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| Who do you know?Weddings are one of those few times for a family reunion. They are also times where networking skills need to be spot on--running into people you haven't seen in ages, trying to remember someone's name, basic schmoozing 101. I sat at a table that was apparently filled with the yuppie crowd, cousins and loved ones of both the bride and groom. People introduced themselves, saying the reasonable and expected triumvirate of location, job, and one's relationship with the wedding party. I felt very snobbish saying that I was a grad student from sunny, no-humidity California. But talking to the others made me realize that at least the summers are still (relatively) my domain where I don't have to report to some boss and do some project due every Monday. Talking to these strangers also provides interesting insights on who the married couple are and the wedding details that were planned. Special to the menu was stuffed ham, a regional dish that seemed not that special and more just like cured, cold ham. I forgot what hush puppies were, confusing them with the crab balls that I though tasted like hush puppies. Overall, the wedding was fun and the food was filling, plus the family was great to see, too.
PS - It is dangerous during the reception when there is the throwing of the bride's garter and the bouquet of flows. You have a 50% chance of being related to the person who catches the garter/boquet. At this wedding, pre-teen kids actually caught them; more disturbing is that they were also cousins who had previously participated in the wedding ceremony a couple hours previously. | | |
| Evals: Third time's a charmTAing for Prof Smiles was a totally different experience than TAing for Prof Die Hard. I didn't have to play "bad cop" this time since Prof Smiles was up front about grading. I tried to incorporate simulations (fundamental game theory simulations), however as the course material discussed issues such as legislation and bureaucracy, these mental games got harder to create and I went back to lecturing. Initially, I was torn between having a discussion of the readings that only ten-percent of the class read or lecture the whole class on stuff that they may need to know. Again, I avoided going over the review questions that the students had ahead of time; instead, I talked about other parts of the readings that (I thought) needed emphasis. The distribution was overwhelmingly positive, so I will only include the negativity, since that's what makes this entry interesting and worth while.
1. What were the strongest points of the TA in discussion section or office hours?
Not answering the question:
• Is responsive to emails and requests, but the discussion never helped with assignments or exams. We would be given activities that do not specifically relate to the topics learned in class.
2. Do you have any recommendations for your TA that would help that person be a more effective TA in the future?
Fair criticisms:
• a little more organized, and write a little clearer
- Don’t swear in class. It comes off awkwardly.
• Some of the details he gave in discussion section seemed extraneous.
Technically, not my job:
• Perhaps focus more on the questions from reading that would be on the tests.
• all the information given never seemed to make sense and/or help on the exams
• - Work more directly with course material rather than presenting other things. More review of the course readings or review of lecture. While every discussion was related to the course, sometimes it was hard to find a direct correlation/purpose to why we were doing certain activities.
• For this class, go over the questions she gives us so we can improve on what is expected and how to approach teh questions.
What I would like to do one day as a pedagogue:
• More discussion, less lecturing. It may seem like the students want him to recite the readings, but it would be more useful to incorporate some of the earlier teaching methods that he was using during the first two weeks. I find the material is easier to grasp if the TA doesn’t handout the answers all the time. | | |
| Peers, jeers, cheersI scheduled a meeting with Prof Advisor in the end of the academic year. I haven't had a formal meeting with Advisor since the first term, though we've briefly chatted throughout the term. I've reluctantly gotten used to calling her by her first name, though I still think I don't merit that privilege yet. Maybe until I write a dissertation, get hired, and then come out with a book, then maybe we can be considered peers. I had the same hesitation with Prof. Francophile via email, I would insist (in French) that he doesn't have to use the polite, formal form when addressing me (think "vous" en français, "usted" en español, "po" sa tagalog). When I saw him in person the next day, I threw out the line, "I'm only a grad student," and then he had a mini-tirade saying that we (faculty and grad students) are peers. Peers? Peers are supposed to have some semblance of equality. However, grad students are virtually powerless, nothing more than indentured servants to the university and our advisors. For the most part, we seek their approval and await their advice and wait for them to sign-off on paperwork.
However, not only I don't have paperwork to present Prof. Advisor of my "progress," I don't have anything tangible to show her; all I can present are my ruminations of what I think I want to study, how might I approach it, and what I think I need to read. It's like me returning from the kiln empty-handed with Prof. Advisor, the proverbial master artisan, awaiting to judge the craftsmanship of her apprentice (me). No, she didn't berate me or tell me that I'm wasting my time even though I had not succeed the initial tasks she stipulated in the first meeting. She was more specific on how to approach the grunt work of grad school, though. Mostly importantly, Prof. Advisor can take a joke at her own expense despite her blunt demeanor:
Her academic work: a certain group of people views another group of people in reference to a third group of people
Her advice for me: I should frame my three qualifying papers around my dissertation topic
My joke about her: You sure like to triangulate everything, huh?
