October 26, 2011
For those of you who cannot believe I went back to class last night, I'm right there with you. Just for information's sake, last week we were placed in different groups and told to alternate bringing food every class. The group that had last night brought frozen chicken enchiladas cooked in the microwave and a crock-pot of chili. None of which I could eat because I don't eat meat. Good thing I packed a salad. My good friend Andy is also a vegetarian, so we look out for each other. Our assignment this week was to read a case study and do a case report. Some of us got a case study about a 70 year old wrinkly woman who had been in therapy for 20+ years. About 8 years ago, she had an affair with her therapist, who was 40 years her junior. Gross. It was so gross in fact (for the therapist), that he cut her off from his mojo after 27 days. For the next 8 years, she had been obsessing over this guy. The study goes into graphic and gory detail just how far her obsession took her. Anyway, we were to write a case report of what the root of this crazy's problem was and how we would help her. Of course, all this was to be done with no instruction whatsoever, because, if you remember from my last blog, NONE WAS GIVEN. I muddled through. We had to email the case report to our professor before Sunday and he was going to give us back the grades (i.e. papers covered in red ink) before we had to do the next case report assignment (due next week). Of course, being the responsible prof that he is, he informed us last night that he hadn't got around to grading them and it would be Thursday or after before he gets them to us. Now, none of us will even know if we did the first one correctly until after it's time to turn the second one in. Such incompetence! This great annoyance set the tone for me for the rest of last night's excruciating class. But wait....that's only the beginning. Our second assignment--a fun demonstration through a YouTube clip, cartoon or short story--of defense mechanisms. I worked hard on this actually. I found a great little cartoon online, researched some pretty rare defense mechanisms and arranged it in a nice little package. Everyone in the class was given the opportunity to present their defense mechanisms. I have to say, other than a couple, they mostly fell short of what I had prepared. Throughout the presentations, fat-n-happy Santa Claus kept asking who had not yet presented their show and tell. I mentioned that I hadn't a couple of times and was completely ignored. Finally, the assistant director of the program spoke up and said "Daisy hasn't shown her cartoon yet." She was ignored. I was getting a little peeved at this point. I already had a feeling Fat-n-Happy had it out for me, but this was a little conspicuous. Even other people were starting to notice. Even ADHD said something. Of course, she talked all night long so it was no wonder no one paid attention to her reminder. After class, I took a hard copy of my presentation and laid it on his desk so he would at least have documentation that I had completed it. As I was walking back to my desk to pick up my things, me and my friend watched as Fat-n-Happy picked up my presentation from his desk and crumpled it into a ball and threw it in the trash without so much as a glance. Have you ever felt the urge to beat someone's brains in and cry at the same time? Okay, I know it's a little Drama Queen, but that's what I felt. So much work, so little time to trash it. What a jackass. I was seeing orange on the color spectrum, well on my way to red. I grabbed my stuff and headed for the door, but before I did, I couldn't resist one last attempt. Now, in keeping with our defense mechanism theme, I agree this was a little passive-aggressive. I turned to Fat-n-Happy and said "Did you get my presentation I left on your desk?" Knowing full well that he had already thrown it away. To my shock (sort of), he said "Yes." I just turned and walked out the door. I think there was some a-little-too-loud "jackass" remarks as I walked out of the building with my friend Andy and went to my car. Oh what I would have given for a couple of valium. I was stressed/mad/upset all the way home. The sad thing is, I wasn't that upset that he didn't show my presentation or that he threw it away or lied to my face about throwing it away. I was the most upset that I had let Fat-n-Happy affect me like that. Don't you just hate when you let someone into your brain like that. It's not the first time, and most assuredly, it won't be the last. Another case report for next week. Fat-n-Happy setting us all up to be failures and laughing about it all the way back to the north pole.
