On the Plus Side
I have decided, after reading my last several posts and the associated comments, that I have become entirely too negative. There are good things about graduate school after all and I will highlight some now.
I took a two hour lunch today. And no one cared. I went down to east campus where there is a lovely sitting area and met a bunch of other students to grill out. It was a beautiful day, people ate much grilled meat (I had some lovely steamed broccoli and brussel sprouts) and all in all it was as pleasant occasion. Then we went for ice cream at the fantastic homemade ice cream place in town. By about 1:45 pm, I headed back to work for the afternoon.
When my advisor is out of town, I can work at home. And again, no one cares. I can sit at my glass kitchen table, drink some tea, wear my pajamas and slippers and just work all alone in my house.
And while on the subject of hours, I could frankly keep pretty much whatever hours I want. There are the urban legends of grad students who evolved onto 36-hour schedules while writing their theses. Plus, there are even researchers here who roll into the office at 2 or 3 in the afternoon and work until midnight.
It's summer now (university-wise, at least). Around 25,000 people left town last week. It's nice. Quiet. And there is more parking available.
I study the things that interest me. No one tells me what to do; it's up to me to figure out how to answer the questions that pop into my head! I find a problem that intrigues me, I figure out what data I need to solve the problem (or at least how to start to get a handle on the problem), and I follow where that data leads me. That's pretty cool. To me, at least. There is a lot of freedom in science research.
I took a two hour lunch today. And no one cared. I went down to east campus where there is a lovely sitting area and met a bunch of other students to grill out. It was a beautiful day, people ate much grilled meat (I had some lovely steamed broccoli and brussel sprouts) and all in all it was as pleasant occasion. Then we went for ice cream at the fantastic homemade ice cream place in town. By about 1:45 pm, I headed back to work for the afternoon.
When my advisor is out of town, I can work at home. And again, no one cares. I can sit at my glass kitchen table, drink some tea, wear my pajamas and slippers and just work all alone in my house.
And while on the subject of hours, I could frankly keep pretty much whatever hours I want. There are the urban legends of grad students who evolved onto 36-hour schedules while writing their theses. Plus, there are even researchers here who roll into the office at 2 or 3 in the afternoon and work until midnight.
It's summer now (university-wise, at least). Around 25,000 people left town last week. It's nice. Quiet. And there is more parking available.
I study the things that interest me. No one tells me what to do; it's up to me to figure out how to answer the questions that pop into my head! I find a problem that intrigues me, I figure out what data I need to solve the problem (or at least how to start to get a handle on the problem), and I follow where that data leads me. That's pretty cool. To me, at least. There is a lot of freedom in science research.
posted by Meredith | 9:28 PM
3 Comments:
I think I felt the same way in grad school. Constantly worried about being "found out" that you really don't belong there. Now, that worry nags me at my job. But, you really can't beat the freedom of grad school. True, you're poor, but you'll never have that much time with wiggle room again. Enjoy!
and all of that, ladies and gentlemen, is why part of me will always regret not following you to colorado for some grad school of my own. *sigh*
You make research sound almost pleasant!
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