The problem with a public record, or, at least I didn’t have a blog when I was 12.
Isn’t it cute how I totally thought I’d be writing my dissertation by now?
To be fair, I do have a paper I wrote this spring that I plan to transform into a chapter, and I also didn’t realize when I made the post linked above that I would be spending Spring 2007 as a not-TECHNICALLY-enrolled visiting student at MIT rather than taking classes for actual credit back in Madison. I’d still only have a semester of coursework left, except that our required methods course is ONLY offered in the spring. It’s not so bad; I’m going to be TA’ing anyway, so a light course load is a good thing. And I HAVE passed both my prelim exams, which is probably difficult to appreciate if you don’t have any of your own to take, but believe me, it’s a relief (even if no one can figure out how I managed to finish prelims and still have classes left to take). Finishing up my coursework this spring, I should still be able to get out by Spring 2010, which puts my time in the program at the average for students entering without an MS (seven years*).
I still want a dining room table. And possibly another cat,** because I have not done enough damage to my marital prospects with all this graduate education.
I’ll be back in Madison in a week.*** It’s a little weird to consider, having spent a year away in places with TRAINS and many sources of Indian food, but at least they got a Trader Joe’s, and I miss my friends there. I’m feeling more positive about it this week than I have pretty much since last September, which I suppose could be a last-ditch self-preservation trick of my subconscious, but you know, whatever, I’m willing to just think I’m content if necessary. I’m looking forward to the farmers’ market, and having my cats again (and a vet who I trust at the UW vet school), and half-price cocktails at the Opus (the Cha Cha Cha matches my hair, and as we have recently learned, is a vital source of antioxidants by virtue of containing berries in its alcohol). I’m looking forward to classes (yes, finishing them especially) and being a TA.
I’m also looking forward to buying a commuter-road bike. Any recommendations on where to buy a new bike in Madison? Preferred retailers, etc.? I sold my 10-year-old mountain bike on craigslist this weekend,**** so this week I am riding my absent housemate’s commuter-road bike. I feel as if I have gone from a comfortable, well-bred mule to a high-strung Arabian warhorse, but this is probably largely due to the bicycle frame being too big for me, even with the seat all the way down. I still don’t want another mountain bike; even the good ones are too heavy for my needs. I do, however, anticipate that I will probably have to paint the new bike myself if I want it to suit me.
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*Mention this figure to a student in the hard sciences and watch them recoil in horror, but I sort of like the symbolism of it–v. folkloric. About the length of time you’d expect to spend, say, in the thrall of an evil witch+ or asleep inside a pearl at the bottom of an ocean of dragon spit.
**Not until I have a house, or at least more than 500 square feet of apartment. I’m not a COMPLETE idiot.
***I would take a photo of the huge pile of boxes I have to ship to myself via FedEx tomorrow night, but I’m not sure I want you guys to know how crassly materialist I truly am.
****To someone whose companion asked me where I was moving, and when I said I was a grad student in Madison, asked if I knew someone or other. I didn’t. I explained that although I am an intern at an R&D company, I am a sociologist, so I probably wouldn’t know the people she’d think. She then asked if I knew Michael Bell, a UW sociologist and also her uncle. Small world.
+Not to imply anything about my advisors. No! Really! Please let me graduate.
August 20th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
Mountain bikes vs. road bikes: I am contemplating upgrading to a warhorse, too. My mountain bike is OLD, and therefore very, very heavy, and the softness of the tyres makes J (who has a nice road bike) laugh. And it only has five gears, which probably makes it not actually a mountain bike. I got it for my thirteenth birthday, which might just mean I’m allowed a new one for my 28th?
As for the dissertation-writing: it makes me feel slightly better that you have some of your apprenticeship still to serve, while I am struggling with this MLitt. Actually, if I’d chosen to do a PhD straight from university, I would almost certainly be done by now. Still, it wouldn’t have been a good idea.
August 20th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
The British graduate education system is the envy of most US grad students I know. After four years slogging along here, I could go to the UK and START OVER and probably have a PhD at the same time I’ll finish mine here. I am now going to try not to think about it. :p
Road bikes do go much faster than mountain bikes on roads, as you might guess. I think mountain bikes are favored for kids/teenagers just because they’re hard to really fuck up, being designed to be ridden all over the damn place and through ditches and whatnot. And if you are a student and need a bike you can leave outside a lot and possibly ride home tipsy, again, the mountain bike is for you. But now that I am a responsible adult (ahem) looking for a Primary Mode of Transportation, I feel like I really should get a road bike.
August 20th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
you and i will graduate at the same time! (spring 2010, which feels crazy far away right now). and i am TA’ing as well, in the fall AND the spring. whoo.
road bikes rock…i rode my mountain bike for about four months and i really just wanted to kill myself.
August 21st, 2007 at 3:59 am
Yes, I know that in general PhDs here are quicker, but they’re still subject to delays: I know at least one person who took over seven years to do his. His supervisor retired unexpectedly after two years, and it took over a year for the university to sort out a replacement (they did try to provide him with someone earlier, but it didn’t work out)… We seem to be moving a little closer to the US system, also: it used to be that you never had to do any classes, but now it’s quite common (though not universal) to have to take some, anyway.
August 21st, 2007 at 10:50 am
Meanwhile, I, having a road bike, am about to buy a commuter/touring bike which will be a good bit heavier, but more convenient for hauling my junk. And more durable on bad roads, and more comfortable on long distance rides.
But then, I’m keeping the road bike as well. I figure if I get used to riding the touring bike, I’ll really fly when I get on the high-strung stallion.
August 21st, 2007 at 5:57 pm
(I don’t know if I’ve commented here before. If I haven’t, you might be interested to know that I got here via PinkHairedCyn.) My neuroscience PhD program had a six-year average time-to-graduate when I started. Seven years doesn’t sound outlandish to me, but I’m really hoping to get out in six or 6.5.