FINALLY! The semester is over!
Whew! It's been a tough one. The reading load wasn't nearly as bad as last semester, but I've written more this semester than I ever have - in each class I've written more than I have for an entire semester in the past.
I've probably written over 200 pages of papers this semester - I've lost track. That is time consuming, because my professors wanted case studies, examples, and stuff like that, which requires reading over and above the required and suggested reading (plus it requires finding the articles - and sometimes you'll spend an hour trying to find one that you know you've read but can't find). My final paper for one class (the paper I turned in with a written final exam yesterday) is not one I'm proud of. I couldn't do everything I wanted with the paper because of the lack of time. I've been working from shortly after waking through 1-2 in the morning almost every day on the paper, unless I had to go to school, or had some sort of emergency problem at home. I'm used to spending a full day editing and filling out missing "stuff" I wanted to include in the paper... this time I just didn't have the time to do that.
Having to spend a good portion of a day (into the evening) trying to unclog a plugged-up septic system doesn't help. Having a spastic colon only made that problem worse. Yet there are no "breaks" for problems like that... the schools figure you're a student, you're living in a rented apartment or at home with mommy and daddy, so you don't have to take time out to fix stuff. You have a medical problem, you have a doctor write you a letter. It took me all these years (I'm 55) to get a letter regarding my spastic colon... and that only covers having to "run" from class if I need to - and having to drink (and sometimes eat) in the classroom because when I have "bouts", I become dehydrated and drained of energy. Shoot... I'm afraid of telling them how limited I really am, because they might think that I should be getting on disability instead of trying to reach an educational level where I can provide enough salary to keep us alive in spite of my health. It's not possible to live on $400 or so a month, especially in this hellhole - and I want to get away from here. I've had people push me to "get Disability" but I'd have to drop out of school to do so. There is just no way (and they don't seem to understand that I've been locked out of the system by the goddamned judge I had... who put it in my records that I have to work 2 1/2 years (10 quarters ) full time before I can even apply again.
Anyway, I'm glad it's over, especially all the high-stress writing. I know a couple of my professors think you learn from writing (I've had professors tell me that). I know that the ones who have said that in the past didn't like it when I said that I don't learn from writing - and then when I was finished they commented "Well, didn't you learn a lot from writing that paper?". My response was "NO, I learn from the research and meditating on what I've learned. I forget what I've written in a short while, unless I get the time to think about it and meditate on it". That made one professor quite angry because it went against what he'd been taught about teaching. I wish he'd taken the class I just finished (with a high A)... Teaching Anthropology. He would have learned that there are many different "learning styles" and I just have one that doesn't fit the stereotype.
Next semester should be a lot better - I hope. I know that two of my classes will not have as much writing as the ones I took this semester - possibly nearly back to what it was like in the first semester of my PhD work. I hope I'm past the "hump". Next semester I'll also be starting on stuff related to my dissertation topic and that's actually a bit exciting. There is very little offered that would relate throughout our school... and most of those classes I've already had.
At least now I can take breaks and maybe watch a movie now and then without it throwing me behind schedule. I'm hoping to have a tiny bit of fun this Christmas break... maybe Sue and I can even go on a couple of "Dates" - like going to see the new Hobbit movie!
I also will have some time to help with cleaning up this house. Because of things we BOTH have been dealing with (Sue's been having some issues with her work), we haven't done a bit of cleaning. The house is a wreck. My first goal is picking up the living room where my "desk" (computer) is. When you have a bunch of kitties, they like knocking stuff all over the floor and it's hard to walk in here! I didn't have time to do more than stuff a few papers in the cubby holes we have now and then... or the energy. All of my strength was focused on getting through this semester and I didn't have an ounce to spare for housework.
I've probably written over 200 pages of papers this semester - I've lost track. That is time consuming, because my professors wanted case studies, examples, and stuff like that, which requires reading over and above the required and suggested reading (plus it requires finding the articles - and sometimes you'll spend an hour trying to find one that you know you've read but can't find). My final paper for one class (the paper I turned in with a written final exam yesterday) is not one I'm proud of. I couldn't do everything I wanted with the paper because of the lack of time. I've been working from shortly after waking through 1-2 in the morning almost every day on the paper, unless I had to go to school, or had some sort of emergency problem at home. I'm used to spending a full day editing and filling out missing "stuff" I wanted to include in the paper... this time I just didn't have the time to do that.
Having to spend a good portion of a day (into the evening) trying to unclog a plugged-up septic system doesn't help. Having a spastic colon only made that problem worse. Yet there are no "breaks" for problems like that... the schools figure you're a student, you're living in a rented apartment or at home with mommy and daddy, so you don't have to take time out to fix stuff. You have a medical problem, you have a doctor write you a letter. It took me all these years (I'm 55) to get a letter regarding my spastic colon... and that only covers having to "run" from class if I need to - and having to drink (and sometimes eat) in the classroom because when I have "bouts", I become dehydrated and drained of energy. Shoot... I'm afraid of telling them how limited I really am, because they might think that I should be getting on disability instead of trying to reach an educational level where I can provide enough salary to keep us alive in spite of my health. It's not possible to live on $400 or so a month, especially in this hellhole - and I want to get away from here. I've had people push me to "get Disability" but I'd have to drop out of school to do so. There is just no way (and they don't seem to understand that I've been locked out of the system by the goddamned judge I had... who put it in my records that I have to work 2 1/2 years (10 quarters ) full time before I can even apply again.
Anyway, I'm glad it's over, especially all the high-stress writing. I know a couple of my professors think you learn from writing (I've had professors tell me that). I know that the ones who have said that in the past didn't like it when I said that I don't learn from writing - and then when I was finished they commented "Well, didn't you learn a lot from writing that paper?". My response was "NO, I learn from the research and meditating on what I've learned. I forget what I've written in a short while, unless I get the time to think about it and meditate on it". That made one professor quite angry because it went against what he'd been taught about teaching. I wish he'd taken the class I just finished (with a high A)... Teaching Anthropology. He would have learned that there are many different "learning styles" and I just have one that doesn't fit the stereotype.
Next semester should be a lot better - I hope. I know that two of my classes will not have as much writing as the ones I took this semester - possibly nearly back to what it was like in the first semester of my PhD work. I hope I'm past the "hump". Next semester I'll also be starting on stuff related to my dissertation topic and that's actually a bit exciting. There is very little offered that would relate throughout our school... and most of those classes I've already had.
At least now I can take breaks and maybe watch a movie now and then without it throwing me behind schedule. I'm hoping to have a tiny bit of fun this Christmas break... maybe Sue and I can even go on a couple of "Dates" - like going to see the new Hobbit movie!
I also will have some time to help with cleaning up this house. Because of things we BOTH have been dealing with (Sue's been having some issues with her work), we haven't done a bit of cleaning. The house is a wreck. My first goal is picking up the living room where my "desk" (computer) is. When you have a bunch of kitties, they like knocking stuff all over the floor and it's hard to walk in here! I didn't have time to do more than stuff a few papers in the cubby holes we have now and then... or the energy. All of my strength was focused on getting through this semester and I didn't have an ounce to spare for housework.