Spring Break
The week of Spring Break has began and I have already spent two days screwing around. I need to resist the temptation and actually get some work done this week though. With the pressures of school gone, I can focus on getting papers and such done...if I can resist the temptation to procrastinate. Even with no school, I have a lot of stuff planned
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So you can hate me (I have thick skin in Lj land) and disregard this, but as a once desperate graduating B.Sc. major in Ecology I wanted to leave some advice. (gasp, advice from a vegan, oh noes..)
Don't stress out so much (or do, it's good practice for grad school.. i'm joking again..) something will come up. Jobs are super hard to get right out of undergrad, don't be discouraged at all, that's just what it's like in this field, it's not a reflection of what you can do. Have you volunteered or worked in a lab etc.? See if there are any labs at your uni. who do field work and need help this summer? Are you able/ willing to volunteer? that really helps. Look for internships, even if they pay shitty, especially if they pay shitty, especially if they're for the gov. That's often how you get in, and they love rehiring the same people over and over, so once you're in, and get a real contract with them after your internship you'll start to see some livable pay (i know you're not about money, from your profile info, but honestly... my internship, I think just my rent was more than half what i got paid every month).
Grad school- not the end of the world if you don't get in this year. Sometimes taking a year or two off to work can be very beneficial, if you are working in the field. It's not like taking time off after high school where it's hard to come back.
Onwards though- I am assuming you are looking at a thesis based masters. not sure if this is too late, but you should read profs' websites, look at their research interests and contact them directly, so you can meet with them during your visit. this can help you get in, also, important- your project will be what you do 24/7 for the next two years (when you're not stalking people and communities on Lj har har) so make sure you choose where you want to go based on your research project interests and the profs at those unis.
Do you like field work? Are you ok with sitting in front of a computer working on ArcView for hours (btw granted this increases your employability by a crazy amount)
-the supervisor. another reason to look at profs' websites and meet them in person! You need to be able to get along w your supervisor, feel comfortable with them, match your needs with what they offer. It also helps if they're prominent in their field- look at their published works, how much are they cited etc.
That's all I could think of off the top of my head. I'll stop harassing you on Lj now, hope your selection goes well, and if it doesn't come through this year, don't give up and don't stress yourself out too much. you're not really on a time-line anymore. if I haven't scared you too much w being creepy on Lj, I can try to answer any qs u have about applying and going to grad school.
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I don't care if someone is omnivore, vegetarian or vegan, it's your life and you can live it anyway you want. My problem is when vegetarians and vegans come up to me to try and make me feel bad for my food choices because they think it harms animal rights and/or the environment when in my opinion one can still eat meat and be active in animal rights and the environment which is why I joined that community, not to bash veganism itself, but to bash the people who shove their opinion in my face. For me, each lifestyle has their pros and cons and neither is worse than the other, you just have to decide whether you can live with the cons. Now, I do try to get "eco-friendly" meat as much I can to do what I can do stop the practices that harm the environment but corporations like Monsanto are hard to dodge because of how big they are.
To put a rest to the arguement above, I think we both got a little uppity on each other so for that, I am sorry. I misunderstood you in places and you misunderstood me in places. I think those misunderstandings are now somewhat corrected and we can go on to talk civily.
Actually, I wouldn't mind knowing your reasons for going vegan. You definitely seem like a well-informed person and didn't make your decision to be vegan based on what PETA said or a YouTube video.
I do thank you for the Grad School advice. It has been bothersome and slightly depressing. Sadly, I didn't get into Penn State, they said that I had a stong backround but better people had just applied so I think it is a show of the times with many people wanting to go back to grad school. On the up side to this, I am going down to Kansas to meet with Professors and Grad Students so hopefully this will count for something.
I have actually been looking for both Grad School and jobs at this point, to cover my ass just in case I don't get in. I do love field work, I would rather be outside in the middle of a forest than in an office with nothing but the drown of traffic to listen to so I have been applying to a lot of seasonal jobs that provide housing so I don't have to worry about that. I don't care where I go at this point, as long as it gives me experience in my field and I can get along in life. I am volunteering at Hawk Mountain, a local sanctuary that does bird migration studies, which is awesome.
I did have an internship with the government with the USDA but it wasn't anything environment related unfortunately, it was with the Food Safety Inspection Service and I was a Food Inspector Intern. I looked at dead chickens all day making sure they were fit for human consumption but that was my foot in the door with the government, now if I can get a job/intern with US Fish and Wildlife Servive or the US Geological Survey.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head as well plus I probably should get some sleep. Anyway, thank you again for the advice, it always makes me feel less like I am doing something wrong. If we can keep like this, I would not mind at all to continue to converse with you. I do not take what you did as an insult. In reality, I do like hearing about others opinions and learning why they come to that conclusion, even I disagree with them. I think we can learn a lot from each other and that diplomacy can fix a lot more than people think. Heck, we may even become friends out of this conflict.
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