Her response: Yes, I do seem to like to group things by three's
I learned that Prof Advisor just may be someone who I can hug (one day possibly) during graduation if/when I get "hooded" in the end. It's nice to know that someone (a faculty member) has many similar opinions with you and that there is a way to navigate it. Though, not an easy path, it is feasible. Certainly my path will look nothing like her path, for I did not go to the schools that she went to. My path will probably look a lot longer and rockier in comparison. But for now, there is a path to follow--hers. | | |
| List 15 BooksFinally, one of those chain-mail-esque Facebook-note-posts I'm happily obliging to do. Below are 15 of the most memorable books I've read. [These are the first ones that come to mind, some of them great ones, many of them entertaining ones.]
L'étranger (The stranger) >> CAMUS
Un coeur simple >> Gustave FLAUBERT
L'ingénu >> VOLTAIRE
Nations Unbound >> Cristina SZANTON BLANC, Nina GLICK SCHILLER
Empire of Care >> Catherine Ceniza CHOY
Rolling the R's >> R. Zamora LINMARK
Harry Potter (series) >> J. K. Rowling
Chronicle of Narnia (series) >> C. L. Lewis
Clue (series) >> A. E. Parker et al.
Dubliners >> James Joyce
The Power and the Glory >> Graham Greene
Global Divas >> Martin MANALANSAN IV
The Gangster of Love >> Jessica HAGEDORN
Fixer Chao >> Han ONG
Invisible Man >> Ralph ELLISON | | |
| C'est la fin. [This is the end.]Just one more week to get through this hellish term, and this overall year. Last week was perhaps the hardest week of the term since both of my term papers for seminar were due. I turned one in during the last class as we communally presented each of our 2-page, singled-space research proposal. I thought it was a solid one, however in class then again separately in his office hours, he was lukewarm at best about it. I didn't secure that signature for a qualifying paper. Santa encouraged me to read (surprise!) over the summer.
On Wednesday, we had our last official seminar for our last core class. It was optional where a few people presented and everyone awaited comments from Prof. Nukes. Only about one-third of the cohort showed up. The presentations were going, Prof. Nukes was interrupting and offering suggestions. It hit four o'clock at after hearing everyone else's presentation, I decided that I was in no shape to present. I didn't even have a powerpoint. Nukes wanted theory, I had primarily empirics. The end of seminar (by extension, the end of the core classes) was very anti-climatic: people leaving their separate ways, a majority of the students absent. This was totally opposite of the first seminar with Prof. PoliSci.
Afterwards, I went to an end-of-the-year party with one of the departments across the campus that I have taken a class this past winter term. There, they had an actual presentation of all the graduating seniors (with little speeches) as well as those grad students who accomplished the emphasis (with little speeches). The food was great, free, and plentiful. It was a good break from the anxiety felt from the last seminar I attended beforehand. There, they insisted on taking pictures.
The next day, I had TA class and sections with Prof. Smiles. Afterwards, I went home to finish Nuke's paper. I haven't been sleeping lately because of this paper as well as Roland Garros. With the time difference, play would begin around 5am local time. Friday, the Department had its own end-of-the-year Hawaiian-style party. The tables were arranged in two vertical rows. The food was also plentiful. It felt like Thanksgiving dinner, grad students have their own table while the "adults" have their own. It felt like a weird family, people coming together, catching up, saying goodbye. It is a rare thing to get a majority of the department together, it is probably even a rarer thing for it to get along. I would eventually finished that horrid paper, just in time to catch the women's championship match in Paris.
Saturday, I went to the PhD/MA graduation. Surprisingly, it was held indoors. I would assume that they would like to take advantage of the weather, but as the Chancellor said, at least it won't be hot. I didn't understand the order of the procession of the schools -- not alphabetical, not by geographical location on Ring Road. Luckily, my school was first. It was weird, at first, the Chancellor asked all graduates to rise where he then verbally "conferred" their degrees to everyone. Then, the graduates lined up, waiting to get on stage. I recognized one of the graduates, who then the neighbors happily cheered. I didn't realize that that was her family who was in for the ceremony. Then I looked at the kids where one of the daughters was a carbon copy of her mom. For PhDs, you walk up with your advisor, face the audience, slightly bend as they place a "hood" on you (a sash), turn around and give her/him a hug, take a picture, and the walk away. I didn't realize how important it really is to choose an advisor who you get along with. You have to choose an advisor who won' t strangle you with the hood; then you have to be on a comfortable level when you can actually hug them and take a happy, smiling photo with them. There, I remember hearing Profs. Me, Nukes, and Susan Sarandon hooding their own students. However, I don't remember one of them giving a hug, which is kind of awkward. It would be even weirder if you had two advisers "hood" you and they don't get along. I sat back, watching those Ph.D and masters candidates finish while grading papers for my TA. Their journeys ended as mine inched another year closer towards some ending. | | |
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