well, it went well! there was a really long orientation that got really irritating because for about the last 35 minutes i really had to pee, and the graduate advisor was talking and talking and talking. there were a couple of annoying things that i noticed in particular: one is that in an attempt to "conclude" and make a point, people end up repeating the exact same thing they just said. ("don't leave your books somewhere where people can steal them. really, if you leave them on your desk, or just on a table somewhere for a minute, someone can steal them. it happens all the time. so, really, don't leave your books somewhere people can steal them...because if you leave them around, like on your desk..." etc. etc.) the second thing i noticed was hinted at in the first, which is that people will often times give an excessive amount of examples to illustrate what is a simple point to begin with. i was really about to lose it, and the orientation "ended" several times, before another point was brought up, or something was reiterated... etc. i guess inefficient presentation of simple, detail-oriented material is just very very frustrating when 2 cups of coffee and a tall glass of orange juice are swelling in your bladder. i was squirming!
class-wise, the boot camp was actually a lot less rigorous than i thought it might be. it's probably because the stuff we were doing was pretty elementary, but the professors really glossed over a -lot- of details. which is fine, because it will give me something productive to do in the evenings (i.e. fill in the details!). the lecturers are both relaxed and friendly -- i just hope they really get me ready for the test!
i did meet some people in the program. nice, normal people! which was a relief. i came home and made the mistake of trying to fill out tax forms! i also began looking into establishing california residency... dear lord... i'm more or less in a horrible mood now, but i think mostly i'm just tired. tonight i'll probably look over/transcribe some notes from today, work on some problems, possibly try to do something for the music blog... anyway, it will be an early night for me. okay, thanks for reading!
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ReplyDeleteha ha. what I mean to say is
ReplyDeletesorry you're in a bad mood. on the bright side, you may not be as busy as you thought. that will allow you to ease into school again and explore your surroundings. keep up with your projects, like drawing. more projects and less tax forms.
I'm not surprised that the atmosphere is a bit relaxed -- I think this is one of the major differences between grad school and undergrad: in undegrad, you are a "customer". You're paying the college to teach you things, and it is their job to force you to learn it by stressing you out with tests etc. In grad school -- the profs are making an investment in you: they've chosen to put some amount of funding towards paying your tuition and stipend etc, and they have a vested interest in seeing you succeed.
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