(no subject)
I think I've set a record already, even for me. I usually find I don't like a class until after the first couple weeks. Not this time. It took all of half an hour before I realized how much this one course is going to suck lemons. It's called Research Methods Used in Science. It was originally Information & Computer Systems (or some such). We get to learn how to write research proposals, review articles and prepare for conference presentations. Sort of interesting and probably useful stuff. However the prof seems to think that we have researching backgrounds and are all interested in doing research after graduating.
ummm no...
If I had wanted to do research I would have stayed at the UofC and gotten a masters &/or PhD and done research. Instead I'm going into a field that does on the spot analysis, disease prevention and public health protection. When I said I wasn't interested in research she gave me such a shocked look like it was blasphemy or something. And then looked insulted when I said that my interests in the field were fairly broad. Hello!! We're being trained to be generalists in a field that covers everything from food safety to disease control to water & air qualtiy. They all interest me to some extent. If they didn't I wouldn't be taking the program.
The professor is a microbiologist who does alot of lab research and she seems to be used to dealing with people who have the same kind of goals as she does. I have no desire to be locked up in some lab putting out scientific papers and that is not what I'm here to learn. This course will be useful in my career, but she is going to have to understand that, for the majority of the class, we will be doing field work not publishing a new paper every other month.
I'm just glad that I wasn't the only one who said I wasn't interested in pure research. Still it could make this class a little entertaining, and not necessarily in a good way.
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And on a random note, the blizzard that came through today made getting the first day of classes a tad difficult. I'm not sure exactly how much snow we got but some of the drifts were a foot or more high and you couldn't see more than 20 feet in front of you at the best of times. I am very thankful for publictransit on days like today, I sure as hell wasn't driving anywhere. This cold snap isn't supposed to last long though, Monday is supposed to be around 0C. But not before Sunday's high temperature of minus 27C (not including windchill). I don't think I'm leaving the house that day. ick...