The day job.
I am taking three classes: a fiction workshop; a loosely formed seminar on the creative process; and "Medieval Dream Visions," a traditional graduate class which I am likely to do poorly in but still want to take. I transferred to the last from a sociolinguistics class that wasn't thrilling me, despite the truly brilliant professor teaching it. I don't care much about dialect, whereas I love "Piers Plowman" and The Canterbury Tales. If I am going to kill myself, I am going to do it for a class about something I'm interested in. --Is the theory.
I love the job of grad school. I have a cubicle. I have tasks with clear deliverables. There are occasional meetings known as classes. I have co-workers with whom I share interests and goals, with whom I talk about the weekend's doings. I get up early and spend a couple of hours at a coffee shop across the street. I don't have internet at home yet, so before my job is when I catch up: Facebook, LiveJournal, email. In a minute, I will head over to Tompkins Hall and start work. Yesterday I read "The Nun's Priest's Tale" (several times), did some background reading for it online; and wrote critiques for three stories for today's workshop. Today I am writing response papers to "The Dream of the Rood" and "The Nun's Priest's Tale" and reading a critical paper about the latter; prepping for tonight's workshop; working out my schedule for the fall; and writing my own stuff. I have 200+ pages of various things to do close readings on in the next week: reading, reading again, taking notes and writing responses. This ends up being a full-time job.
If only all full-time jobs were this interesting. But ask me again in a few weeks. Heh.
I love the job of grad school. I have a cubicle. I have tasks with clear deliverables. There are occasional meetings known as classes. I have co-workers with whom I share interests and goals, with whom I talk about the weekend's doings. I get up early and spend a couple of hours at a coffee shop across the street. I don't have internet at home yet, so before my job is when I catch up: Facebook, LiveJournal, email. In a minute, I will head over to Tompkins Hall and start work. Yesterday I read "The Nun's Priest's Tale" (several times), did some background reading for it online; and wrote critiques for three stories for today's workshop. Today I am writing response papers to "The Dream of the Rood" and "The Nun's Priest's Tale" and reading a critical paper about the latter; prepping for tonight's workshop; working out my schedule for the fall; and writing my own stuff. I have 200+ pages of various things to do close readings on in the next week: reading, reading again, taking notes and writing responses. This ends up being a full-time job.
If only all full-time jobs were this interesting. But ask me again in a few weeks. Heh.