Getting reacclimated is hard
I just got really tired all of a sudden. I had to stop taking the bupropion while I was taking the penicillin, so now I have to get adjusted to it again. It probably won't take as long, since I was only off it for about a week and a half, but still, things are a bit weird again. All I know, I'd better get past this before classes start (my first class will be on Tuesday, and then, I'll only be TAing) because I cannot afford to be even more of a space cadet than I already am.
I've got TA orientation tomorrow from 9 to 2, and then I'm meeting the professor who's teaching the class I'm TAing around 2:15. I figured it'd be a good idea to sit down with her and chat, since I'm new to both Clark and TAing in general. If I can find out what she expects beforehand, I'll be in a much better position to start.
I met all my fellow grad English students yesterday. There was an Orientation on Sunday, but I was too miserable to really interact much, but we had more Orientation yesterday. Speaking of, if I have to come up with another thing I like that starts with the letter "N", I'll be crucifying someone. In the morning, we had a tour of the campus (which was a lot of fun because yesterday the freshmen were moving in, too.) and my group was made up of almost all my fellow English grad students. We chatted while we wandered the campus, and then we all sat together during the rest of the official Orientation, and then all caught lunch together. After lunch, we had free time until 2:30 when we were meeting with SunHee, the English grad chair, so we just hung out together. Anderson House is the English grad building (it's literally a house, much like the old RC at Uconn) and it's filled with all sorts of comfy sofas and chairs and places to mingle. We all ended up downstairs in the library, sprawled out on couches.
I'm really glad I've met these guys. I was pretty worried that I'd go and everyone else would be snotty and talk like "So, Foucault's theory of deconstructionist views in post-colonial literature is quite droll, however I far prefer the Marxist view. After all, darling, who are the post-colonialists, if not the bourgeoisie?" and such. The closest I got to literary theory was studying for the GRE's and they didn't care about telling you what the theories were, as how to recognize them. To this day, all I know about theory is that Marxism'll probably contain references to 'proletariat' and 'bourgeoisie' and Feminism'll pribably have the words 'patriarchy' and 'gender.' Princeton Review, everybody, let's give it a round of applause. But everyone I've talked to so far seems fairly cool and down to earth. We all talk about books a lot, but it's always pretty casual and relaxed. No one's trying to outsnob anyone else. In fact, a couple of the other grad students mentioned being worried about the same thing. It's nice not to be alone.
My tentative schedule for the next semester is as follows:
Eng 300 Pedagogy-TBA
Eng 340 Intro to Grad Studies-Fri. 9-11:50am
Eng 353 Advanced Shakespeare-Thurs. 2:50-5:50pm
Eng 390 English Colloquium- Wed. 2:00-5:00pm (which means I can stay in Deadlands! Yay!)
Eng 133 Women Writers I (TA)-Tues & Fri. 1:25-2:40pm
Eng 390 is a 0 credit course. It's my "mandatory-volunteer" class. Every Wednesday, we go all congregate at the Anderson House, and listen while 2 or 3 people present information. Usually it's students presenting papers, or information on their thesis, occasionally it's faculty and guests presenting new work. In addition to that, my contract as a TA stipulates that I must set aside 2 to 3 hours (minimum) a week for office hours. It'll be hard, but I think I can somehow fit that into my schedule.
As it is now (and since Pedagogy is still TBA this may change) I have Mondays off completely, an hour and fifteen minutes of TAing on Tuesday, 3 hours of Colloquium on Wednesday, and class on Thursday and Friday. I think I can handle this. I'll probably set up 2 hours on Tuesday (right after class) and Wednesday (right before the Colloquium) for Office Hours.
Man, this grad school thing rules
I've got TA orientation tomorrow from 9 to 2, and then I'm meeting the professor who's teaching the class I'm TAing around 2:15. I figured it'd be a good idea to sit down with her and chat, since I'm new to both Clark and TAing in general. If I can find out what she expects beforehand, I'll be in a much better position to start.
I met all my fellow grad English students yesterday. There was an Orientation on Sunday, but I was too miserable to really interact much, but we had more Orientation yesterday. Speaking of, if I have to come up with another thing I like that starts with the letter "N", I'll be crucifying someone. In the morning, we had a tour of the campus (which was a lot of fun because yesterday the freshmen were moving in, too.) and my group was made up of almost all my fellow English grad students. We chatted while we wandered the campus, and then we all sat together during the rest of the official Orientation, and then all caught lunch together. After lunch, we had free time until 2:30 when we were meeting with SunHee, the English grad chair, so we just hung out together. Anderson House is the English grad building (it's literally a house, much like the old RC at Uconn) and it's filled with all sorts of comfy sofas and chairs and places to mingle. We all ended up downstairs in the library, sprawled out on couches.
I'm really glad I've met these guys. I was pretty worried that I'd go and everyone else would be snotty and talk like "So, Foucault's theory of deconstructionist views in post-colonial literature is quite droll, however I far prefer the Marxist view. After all, darling, who are the post-colonialists, if not the bourgeoisie?" and such. The closest I got to literary theory was studying for the GRE's and they didn't care about telling you what the theories were, as how to recognize them. To this day, all I know about theory is that Marxism'll probably contain references to 'proletariat' and 'bourgeoisie' and Feminism'll pribably have the words 'patriarchy' and 'gender.' Princeton Review, everybody, let's give it a round of applause. But everyone I've talked to so far seems fairly cool and down to earth. We all talk about books a lot, but it's always pretty casual and relaxed. No one's trying to outsnob anyone else. In fact, a couple of the other grad students mentioned being worried about the same thing. It's nice not to be alone.
My tentative schedule for the next semester is as follows:
Eng 300 Pedagogy-TBA
Eng 340 Intro to Grad Studies-Fri. 9-11:50am
Eng 353 Advanced Shakespeare-Thurs. 2:50-5:50pm
Eng 390 English Colloquium- Wed. 2:00-5:00pm (which means I can stay in Deadlands! Yay!)
Eng 133 Women Writers I (TA)-Tues & Fri. 1:25-2:40pm
Eng 390 is a 0 credit course. It's my "mandatory-volunteer" class. Every Wednesday, we go all congregate at the Anderson House, and listen while 2 or 3 people present information. Usually it's students presenting papers, or information on their thesis, occasionally it's faculty and guests presenting new work. In addition to that, my contract as a TA stipulates that I must set aside 2 to 3 hours (minimum) a week for office hours. It'll be hard, but I think I can somehow fit that into my schedule.
As it is now (and since Pedagogy is still TBA this may change) I have Mondays off completely, an hour and fifteen minutes of TAing on Tuesday, 3 hours of Colloquium on Wednesday, and class on Thursday and Friday. I think I can handle this. I'll probably set up 2 hours on Tuesday (right after class) and Wednesday (right before the Colloquium) for Office Hours.
Man, this grad school thing rules