So I was at a conference this morning when my department chair (the one mentioned in a previous post) tracked me down to see if there was anything she could say to make me stay. She then offered me funding, a reversal on a stupid decision they had made regarding my master's degree, a key to the city, you know, pretty much anything I wanted if I would just STAY.
I am amused, annoyed, frustrated, pleased. I am all of those things and probably five more. Why does it take me threatening to leave for them to treat me well?
Lamesauce, that's what that is.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Milk
This week I bought milk that won't expire until after I leave Indiana. Now that's exciting.
A strange measure of time, but it works for me.
A strange measure of time, but it works for me.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
100%!!
I had my last real class for one of my classes today. I had a goal to get the professor to say, "I agree with Marin" every week and I am happy to now report that I went 14 for 14 weeks. Take that, Purdue!*
Also, I emailed one of my professors from last semester and told her I was transferring. She has been hired as the department chair. Here is her reply:
Dear Marin,
I hate to see you leave! Let me know if I can talk you out of it.
Best, Rxxxx**
Ha, nice try Rxxxx!** Too little, too late!
And finally, I posted my furniture on craigslist last night because I was worried about it selling...and now everything's gone. Fortunately, most of it is being purchased by a friend of mine in the ward and they aren't moving into their new house until the end of April, so it kind of couldn't have worked more perfectly. Unfortunately, I sold my vacuum. Oh well, nobody vacuums more than once a month, right? Right?
*For those of you questioning why this is a big deal, you're just going to have to trust me that in graduate school, especially political science graduate school, getting a professor to agree with you, especially on a controversial point, is a very large point of pride.
**Not her actual name :)
Also, I emailed one of my professors from last semester and told her I was transferring. She has been hired as the department chair. Here is her reply:
Dear Marin,
I hate to see you leave! Let me know if I can talk you out of it.
Best, Rxxxx**
Ha, nice try Rxxxx!** Too little, too late!
And finally, I posted my furniture on craigslist last night because I was worried about it selling...and now everything's gone. Fortunately, most of it is being purchased by a friend of mine in the ward and they aren't moving into their new house until the end of April, so it kind of couldn't have worked more perfectly. Unfortunately, I sold my vacuum. Oh well, nobody vacuums more than once a month, right? Right?
*For those of you questioning why this is a big deal, you're just going to have to trust me that in graduate school, especially political science graduate school, getting a professor to agree with you, especially on a controversial point, is a very large point of pride.
**Not her actual name :)
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Oh Abe
The friend I borrowed the camera from is also the friend I went to Springfield, Illinois with during spring break, so while I was uploading my apartment pictures I stole her pictures of Springfield as well. Springfield might as well be called Lincoln town. This is a statue of Mary and Abe Lincoln and one of their sons in front of his old law offices. There's another statue of another son running away across the square (that's who the little boy is waving at).
This was the Lincoln home for 8 years. Springfield has set aside four city blocks and preserved many of the homes there, so you are not just seeing the house, but what the neighborhood would have looked like. Please note the red covered wagon in front of the house (ok, that was only there because there were a bunch of workers there cutting down a diseased tree across the street. Otherwise everything was mid-1850s-ish).
This is one of the bedrooms. What really struck me is that none of the furniture seemed big enough to accommodate a man as tall as Lincoln was. How was he ever comfortable in his own home? Also, they liked crazy busy wallpaper.
This is the Lincoln tomb. It is ginormous. If you look closely you can see that the nose of that bust in front is lighter than the rest of the statue. I'm pretty sure that's from people rubbing it. Do you think they were rubbing it for luck? What sort of luck do they think Lincoln's nose brings?
This is where Lincoln is actually buried. You go into the tomb and it has a bunch of statues of Lincoln, and then finally this room. His wife and three of his sons are buried here as well.
This was the Lincoln home for 8 years. Springfield has set aside four city blocks and preserved many of the homes there, so you are not just seeing the house, but what the neighborhood would have looked like. Please note the red covered wagon in front of the house (ok, that was only there because there were a bunch of workers there cutting down a diseased tree across the street. Otherwise everything was mid-1850s-ish).
This is one of the bedrooms. What really struck me is that none of the furniture seemed big enough to accommodate a man as tall as Lincoln was. How was he ever comfortable in his own home? Also, they liked crazy busy wallpaper.
This is the Lincoln tomb. It is ginormous. If you look closely you can see that the nose of that bust in front is lighter than the rest of the statue. I'm pretty sure that's from people rubbing it. Do you think they were rubbing it for luck? What sort of luck do they think Lincoln's nose brings?
This is where Lincoln is actually buried. You go into the tomb and it has a bunch of statues of Lincoln, and then finally this room. His wife and three of his sons are buried here as well.
