Today marks the ninth day since this semester started. Life has been completely NUTS. I barely have time to breathe, let alone do anything outside of school.
Here is just a peek at my schedule.
WHEW. Isn't that ugly?
Basically DSL is my lab hours that I spend at the Deaf Studies Lab. I get graduate student wages and I usually want to dedicate that time to the lab so that I can truly focus on literature review and writing my project proposal.
Then after that I have Advanced Concepts of Environmental Chemistry. I should say "advanced." All this is basically what I learned in General and Analytical Chemistry 1.... which I took winter quarter of my freshman year. While it's a nice review, this is ultra basic. We're only covering four chapters in the chemistry textbook, and then we're teaching each other while spending time growing switchgrass. Yeah. Switchgrass. I'm already over it, and I don't even really enjoy it as much as I thought. It's just super frustrating.
Immediately after, I walk back to Rosica/the SDC for my office hours for Rockfest. For those out of the loop, I am on the committee for the RIT/Gallaudet Sports Weekend. It is an annual friendly competition between RIT and Gallaudet University that is alternatively hosted at RIT and Gallaudet. During odd-numbered years it is hosted at RIT and is called Brickfest, and during even-numbered years it is hosted at Gallaudet and called Rockfest. We are expected to stay in the office at least three hours a week, although we're more than welcome to stay longer. Just this week I was in the office for ten hours.
Between my office hours and my evening class, I usually grab a light dinner, and then head to Food Policy. It's actually a pretty interesting class! It's discussion-based so participation is a big deal. We usually watch a short film (first week of classes we watched Food Inc and this week we watched King Corn) and then discuss whatever we read that week. We are assigned three books, and I've found them all very interesting so far. One is just an introduction to public policy in the US with a focus on food. The second book is The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, and the third is Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. Out of the books I'm reading this semester, I'm most excited about The Jungle! It is a book that I've always wanted to read ever since AP US History back in 11th grade.
Tuesdays, I have a one on one with Elyse and Joe, the chairperson and assistant chairperson for Rockfest. This is to go over my assignments for the week and to discuss whatever has to be discussed. It's a great way to make sure I'm on top of everything.
After that, I have a lab meeting with the DSL. We discuss our goals and what has to be done (typically data collection or finding new subjects to do studies on).
Right after that, I grab a lunch and eat it on the run to my first class of the day, Advanced Conservation Biology. I was a biology major during undergrad, so this is like coming home. A lot of what we talk about, I've already learned in General Ecology, Tropical Ecology, and Ornithology, so it's not like I'm out of my depth. I know I already love this class, so that's great. The professor is actually one of my thesis advisers!
After that, I head on over to Graduate Biodiversity and Society. This class... well. I'm not a fan of it. It's basically Conservation Biology so I'm sitting through the same class twice. It's a little frustrating, and the professor is extremely dull.
After that, I have office hours again!
On Wednesdays, my mornings are basically the same. In the afternoon, however, I drive to the University of Rochester for a class that I'm taking there, Workshop in Scientific Communications. It is required as part of my NIH grant, but it's pretty interesting! It's only twelve weeks and I already went to the first two meetings, and it was canceled yesterday due to weather. Funnily enough, the professor for that course is my University of Rochester PI for the grant! It's quite a small class and we mostly focus on grant writing and such.
After that, I drive back to make it in time for my NDLS: Costa Rica study abroad class! I'm doing a study abroad in Costa Rica this summer, and this class's purpose is to help me prepare for the trip. We will be learning Lesco, which is Costa Rican Sign Language, some Spanish, a lot about their culture, and will be focusing on deaf culture there. I'm quite excited about this trip!
Thursdays are basically the same as Tuesday, except that we have a committee meeting on Thursday night for Rockfest. It is a way for the committee to come together and talk about what we've done for the week and what needs to be done as the weekend gets closer.
On Fridays, I have my chemistry class and then a Fuze session with VL2. I'm a VL2 student, and it is a fantastic way for graduate students to get to know each other, especially in the deaf world. We have a session every Friday for three hours where we set up a video conference and then one person presents. Either we'll get to practice our presentations for any upcoming conferences, or we'll learn some new, updated research from a professional.
