Class

[wilson]

I'm in class. Still. I've been in class since I was five. I am so over class. I don't want to come back to class. I want to hide with my books and my musty old documents for a while and then not be in school at all anymore.

Lavabe, colchar, throaty, anyone...some words of encouragement (or at least commiseration)?

Everyone else...humor me as I create an entire thread devoted to whining about my frustrations?

[knights68]

a few words for ya...

Class only is as long as you make it
It is also as boring as you let it be.
Ultimately it is as you make it. Might I suggest in the middle of class shouting at the top of your lungs for the voices in your head to speak one at a time?!! I assure you this may relieve the stresses of class, if only momentarily. lol, just a thought.

And if this is a thread on whining, oh boy, do I ssooo need this thread!! I'll add my own whines shortly.

[wilson]

Perhaps my (now dormant for some time) Bickering Board should be broadened a bit, transforming it into the Bickering and Whining Board.

[blublood]

I completely understand how you feel as either myself (working on M. Ed.) or my husband (who completed his M. Div.) have been in class pretty much every year since both of us graduated and we're aren't any spring chickens!

Perhaps a small sabbatical is in order?

[wilson]

Perhaps a small sabbatical is in order?

If only. I suppose Saturday might serve as one. The end of this academic year will be welcome, because then I get to start in on the real meat of my doctoral research, without worrying about showing up to class.

[devildeac]

a few words for ya...

Class only is as long as you make it
It is also as boring as you let it be.
Ultimately it is as you make it. Might I suggest in the middle of class shouting at the top of your lungs for the voices in your head to speak one at a time?!! I assure you this may relieve the stresses of class, if only momentarily. lol, just a thought.

And if this is a thread on whining, oh boy, do I ssooo need this thread!! I'll add my own whines shortly.

if you add a bunch of whines, then we can discuss cheeses that might pair well with those whines

[Lavabe]

I'm in class. Still. I've been in class since I was five. I am so over class. I don't want to come back to class. I want to hide with my books and my musty old documents for a while and then not be in school at all anymore.

Lavabe, colchar, throaty, anyone...some words of encouragement (or at least commiseration)?

Everyone else...humor me as I create an entire thread devoted to whining about my frustrations?

Remember that the classes you are taking, you might be giving in a few years.

Seriously.

Some of my first teaching jobs were for classes that I took in my opening year or two of grad school.

Take notes on how the class is being given. Grab extra syllabi. Grab a spare copy of every assignment. GRAB EVERYTHING!!

Also recognize that you are in class with someone who may eventually be on your committee, may write you a rec, may have a contact for a job, etc...

If it helps you any, remember that Sweetwater will soon be out with its DonkeyPunch barleywine.

Cheers,
Lavabe

[2535Miles]

I'm in class. Still. I've been in class since I was five. I am so over class. I don't want to come back to class. I want to hide with my books and my musty old documents for a while and then not be in school at all anymore.

Lavabe, colchar, throaty, anyone...some words of encouragement (or at least commiseration)?

Everyone else...humor me as I create an entire thread devoted to whining about my frustrations?

Channel Super Troopers. I feel for ya wilson, I had pretty much these same sentiments after my first semester of college.

[devildeac]

Remember that the classes you are taking, you might be giving in a few years.

Seriously.

Some of my first teaching jobs were for classes that I took in my opening year or two of grad school.

Take notes on how the class is being given. Grab extra syllabi. Grab a spare copy of every assignment. GRAB EVERYTHING!!

Also recognize that you are in class with someone who may eventually be on your committee, may write you a rec, may have a contact for a job, etc...

If it helps you any, remember that Sweetwater will soon be out with its DonkeyPunch barleywine.

Cheers,
Lavabe

I think I'd rather have a Happy Ending than a Donkey Punch.

[colchar]

The end of this academic year will be welcome, because then I get to start in on the real meat of my doctoral research, without worrying about showing up to class.

And when that happens, you'll sit on your arse, watch TV, play video games, read books for fun, watch paint peel, etc. for an entire semester. I know I did. And once your dissertation research is completed, you'll do the same - I haven't done a darned thing since getting back from my major research trip to England. Not a darned thing.

If you want to feel better, consider my current situation. I currently have 75 essay (10 pagers) to grade that are due to be returned to the students in class tomorrow night at 7pm. Due to a large dose of laziness and an even larger dose of the flu that's been hitting me for almost a week now, I haven't done any grading at all over the last two weeks. So, between now (10:28am Tuesday) and 7pm tomorrow night, I've got to grade all of them. Feel better about sitting through class now? And yes, I know, this is largely self-inflicted.

[rasputin]

if you add a bunch of whines, then we can discuss cheeses that might pair well with those whines

Isn't that what the Dean Dome is for?

[colchar]

Channel Super Troopers. I feel for ya wilson, I had pretty much these same sentiments after my first semester of college.

Yeah but he's in grad school doing a PhD so it is so much worse than first year.

[Lavabe]

I think I'd rather have a Happy Ending than a Donkey Punch.

Ugh!

In terms of the brews, I believe Wilson has previously stated that he does not like the Sweetwater Happy Ending, as it replaced one of his favorite Sweetwater varieties.

Cheers,
Lavabe

[wilson]

Channel Super Troopers. I feel for ya wilson, I had pretty much these same sentiments after my first semester of college.

Heh. I did ok after my first semester of college, but this is my fifteenth.

[colchar]

Heh. I did ok after my first semester of college, but this is my fifteenth.

I'm in my 21st.

8 semesters for undergrad.

6 semesters for Master's.

Just started the third year of my PhD so that makes this my 7th semester for that.

And the worst thing is that I've pretty much decided I am not going to teach when I'm done...

[wilson]

And the worst thing is that I've pretty much decided I am not going to teach when I'm done...

Really? What, then? About the only thing that could pull me off campus would be a chair at the Brookings Institute or something similar.

[colchar]

Really? What, then? About the only thing that could pull me off campus would be a chair at the Brookings Institute or something similar.

I don't want to get stuck doing the sessional thing until I find a tenure-track position. Even with a TT position, I don't think I want to go through the BS involved in getting tenure. And I am more than a little tired of the BS involved with conferences etc.

So I think I am going to go into administration. It seems like a logical alternative to me. That way I can stay on campus, and in academia, without dealing with the stuff I am tired of. If I want to teach a bit I can do so sessionally but at least I wouldn't be dependent on that sessional income as I'd have a full time position at the university.

[TillyGalore]

I don't want to get stuck doing the sessional thing until I find a tenure-track position. Even with a TT position, I don't think I want to go through the BS involved in getting tenure. And I am more than a little tired of the BS involved with conferences etc.

So I think I am going to go into administration. It seems like a logical alternative to me. That way I can stay on campus, and in academia, without dealing with the stuff I am tired of.

If you're going to go into academic administration, you'll have a whole lot of BS to deal with.

[Indoor66]

If you're going to go into academic administration, you'll have a whole lot of BS to deal with.

If you go into any administrative position you face a whole lot of BS and even more politics to survive. Teaching and tenure track will seem tame in retrospect.

[allenmurray]

If you're going to go into academic administration, you'll have a whole lot of BS to deal with.

That is true, but it will primarily be BS you have created yourself.