Daisy
P.S.--City/State guy wore Minnesota
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
794 Days Until "G" Day
October 19, 2011
Last night was our first night of class and boy, was it a doozy. Actually, let me back up. It wasn't the first official night of class, but rather, our orientation. Felt like a water boarding session though. As soon as I arrived (first, of course--I'm an overachiever), the assistant director of the program started handing out our books. Normally, books are handed out at orientation for the entire semester. So, we were given 5 books. We have 5 6-week courses this semester, so it made sense. Not so fast. As other students started arriving, rumors started floating around about whether these were for the first semester or for the first class. Eventually, we found out, much to our dismay, these 5 textbooks were for our first class. Ugh. Not a good start. There are approximately 15 people in my program. There is a girl who introduced herself headlining that she has ADHD (and man, does she prove it in subsequent classes). Then a guy who is muy caliente, but clearly batting for the other team. Still...quite the eye candy. Next to gorgeous guy, is a lady dressed in fatigues. She is a single mom working in the Army reserves. Another lady, mid-40s?, with hair past her butt. Another woman that has got to be a 40-year old virgin. I just don't see it happening there. Then my great undergrad alums, two ladies--Andy and Keisha--who are both great friends. Then me. Next to me is a guy who wears a different shirt every week with a city or state name plastered across the front. It's like he went to a store that sold only clothes with city and state names on them and bought every one he could find. I call him City/State guy. Tonight he wore Chicago. You'll have to stick with the blogs to see what he wears next week. Next to him is a lady that I don't know very much about, mainly because she didn't say a word the whole night. She is homely and keeps her hair back in a mousy brown ponytail. Next to her is a native american lady and to round the group out is one more guy who vaguely looks like an uglier version of my deceased husband. Now that I have tediously introduced the group, that brings us around to our professor. Imagine a short and bitter Santa Claus. This guy is a piece of work. He spent a good hour telling us every tiny little thing he has accomplished in his life. The second hour was spent scaring us to death with stories of him kicking students out of the program for this or that. The third hour was telling us how difficult the program would be and that he would be surprised if any of us completed it. Just as I was about to bang my fist on the table and demand to know if he had anything positive to say, he started reading off next weeks assignments. And by reading off, I mean he literally read the syllabus to us. No explanations, instructions, just reading the assignment. At this point, I was so fed up and frustrated and defeated and (insert any negative emotion here, it will work), I just wanted to leave that class and pretend I had gone out for a drive four hours earlier and accidentally wandered into a college course taking place in bizarro world. Mercifully, the night ended at 10:15 pm and I could not have booked it out of that building fast enough. I ran home and climbed under my covers and never wanted to come out. Grad school sucked. Who wants to be a master at anything anyway? But, I'm not a quitter. I'm a glutton for punishment--a masochist. Apparently I seek out whatever is the most difficult path, and get it every time. Tune in to see how next week turns out (yes, I actually do go back!).
Daisy
Last night was our first night of class and boy, was it a doozy. Actually, let me back up. It wasn't the first official night of class, but rather, our orientation. Felt like a water boarding session though. As soon as I arrived (first, of course--I'm an overachiever), the assistant director of the program started handing out our books. Normally, books are handed out at orientation for the entire semester. So, we were given 5 books. We have 5 6-week courses this semester, so it made sense. Not so fast. As other students started arriving, rumors started floating around about whether these were for the first semester or for the first class. Eventually, we found out, much to our dismay, these 5 textbooks were for our first class. Ugh. Not a good start. There are approximately 15 people in my program. There is a girl who introduced herself headlining that she has ADHD (and man, does she prove it in subsequent classes). Then a guy who is muy caliente, but clearly batting for the other team. Still...quite the eye candy. Next to gorgeous guy, is a lady dressed in fatigues. She is a single mom working in the Army reserves. Another lady, mid-40s?, with hair past her butt. Another woman that has got to be a 40-year old virgin. I just don't see it happening there. Then my great undergrad alums, two ladies--Andy and Keisha--who are both great friends. Then me. Next to me is a guy who wears a different shirt every week with a city or state name plastered across the front. It's like he went to a store that sold only clothes with city and state names on them and bought every one he could find. I call him City/State guy. Tonight he wore Chicago. You'll have to stick with the blogs to see what he wears next week. Next to him is a lady that I don't know very much about, mainly because she didn't say a word the whole night. She is homely and keeps her hair back in a mousy brown ponytail. Next to her is a native american lady and to round the group out is one more guy who vaguely looks like an uglier version of my deceased husband. Now that I have tediously introduced the group, that brings us around to our professor. Imagine a short and bitter Santa Claus. This guy is a piece of work. He spent a good hour telling us every tiny little thing he has accomplished in his life. The second hour was spent scaring us to death with stories of him kicking students out of the program for this or that. The third hour was telling us how difficult the program would be and that he would be surprised if any of us completed it. Just as I was about to bang my fist on the table and demand to know if he had anything positive to say, he started reading off next weeks assignments. And by reading off, I mean he literally read the syllabus to us. No explanations, instructions, just reading the assignment. At this point, I was so fed up and frustrated and defeated and (insert any negative emotion here, it will work), I just wanted to leave that class and pretend I had gone out for a drive four hours earlier and accidentally wandered into a college course taking place in bizarro world. Mercifully, the night ended at 10:15 pm and I could not have booked it out of that building fast enough. I ran home and climbed under my covers and never wanted to come out. Grad school sucked. Who wants to be a master at anything anyway? But, I'm not a quitter. I'm a glutton for punishment--a masochist. Apparently I seek out whatever is the most difficult path, and get it every time. Tune in to see how next week turns out (yes, I actually do go back!).