So that's my average week! I'm so busy I can't breathe, but I love it.
Here is just a peek at my schedule.
Basically DSL is my lab hours that I spend at the Deaf Studies Lab. I get graduate student wages and I usually want to dedicate that time to the lab so that I can truly focus on literature review and writing my project proposal.
Then after that I have Advanced Concepts of Environmental Chemistry. I should say "advanced." All this is basically what I learned in General and Analytical Chemistry 1.... which I took winter quarter of my freshman year. While it's a nice review, this is ultra basic. We're only covering four chapters in the chemistry textbook, and then we're teaching each other while spending time growing switchgrass. Yeah. Switchgrass. I'm already over it, and I don't even really enjoy it as much as I thought. It's just super frustrating.
Immediately after, I walk back to Rosica/the SDC for my office hours for Rockfest. For those out of the loop, I am on the committee for the RIT/Gallaudet Sports Weekend. It is an annual friendly competition between RIT and Gallaudet University that is alternatively hosted at RIT and Gallaudet. During odd-numbered years it is hosted at RIT and is called Brickfest, and during even-numbered years it is hosted at Gallaudet and called Rockfest. We are expected to stay in the office at least three hours a week, although we're more than welcome to stay longer. Just this week I was in the office for ten hours.
Between my office hours and my evening class, I usually grab a light dinner, and then head to Food Policy. It's actually a pretty interesting class! It's discussion-based so participation is a big deal. We usually watch a short film (first week of classes we watched Food Inc and this week we watched King Corn) and then discuss whatever we read that week. We are assigned three books, and I've found them all very interesting so far. One is just an introduction to public policy in the US with a focus on food. The second book is The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, and the third is Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. Out of the books I'm reading this semester, I'm most excited about The Jungle! It is a book that I've always wanted to read ever since AP US History back in 11th grade.
Tuesdays, I have a one on one with Elyse and Joe, the chairperson and assistant chairperson for Rockfest. This is to go over my assignments for the week and to discuss whatever has to be discussed. It's a great way to make sure I'm on top of everything.
After that, I have a lab meeting with the DSL. We discuss our goals and what has to be done (typically data collection or finding new subjects to do studies on).
Right after that, I grab a lunch and eat it on the run to my first class of the day, Advanced Conservation Biology. I was a biology major during undergrad, so this is like coming home. A lot of what we talk about, I've already learned in General Ecology, Tropical Ecology, and Ornithology, so it's not like I'm out of my depth. I know I already love this class, so that's great. The professor is actually one of my thesis advisers!
After that, I head on over to Graduate Biodiversity and Society. This class... well. I'm not a fan of it. It's basically Conservation Biology so I'm sitting through the same class twice. It's a little frustrating, and the professor is extremely dull.
After that, I have office hours again!
On Wednesdays, my mornings are basically the same. In the afternoon, however, I drive to the University of Rochester for a class that I'm taking there, Workshop in Scientific Communications. It is required as part of my NIH grant, but it's pretty interesting! It's only twelve weeks and I already went to the first two meetings, and it was canceled yesterday due to weather. Funnily enough, the professor for that course is my University of Rochester PI for the grant! It's quite a small class and we mostly focus on grant writing and such.
After that, I drive back to make it in time for my NDLS: Costa Rica study abroad class! I'm doing a study abroad in Costa Rica this summer, and this class's purpose is to help me prepare for the trip. We will be learning Lesco, which is Costa Rican Sign Language, some Spanish, a lot about their culture, and will be focusing on deaf culture there. I'm quite excited about this trip!
Thursdays are basically the same as Tuesday, except that we have a committee meeting on Thursday night for Rockfest. It is a way for the committee to come together and talk about what we've done for the week and what needs to be done as the weekend gets closer.
On Fridays, I have my chemistry class and then a Fuze session with VL2. I'm a VL2 student, and it is a fantastic way for graduate students to get to know each other, especially in the deaf world. We have a session every Friday for three hours where we set up a video conference and then one person presents. Either we'll get to practice our presentations for any upcoming conferences, or we'll learn some new, updated research from a professional.
So that's my average week! I'm so busy I can't breathe, but I love it.
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