Yesterday afternoon at approximately 2 p.m. I completed the last step of my master's degree: dropping off five copies of my thesis at the university bookstore for binding and filling out roughly two pages of paperwork. It was all quite anti-climatic, really. The clerk at the bookstore said "congratulations," and I walked back into the sunlight a completely different person, but nobody seemed to notice. Maybe I didn't even notice. All I did was get on my bike and bike home.
But when I arrived at my house some five minutes later, I found myself lacking one identity as a student as well as one certain purpose in life. It was a little disorienting. For the last four years whenever I meet somebody and they say, "what do you do?" I have always been able to answer, "I'm a grad student." It's a satisfying answer for someone of my age. It seems to fit my station in life. But now when strangers ask, what do I tell them? Unfortunately, being a "graduate," only seems to get one so far. People expect you do something more. Instead of the follow-up question of, "Oh, what's your major," now I get, "So what do you do for money?" The distress was enough to motivate me to post my resume on monster.com. Geez. I guess I'll be exploring this in subsequent posts. Also, I have to fill you in on the last month of excitement. And then there's the little issue of my top-secret, new website. More to come!
Showing posts with label confessions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label confessions. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
ASK A GRAD STUDENT: Help, I hate my thesis
hey
I am totally depressed and the reason is my master thesis. I have reached a place where I need help and every time I go to my mentor she brushes me off and suggests I go to some proffessor in some other department to ask for help. Nobody wants to help me and I cant achieve any progress. I think of quitting but then I cosider the time and money I spent and how my family will be dissappointed at me till the end of time . Arghhhh it is making my life a hell
Anonymous
Dear Anonymous,
Because you are a real person and not some fake letter I made up just to be funny, I will give you real advice. You have listed several problems, and as I proved in my previous blog entry, it is best to take little bites and chew very slowly.
First, it is important to understand that theses were invented for the express purpose of torturing people. It's the nerdy version of hazing. So, there is no way to solve thesis misery except by saying, "Thank you sir, may I have another."
Next we will address your desire to quit. Of all the problems this one is the most vital. It's normal to want to quit, and you must sit yourself down and think carefully about whether or not you really should. Depression is your body's way of telling you that something is wrong, and it may really be worth it to quit. Either way you must make a full and complete decision and stick to it. If you decide to quit, you are my hero and are free to quit reading at this point.
Assuming that since you are still reading you have made a firm decision to stay in the rat race, the problems you have with unhelpful professors will fall into place. At this point, it is a simple matter of jumping through hoops until they give you a diploma. Since you have made your decision to graduate at all costs, walking across campus to a different department should be quite easy.
Don't forget to communicate your thesis commitment to your professors. Perhaps they have been standoffish because they have sensed your past thesis-hatred. But as soon as they are sure you're in the game, they will be more likely to help you. Also, it's OK to be persistent. You know what they say: The annoying student gets the degree.
Even after you have followed my advice, graduating will still not be easy. But once you're done, you're done forever ... unless you choose to get a PhD.
Good Luck!
Miserable Grad Student
I am totally depressed and the reason is my master thesis. I have reached a place where I need help and every time I go to my mentor she brushes me off and suggests I go to some proffessor in some other department to ask for help. Nobody wants to help me and I cant achieve any progress. I think of quitting but then I cosider the time and money I spent and how my family will be dissappointed at me till the end of time . Arghhhh it is making my life a hell
Anonymous
Dear Anonymous,
Because you are a real person and not some fake letter I made up just to be funny, I will give you real advice. You have listed several problems, and as I proved in my previous blog entry, it is best to take little bites and chew very slowly.
First, it is important to understand that theses were invented for the express purpose of torturing people. It's the nerdy version of hazing. So, there is no way to solve thesis misery except by saying, "Thank you sir, may I have another."
Next we will address your desire to quit. Of all the problems this one is the most vital. It's normal to want to quit, and you must sit yourself down and think carefully about whether or not you really should. Depression is your body's way of telling you that something is wrong, and it may really be worth it to quit. Either way you must make a full and complete decision and stick to it. If you decide to quit, you are my hero and are free to quit reading at this point.
Assuming that since you are still reading you have made a firm decision to stay in the rat race, the problems you have with unhelpful professors will fall into place. At this point, it is a simple matter of jumping through hoops until they give you a diploma. Since you have made your decision to graduate at all costs, walking across campus to a different department should be quite easy.
Don't forget to communicate your thesis commitment to your professors. Perhaps they have been standoffish because they have sensed your past thesis-hatred. But as soon as they are sure you're in the game, they will be more likely to help you. Also, it's OK to be persistent. You know what they say: The annoying student gets the degree.
Even after you have followed my advice, graduating will still not be easy. But once you're done, you're done forever ... unless you choose to get a PhD.
Good Luck!
Miserable Grad Student
Friday, April 11, 2008
You think I'm a jerk, don't you?
So you probably think my parents were a little over-indulgent for flying me home at 2-hours' notice. And you probably think I'm over-dramatic for going on and on about my unhappiness when I've been given every opportunity in the world to have a master's degree. Well, you're either partly or completely right.
I am a rich, lucky, spoiled American who can quit a job to be a full-time student without sacrificing a $5-a-day coffee habit. And that makes me both the scum of the earth and exactly like every other student on my campus. So am I redeemed by my pseudo-liberal guilt? I don't know. Could that get me into heaven? Maybe, ... if I can still afford a good lawyer at the end of this.
But, dear readers, as somebody in the bible once said, "To whom more is given, more is expected." And for how much I've been given, I have a universe of expectations to fulfill. And since I'm so far not producing a good return, I get a little depressed sometimes. OK, signing off. I gotta go dig some talents out of the hole I was storing them in.
I am a rich, lucky, spoiled American who can quit a job to be a full-time student without sacrificing a $5-a-day coffee habit. And that makes me both the scum of the earth and exactly like every other student on my campus. So am I redeemed by my pseudo-liberal guilt? I don't know. Could that get me into heaven? Maybe, ... if I can still afford a good lawyer at the end of this.
But, dear readers, as somebody in the bible once said, "To whom more is given, more is expected." And for how much I've been given, I have a universe of expectations to fulfill. And since I'm so far not producing a good return, I get a little depressed sometimes. OK, signing off. I gotta go dig some talents out of the hole I was storing them in.
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