Crazy Fluctuation Week

Wow, I don't even know where to start. This has been one week of shuffling around for quite a few other graduate students I know, including myself. One graduate student had conflicting schedules with the professor she's doing a graduate assistantship for. So he was left without a graduate student and I couldn't take the position because I was offered a new research assistant position, which I had just taken. As it turns out, he also asked Tisha, who had just taken a position as a coder the week before. But, she might be able to opt out of it and take the GA after all. We'll see what happens this week. She was very relieved about the possibility of shifting positions. And Karen has been having her own dilemmas regarding research positions.

The week before, I was very relieved about some of my stresses this semester, too. I was offered to subcontract outside of the university as a research assistant. And it turns out I would work with one of my favorite professors who is also subcontracting on that research project. Yes!! But, the only way I could possibly fit that into my schedule would be to drop a class. So I've spent last week trying to find out whether I can waive the class, which is required. Turns out I have to take a directed studies on the same topic as the class (development), but that I can tie it in with my dissertation. So I'm just going to write a short paper on the development of intelligence. That shouldn't be too bad.

But, then I went to my other class and got a little freaked out about how much will be required of me, tons of reading and a paper, and I felt lost the whole class period. So I had a melt down afterwards, and decided I needed to drop that class as well. I can drop that class without it affecting my course requirement, so that's what I'm going to do. I'll replace it with dissertation hours, which will open my time for all the writing I have to do this semester. I have to write two papers for comps, one paper on history of measurement, one paper on development of intelligence, and finish writing my dissertation proposal, in addition to teaching. All in all, I'm very relieved to be free of a couple of the classes I was taking. Now I just have one master's level class that I couldn't fit into my schedule until now. But, that class shouldn't be too demanding.

Teaching went off to a great start this semester. I really like my class. They are willing to talk and I've been able to be more interactive with them already. So we shall see how things go, but I'm feeling much better about it.

Another strange coincidence happened this week, too. My supervisor for my GA with freshman seminars called the head of the psych department about linking freshman seminars with psychology classes. He asked the department head to consider which psychology professors could teach a freshman seminar. My supervisor also mentioned my name and the work I was doing with them on attrition and freshman seminars. And then the department head said I'd be a great candidate for teaching a freshman seminar. I just burst out laughing when my supervisor told me about that! I couldn't believe the department head recommended me. And what a coincidence that I might be conducting research on freshman seminars through my GA while also teaching a freshman seminar on a contract through the psychology department. I just though that was ironic, but we'll have to see what happens. I thought I wasn't going to teach again, but who knows? Maybe I'll teach a freshman seminar, which is not a content class at all. It would be totally different. I might be better at it than teaching content courses.

But, we'll see. This semester might be doable after all and that's what I needed to know.