Class

[wilson]

I'm in class. Still. I've been in class since I was five. I am so over class. I don't want to come back to class. I want to hide with my books and my musty old documents for a while and then not be in school at all anymore.

Lavabe, colchar, throaty, anyone...some words of encouragement (or at least commiseration)?

Everyone else...humor me as I create an entire thread devoted to whining about my frustrations?

[knights68]

a few words for ya....

Class only is as long as you make it
It is also as boring as you let it be.
Ultimately it is as you make it. Might I suggest in the middle of class shouting at the top of your lungs for the voices in your head to speak one at a time?!! I assure you this may relieve the stresses of class, if only momentarily. lol, just a thought.

And if this is a thread on whining, oh boy, do I ssooo need this thread!! I'll add my own whines shortly.

[wilson]

Perhaps my (now dormant for some time) Bickering Board should be broadened a bit, transforming it into the Bickering and Whining Board.

[blublood]

I completely understand how you feel as either myself (working on M. Ed.) or my husband (who completed his M. Div.) have been in class pretty much every year since both of us graduated and we're aren't any spring chickens!

Perhaps a small sabbatical is in order? :)

[wilson]

Perhaps a small sabbatical is in order? :)

If only. I suppose Saturday might serve as one. The end of this academic year will be welcome, because then I get to start in on the real meat of my doctoral research, without worrying about showing up to class.

[devildeac]

a few words for ya....

Class only is as long as you make it
It is also as boring as you let it be.
Ultimately it is as you make it. Might I suggest in the middle of class shouting at the top of your lungs for the voices in your head to speak one at a time?!! I assure you this may relieve the stresses of class, if only momentarily. lol, just a thought.

And if this is a thread on whining, oh boy, do I ssooo need this thread!! I'll add my own whines shortly.

if you add a bunch of whines, then we can discuss cheeses that might pair well with those whines:eek::rolleyes:

[Lavabe]

I'm in class. Still. I've been in class since I was five. I am so over class. I don't want to come back to class. I want to hide with my books and my musty old documents for a while and then not be in school at all anymore.

Lavabe, colchar, throaty, anyone...some words of encouragement (or at least commiseration)?

Everyone else...humor me as I create an entire thread devoted to whining about my frustrations?

Remember that the classes you are taking, you might be giving in a few years.:eek:

Seriously.

Some of my first teaching jobs were for classes that I took in my opening year or two of grad school.

Take notes on how the class is being given. Grab extra syllabi. Grab a spare copy of every assignment. GRAB EVERYTHING!!

Also recognize that you are in class with someone who may eventually be on your committee, may write you a rec, may have a contact for a job, etc...

If it helps you any, remember that Sweetwater will soon be out with its DonkeyPunch barleywine.:D

Cheers,
Lavabe

[2535Miles]

I'm in class. Still. I've been in class since I was five. I am so over class. I don't want to come back to class. I want to hide with my books and my musty old documents for a while and then not be in school at all anymore.

Lavabe, colchar, throaty, anyone...some words of encouragement (or at least commiseration)?

Everyone else...humor me as I create an entire thread devoted to whining about my frustrations?
Channel Super Troopers. I feel for ya wilson, I had pretty much these same sentiments after my first semester of college.

[devildeac]

Remember that the classes you are taking, you might be giving in a few years.:eek:

Seriously.

Some of my first teaching jobs were for classes that I took in my opening year or two of grad school.

Take notes on how the class is being given. Grab extra syllabi. Grab a spare copy of every assignment. GRAB EVERYTHING!!

Also recognize that you are in class with someone who may eventually be on your committee, may write you a rec, may have a contact for a job, etc...

If it helps you any, remember that Sweetwater will soon be out with its DonkeyPunch barleywine.:D

Cheers,
Lavabe

I think I'd rather have a Happy Ending than a Donkey Punch:rolleyes:;).

[colchar]

The end of this academic year will be welcome, because then I get to start in on the real meat of my doctoral research, without worrying about showing up to class.

And when that happens, you'll sit on your arse, watch TV, play video games, read books for fun, watch paint peel, etc. for an entire semester. I know I did. And once your dissertation research is completed, you'll do the same - I haven't done a darned thing since getting back from my major research trip to England. Not a darned thing.

If you want to feel better, consider my current situation. I currently have 75 essay (10 pagers) to grade that are due to be returned to the students in class tomorrow night at 7pm. Due to a large dose of laziness and an even larger dose of the flu that's been hitting me for almost a week now, I haven't done any grading at all over the last two weeks. So, between now (10:28am Tuesday) and 7pm tomorrow night, I've got to grade all of them. Feel better about sitting through class now? And yes, I know, this is largely self-inflicted.

[rasputin]

if you add a bunch of whines, then we can discuss cheeses that might pair well with those whines:eek::rolleyes:

Isn't that what the Dean Dome is for?

[colchar]

Channel Super Troopers. I feel for ya wilson, I had pretty much these same sentiments after my first semester of college.

Yeah but he's in grad school doing a PhD so it is so much worse than first year.

[Lavabe]

I think I'd rather have a Happy Ending than a Donkey Punch:rolleyes:;).

