These are my ponderings, thoughts about life in graduate school, based on Aaron Karo's Ruminations. They're fictional entertainment and not criticism so don't sue me. - rani
Ponderings #6 - fall ends
It sounds ominous, and well it should. It is to be dreaded and feared, not just because it means another is coming. You might say, but vacation is coming! It's a new year! Ha! You are deluded: 3 measly days of real vacation is what universities pretend is your reward for your loyal slavery. Let us not consider the kind of vacation that, for example,
college graduates in waste management are making at high tech companies that manufacture styrofoam containers.
A few warning signs alert you that the end of the fall term is imminent:
- radio songs in your lab frequently contain words like "fa" and "la"
- your advisor (already known for points on the top of his forehead) grows points on his ears and toes, and is appearing to shrink
- when she wants you dismissed, your supervisor sings "Should auld acquantance be forgot..."
- your classmates keep talking about how much better things are going to be for grad students the NEXT millennium
yeah, right. We'll see about that.
You know, being a grad student isn't that bad. There are some amazing benefits involved. I can't think of any, but I'm sure there are some. No, just kidding, we have several (this issue is in LIST mode):
- we can wear whatever we want to work. heck, we could go into lab in bikinis and no one would notice (well, not that anyone would WANT to...)
- we get PAID, unlike the med students (that will, of course, be more than compensated in the long run, when we need our stressed-out hearts examined)
- we have TWO homes - one, a dingy apartment, and the other, a desk at work!
- we are old enough to do wonderful things, like drink and vote and... umm, do research.
In fact, graduate students have the best (or worst) of all worlds - we're paid too little to have any kind of power, but our taxes are too low for us to complain. We can't afford to have cars, which means we live close enough to walk to work and hang out there more often. We can't afford to eat out, but we get to attend numerous seminars which clearly advertise "Refreshments provided." We can't get dates (and considering the clothing we wear...) so instead we hit on our labmates. We can't afford cable so we stare at our computers instead.
Yeah, life rocks. Especially when you learn to believe that the next millennium really will be better for all of us. Hey, after all, when Y2K hits, we'll barely know, hidden in our protective dungeons while the world rages around us.
Happy Holidays!
Life as a Graduate Student - Holiday Edition
The End of the Term.