Yep, this is the beginning of the end (of the semester, that is...)

This has been an absolutely crazy week. Perhaps I was unconsciously putting off starting my research projects because it just takes up so much time. TIME!!! I like my time, very much so. But, things have some how twisted around in a weird fate that may allow me to get out of testing completely if all goes according to plan. (Wait! "Fate" and "plan" do not go together in the same sentence very well. Huh! I guess I'm sleepy...)

I just heard back from the Neuropsychologist about the extern position. He would like me to take the position. Unfortunately, I had gotten myself into a situation with research such that I had to overbook myself in order to accommodate all of the participants I was going to test. I thought that it might take awhile to get the position going and by that time I could just request a slightly later start date. But, today, the Department Chair chatted with me in the hall and asked if I had any new news to report. I was completely confused about what he was referring to until he mentioned being in contact with the Neuropsychologist. "Ohhh! Yeah....that....uhhhh..." So when I finally made it back home today, I had a message waiting for me from the Neuropsychologist. He even wanted to invite me to a seminar that he is giving to the interns. Ugh! I booked myself to test participants for the rest of the semester!

So I took drastic measures and wrote up a snazzy, enticing email to send to the first-year master's students, hoping they'll take the bait and do my testing for me. Oh, pleeeease work! Because after the Department Chair's warm expectation that I'll receive that externship, to the Neuropsychologist inviting me to a seminar before even starting (how kind to include me with the interns), I just feel like I can't beg to start five weeks later.

In other news, I've been inundated with uplifting experiences in the last few days. I asked a new temporary prof if I could test his classes and went to all 5 of his classes to give a little spiel. In between his classes all day, we chatted up a storm. He has very similar interests as I and a similar background in cognitive neuroscience, also the same teaching style and attitude towards students (all positive). He thinks on the same wavelength as I do. I enjoyed picking his brain and delving into deep topics. It was such an exhilarating, intellectual experience! Plus he's teaching a graduate seminar next semester and I'm excited beyond belief to take it, especially when I felt out interest among other grad students and discovered that my whole cohort is probably going to take the seminar and my favorite non-traditional grad student is going to take it is well. She is absolutely brilliant and really contributes such richness to the discussions.

Furthermore, I found out today that he does reaction time, stimulus presentation software, research on normals and was hoping to collect some data. My advisor was considering getting Superlab for the whole computer lab and it would be a perfect set-up for him. But, my advisor fizzed out on the idea. So I'm going to try to convince her to move ahead with it now that we have another person with definite interest in using the software.

Wow! And I ended up talking to my previous thesis committee member for 45 minutes, and again, I felt exhilarated. He is absolutely brilliant! I just love talking to brilliant people. And finally, one of the other new profs, the tenure track one, back from a visiting stint at Harvard, gave me the ultimate compliment. He saw me coming down the hall and motioned me over, saying he wanted to get ahold of me since last week when I had helped his grad student prep for a presentation. He just wanted to tell me that I was smart. At which point, my eyes bugged out and I became all flustered in massive embarrassment. He's been around enough grad students to be able to spot the sharp ones, he said. My voice became all high pitched as I avoided eye contact and thanked him profusely as if I'd never been called smart before. But, I tell you, I've never been called smart by a prof before. So I was completely caught off guard. I hemmed and hawed that it could be due to the fact that I've been in grad school wayyyy tooo looong, trying to humbly attribute my smartness to environmental factors. The expression on his face told me that he didn't buy it.

But, alas, I'm my own worst critic and I unfortunately believe my own disparaging thoughts towards myself. But, this last week has certainly worked to build me up a bit.