Daisy
795 Days Until "G" Day
Introduction
Hi all! I am starting my masters of science in psychology program tonight and thought blogging the ins/outs, frustration/joy, and ups and downs during the process would be quite cathartic. To be honest, I am a little nervous about starting this program. It is not my first choice and given other circumstances I would probably be going in a different direction. But, alas, we cannot go back and change our past, so I'm stuck with what I can get. Besides, what's 40 grand give-or-take in tuition fees? Sure! Sign me up. So here goes, in what will hopefully be a long (and successful) means to an end. When I finally get to put on that figure-flattering black robe and ill-fitting hat and walk the line. Ten seconds of fame and recognition in trade for blood, sweat and tears (and don't forget the 40 grand!). First thing you should know about me is I am in idiot when it comes to grammar and punctuation. I tend to write stream of consciousness, so please please bare with my run-ons, fragments, dangling participial, and miss-spelled wads. Just kidding...not really. Not a good combo for a grad student, but I'll muddle through. Thank God for the efficient MS Word spelling and grammar option! What would we do without that? Completely useless. Might as well get out a 1980's Webster. Second thing you should know is I am very sarcastic. Sometimes that will come across in my writing and sometimes it won't. I'm not actually starting this blog until our third night of class, so I am back dating a couple of these blogs. Don't worry, I can still remember them fresh in my mind. So, thanks for hanging on this journey with me (if you do) and if you don't, that's okay too. As I said, I'm mainly doing this for my own amusement.
Daisy
Hi all! I am starting my masters of science in psychology program tonight and thought blogging the ins/outs, frustration/joy, and ups and downs during the process would be quite cathartic. To be honest, I am a little nervous about starting this program. It is not my first choice and given other circumstances I would probably be going in a different direction. But, alas, we cannot go back and change our past, so I'm stuck with what I can get. Besides, what's 40 grand give-or-take in tuition fees? Sure! Sign me up. So here goes, in what will hopefully be a long (and successful) means to an end. When I finally get to put on that figure-flattering black robe and ill-fitting hat and walk the line. Ten seconds of fame and recognition in trade for blood, sweat and tears (and don't forget the 40 grand!). First thing you should know about me is I am in idiot when it comes to grammar and punctuation. I tend to write stream of consciousness, so please please bare with my run-ons, fragments, dangling participial, and miss-spelled wads. Just kidding...not really. Not a good combo for a grad student, but I'll muddle through. Thank God for the efficient MS Word spelling and grammar option! What would we do without that? Completely useless. Might as well get out a 1980's Webster. Second thing you should know is I am very sarcastic. Sometimes that will come across in my writing and sometimes it won't. I'm not actually starting this blog until our third night of class, so I am back dating a couple of these blogs. Don't worry, I can still remember them fresh in my mind. So, thanks for hanging on this journey with me (if you do) and if you don't, that's okay too. As I said, I'm mainly doing this for my own amusement.
Daisy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)