My apartment
Hold onto your hats, here's a third post today. Whoa.
So I realize that given my last post this is coming a little late, but I finally borrowed a camera from a friend because I am selling some of my stuff before I move, and I thought I would finally take pictures of my apartment so you could all see where I have been living for the past 9 months.
This is my kitchen with its little mini stove. It's kind of cute, right?
This is my bathroom. Ha, no just kidding, this is something even better than my bathroom. This is Abraham Lincoln's bathroom. More on that in a subsequent post.
This is my front room, with my lovely flower rug and my desk that has basically been a bookshelf because I never bothered to get a chair that was the right height to work comfortably.
And this is my front room from the front door. It looks like a nice place to live, right? If it weren't for the smell and the fairly disgusting carpet (my cool rug notwithstanding), it would be a very nice place to live. I'd want to live here. I guess it's a good thing I do.
And that's my apartment.
So I realize that given my last post this is coming a little late, but I finally borrowed a camera from a friend because I am selling some of my stuff before I move, and I thought I would finally take pictures of my apartment so you could all see where I have been living for the past 9 months.
Starting from the back of the apartment, this is my bedroom. It's functional, it's fine, it has piles of things just out of sight of the camera. And those things you are seeing on the wall above my bed are the fuse box and the air conditioner. I think they really add to the ambiance.
This is my bedroom from another angle. Mostly I just wanted to show the awesome jewelry display. It's awesome.
This is my bedroom from another angle. Mostly I just wanted to show the awesome jewelry display. It's awesome.
This is my kitchen with its little mini stove. It's kind of cute, right?
This is my bathroom. Ha, no just kidding, this is something even better than my bathroom. This is Abraham Lincoln's bathroom. More on that in a subsequent post.
This is my front room, with my lovely flower rug and my desk that has basically been a bookshelf because I never bothered to get a chair that was the right height to work comfortably.
And this is my front room from the front door. It looks like a nice place to live, right? If it weren't for the smell and the fairly disgusting carpet (my cool rug notwithstanding), it would be a very nice place to live. I'd want to live here. I guess it's a good thing I do.And that's my apartment.
Woohoo?
The culture of this department is exceptionally weird. Weird, dysfunctional, non-supportive, competitive, and just strange. Since this is a public blog, I'm not going to say much more, except to say that while I enjoy Indiana a great deal (which is a shocker) this particular department is not one in which I feel I have a place. To that end, in January I somewhat randomly and somewhat inspiredly decided to apply to transfer to the University of Utah. I figured if I was going to be going through hell I might as well be doing it closer to friends and family. Also, there are some professors at the U that are closer to what I want to study.
Long story short, I got in, got funded, and will be starting at the U this fall. It's a little random, I admit, but things fell into place so easily for me with this whole process (I called them to ask about applying 10 days after the deadline but they told me if I could get it in within the next 5 days they would consider me, then shockingly I got everything in, including letters of recommendation) that I feel really good about it.
So, here are some of thing things I will miss about Indiana:
1. My friends
2. Volleyball at my church every Tuesday night
3. ....
Yep, that's it. Indiana has no particular cuisine that I have discovered and it's reasonably pretty, but it's not gorgeous, and really, how many cornfields do you need to see in your lifetime? And where are the mountains? Purdue has a nice campus, but it's not spectacularly outstanding or anything.
Oh wait, I will also miss my adviser, Ann. As I said to her when I was telling her about transferring, the fact that she is not at the U was definitely a point against it. She has been kindness itself, and very encouraging. Also, within half an hour of my telling her I had an email waiting from her husband Jay (who is a professor in the department who I worked with last semester) telling me that I would be missed. I have to admit I was flattered at how fast she ran to tell him.
Long story short, I got in, got funded, and will be starting at the U this fall. It's a little random, I admit, but things fell into place so easily for me with this whole process (I called them to ask about applying 10 days after the deadline but they told me if I could get it in within the next 5 days they would consider me, then shockingly I got everything in, including letters of recommendation) that I feel really good about it.
So, here are some of thing things I will miss about Indiana:
1. My friends
2. Volleyball at my church every Tuesday night
3. ....
Yep, that's it. Indiana has no particular cuisine that I have discovered and it's reasonably pretty, but it's not gorgeous, and really, how many cornfields do you need to see in your lifetime? And where are the mountains? Purdue has a nice campus, but it's not spectacularly outstanding or anything.
Oh wait, I will also miss my adviser, Ann. As I said to her when I was telling her about transferring, the fact that she is not at the U was definitely a point against it. She has been kindness itself, and very encouraging. Also, within half an hour of my telling her I had an email waiting from her husband Jay (who is a professor in the department who I worked with last semester) telling me that I would be missed. I have to admit I was flattered at how fast she ran to tell him.
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