIC groups in the 1980s undoubtedly improved the safety of vaccines because of their stance and research. Since the autism issue, researchers are looking at the use of mercury in vaccines. Even if their logic is flawed or if you don’t agree with their stance, those who question and express concern for something like this can ultimately improve the quality and safety of the final product.
(via whywanderlost)
All college professors should read this book
I’m currently reading this book (Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking), and it’s not necessarily telling me anything I didn’t already know, but it’s written in a way that expands on some concepts and goes a bit more in-depth. Most importantly, though, it profiles some introverts and the way they respond in the world. I’m currently on a chapter that talks about introverts in college, and how they react in discussion-based courses. It resonates a lot with me, because I’ve been there. Officially on the MBTI, I’m a very mildly expressed introvert (usually about 1-5 on the scale, and once I tested as a 1 extrovert). I know that I’m likely a bit more clearly introverted than that, but the way the assessment asks questions and my performing arts background, some of my answers are more in line with extroverts. Also, after a drink or two I can definitely crossover into slight extroversion, but as soon as it wears off I’d rather be in my room with a book or a movie and my cat than in a room full of people I don’t know.
Back to the point of my post: College professors need to read this, or at least the chapters on the classroom experience. It’s especially important for professors who use participation as a significant part of the grade (hello, grad school).
I’m in a discussion based course now where participation is a huge part of our grade, but there are only 6 other students so it’s not as intimidating (really it’s more like a conversation). My class of 30 students where participation was 25% of our grade terrified me. I’ve found myself having to work extra hard to pre-plan what I wanted to say as my daily contribution (to the point of actually making notes), and hoping that the time would come in the discussion where it would be relevant. And if, God forbid, someone says my thought before me, then I freak out because I don’t have anything to say and won’t get my daily participation points. It’s crazy stressful. On several occasions I’ve had to email professors and let them know that I’m an introvert and that my lack of speaking doesn’t mean I’m not paying attention or thinking about the concepts. (This was a result of a professor in one class emailing me to tell me I wasn’t participating enough and was at risk of getting a lower grade because of it, despite my written assignments being A grades. I then felt the need to let all my professors know that when surrounded by a large number of extroverts in a large classroom, I don’t always feel comfortable speaking extemporaneously.)
I know professors won’t always pick up on who is introverted and who is trying to skate by without doing the work, but since many of my professors have been the extroverted types, I think it would be beneficial for them to read this book to understand what we introverts feel like in these settings. I totally understand that participating in class is important, particularly in seminar and discussion-based courses, but when the professor sits in the corner and clearly puts a tally mark next to the students’ names each time they speak, it adds additional stress to those of us who take a little longer to form our thoughts and to work up the courage to speak up.
"To make an excellent contribution, you kind of have to be excellent at something … and that has far less to do with talent and much more to do with commitment. It requires that you make a choice to put your head down and work very hard to develop your unique set of superpowers."
—
Megan Dietz, “Shouldn’t I be saving the world, or something?”
Read this entire article. You won’t be sorry.
(via relovingit)
Oh. My. God. Thank you Brady for alerting me to this since I missed it when Anna originally posted it. This is my life. Right down to the FOMO. Particularly love this part:
Let’s be clear: you’re not missing out on your perfect option, because it doesn’t exist. There is no one true path to amazingness. We have to create the amazingness for ourselves, by committing to something and then busting our asses. There is no other way.
but really. the whole thing. RELEVANT. I’m going to print this out and wallpaper my life with it.
(via relovingit)
Possibly coming up with a solution to my “I know I want a Ph.D. but I’m too indecisive and don’t know what I would want to study” issue.
Stay tuned for developments.
Tonight’s meme brought to you by someone in our graduate program office (either a graduate assistant, or our program director. I’m hoping it’s the latter) having a back-to-school, post-finals humor streak.
Looking at Ph.D programs is exhausting
There are so many. Cannot make up my mind. Don’t even know where to start. If I could come up with a general discipline that would at least be a starting point. Right now I feel like I’m so all over the place.
Check-in: January 7, 2013
First one of these in about a month, and the first one of the new year. Today is the start of a new term, so it seemed fitting to bring it back.
Obsessing Over: Having my cat back in my apartment now that the weird holiday back-and-forth schedule is over. (My parents cat-sit when I had to come back to my apartment to work for 2.5 days after Xmas, since I went back to their house for the long New Year’s weekend).
Working On: Nothing :) For now…classes start tonight so things will pile on quickly. I already have 80 pages of reading for the first class meeting for my Wednesday class that I still need to do.
Thinking About: Things happening at work this week, classes, and getting back into the routine of life. The past month has been a tease since I didn’t have class, and the last two weeks I’ve had very short work weeks with the holidays. This is my first full-week of work in 3 weeks plus I now have night class to add in.
Anticipating: Trying to learn to ice skate this week, and the dance studio opening up now that their break is over so I can get back into a class.
Listening To: Good Morning America
Drinking: Just water for now. I’ve started waiting until I get to work to drink coffee because we have it for free in our break room.
Wishing: that I get the volunteer position I’m interviewing for at the museum this weekend :)
Goodbye 2012, Happy 2013 :)
Happy New Year!
This past year was easily one of the best years for me personally, academically, and professionally, and I’m hoping 2013 will be just as great. At a minimum, this will be the year that I get my master’s degree, and depending on how my thesis research goes, perhaps put together an article to submit for publication in a medical journal.
I hope everyone enjoyed their New Year’s Eve festivities. Here’s to a happy, healthy, 2013.
I miss my cat :(
I’m only working 2.5 days this week, so I left my cat with my parents since she gets stressed out in the car. I figured it’d be better to leave her there since I’m going back Friday afternoon and will be there another 4 days.
My mom texted me a photo of my cat and her cat with the caption: “I like being mom to two cats again.” I texted back “Don’t get used to it” along with this photo:
I win. Although apparently she didn’t get the reference…not sure how. (Also, who remembers this show? I’m going to go find old episodes on Youtube.)