Ugh!:rolleyes:

In terms of the brews, I believe Wilson has previously stated that he does not like the Sweetwater Happy Ending, as it replaced one of his favorite Sweetwater varieties.

Cheers,
Lavabe

[wilson]

Channel Super Troopers. I feel for ya wilson, I had pretty much these same sentiments after my first semester of college.

Heh. I did ok after my first semester of college, but this is my fifteenth.

[colchar]

Heh. I did ok after my first semester of college, but this is my fifteenth.

I'm in my 21st.

8 semesters for undergrad.

6 semesters for Master's.

Just started the third year of my PhD so that makes this my 7th semester for that.

And the worst thing is that I've pretty much decided I am not going to teach when I'm done...

[wilson]

And the worst thing is that I've pretty much decided I am not going to teach when I'm done...

Really? What, then? About the only thing that could pull me off campus would be a chair at the Brookings Institute or something similar.

[colchar]

Really? What, then? About the only thing that could pull me off campus would be a chair at the Brookings Institute or something similar.

I don't want to get stuck doing the sessional thing until I find a tenure-track position. Even with a TT position, I don't think I want to go through the BS involved in getting tenure. And I am more than a little tired of the BS involved with conferences etc.

So I think I am going to go into administration. It seems like a logical alternative to me. That way I can stay on campus, and in academia, without dealing with the stuff I am tired of. If I want to teach a bit I can do so sessionally but at least I wouldn't be dependent on that sessional income as I'd have a full time position at the university.

[TillyGalore]

I don't want to get stuck doing the sessional thing until I find a tenure-track position. Even with a TT position, I don't think I want to go through the BS involved in getting tenure. And I am more than a little tired of the BS involved with conferences etc.

So I think I am going to go into administration. It seems like a logical alternative to me. That way I can stay on campus, and in academia, without dealing with the stuff I am tired of.

If you're going to go into academic administration, you'll have a whole lot of BS to deal with.

[Indoor66]

If you're going to go into academic administration, you'll have a whole lot of BS to deal with.

If you go into any administrative position you face a whole lot of BS and even more politics to survive. Teaching and tenure track will seem tame in retrospect.

[allenmurray]

If you're going to go into academic administration, you'll have a whole lot of BS to deal with.

That is true, but it will primarily be BS you have created yourself.

[colchar]

If you're going to go into academic administration, you'll have a whole lot of BS to deal with.

Oh I know that. It is the same everywhere (corporate world, self-employed, etc.) so you can never escape it. It will just be a different kind of BS from that which I am experiencing now...and I am really really sick of that.

I've been thinking about this for a while so this isn't some snap decision or anything.

Then again, I know staff at all three of the universities that I am most likely to end up working for and most of them love their jobs. Even the least happy of them likes their job and is only unhappy because they want to stay in their current department but have reached the ceiling there so would need to move elsewhere on campus if they were to go after a promotion or whatever - and that is more an issue with them being too comfortable than a university issue of any kind.

[blublood]

Then again, I know staff at all three of the universities that I am most likely to end up working for and most of them love their jobs. Even the least happy of them likes their job and is only unhappy because they want to stay in their current department but have reached the ceiling there so would need to move elsewhere on campus if they were to go after a promotion or whatever - and that is more an issue with them being too comfortable than a university issue of any kind.

True that - I *love* working on campus and I don't even do anything that important. You get a free gym membership, access to all kinds of wonderful cultural events, state retirement (sometimes), cheap insurance, and you get to meet great people in other departments. I don't know why anyone wouldn't want to work in academia, other than the less-than-stellar pay.

[colchar]

True that - I *love* working on campus and I don't even do anything that important. You get a free gym membership, access to all kinds of wonderful cultural events, state retirement (sometimes), cheap insurance, and you get to meet great people in other departments. I don't know why anyone wouldn't want to work in academia, other than the less-than-stellar pay.

Up here, the pay scales seem pretty good - especially once you get into management roles. I'm actually thinking of applying for any upcoming jobs that seem even remotely interesting and then finishing my PhD part-time. I figure with an MA, work experience, and having taken at least one of my degrees at each of the schools I should be in a decent position to be hired. If I can start a career in administration sometime over the next few months I will definietly do so.

[wilson]

True that - I *love* working on campus and I don't even do anything that important. You get a free gym membership, access to all kinds of wonderful cultural events, state retirement (sometimes), cheap insurance, and you get to meet great people in other departments. I don't know why anyone wouldn't want to work in academia, other than the less-than-stellar pay.

I agree with all of what you said. As for the "less-than-stellar pay," I have been to lots of professors' homes in at least four cities over the years, and every last one of them was quite nice. That tells me essentially everything I need to know.

[EarlJam]

That is true, but it will primarily be BS you have created yourself.

The spaces and places void of BS and Politics are very few and far between in any working environment. I'd slay a cute, furry bunny rabbit or two just to have just a month of college days back to re-live.

Still, I know it sucks not getting a paycheck, benefits and such.

I wish I could levitate.

-EarlJam

[colchar]

Still, I know it sucks not getting a paycheck, benefits and such.



We get paid in grad school, if you can call it that. We also get benefits, but they stink. Still, better than nothing.