4 posts tagged “university stuff”

Yes, bitches!

I'm done, through, finito!

The language advisors dropped the key to the door that leads out of the halls of academia, and now I'm off like a prom-dress!

I'm feeling the need to open up once more.

The thesis-thing is going along pretty well and it shouldn't be many more months left. I'm 75 pages strong and aiming at 80, but there will be a lot of re-writing to do. And finally, after more or less straight-forward arguing I am on the same page with my thesis-supervisor.

I think the hardest part about writing academic papers is admitting that you need help. The second hardest would be when she returns my textual love-child with little notes on the side. Like "this is poo" and "you suck".

But the thing that has led us to where we are is once again the dominant feature of my life and the reason to why I am such a whiny bitch sometimes a little temperamental: pain.

The knee is still waiting to be pointed at with sharp objects and the docs could HURRY UP WITH MY MRI-CALL! So I still am in pain. I don't mind it that much and it is a part of everyday life, and I thought I was coping pretty well until one of my friends kindly pointed out that my appearance bares a striking resemblance to feces. This is how I realized that maybe, just maybe, waking up 5-6 times every night when I adjust the knee in my sleep and grinding mostly soft stuff and the painkillers I have a love affair with right now with my chew-bits might not be the equivalent of "a good nights rest and a sturdy meal". Imagine that.

So I discussed with my supervisor that this is probably one of the main reasons that the text I produce is utter bullshit not of the highest quality she is used to see in my papers, and she presented me with two options. 1) We wait until everything is knifed up and sawed in half and hope it was for the better and then continue or 2) we finish it really fast now and try not to care about the grade it receives.

Guess which one I took. One of the main reasons is that I study according to the old system. The new system would be the implementation of the Bologna Process, which renews the credit system you get for studies. And oh, there is this little other thing. Bologna won't allow students to get credits for previous exams. I have a previous exam from pharmacy and have used it to get credits for my minor and "other supplementary studies". This makes up for 1/4 of my current exam because the old system allows me to use these studies as a supplement. So: when the accomodation period runs out in 1.8.2008 and everyone is forcefully transferred from the old, safe system to the new system, a fourth of my studies that I have gotten for free go Poof!

And I figured because I have a lot of work experience and would've studied a 4-5 year exam in 3 years if I graduate this spring, my possible future employer (hire me, I'm open!) would probably not give my master's thesis the time of the day. And let's face it the phrase "Soooo... did you bring your thesis with you? Can I read it? Can I? I must read it before I can hire you!" is seldom heard in job interviews. My 2 previous employers haven't even bothered to look at my diplomas or pharmaceutical license.

So keep yer thumbs up and fingers crossed because we're goin' in the deep end with this one!

Being extremely pissed off before my last meeting today, I started thinking about what it really is I occupy my time with. Today, for example:

7.00 Wake up, empty the dishwasher, shower, eat, pack, glue my face on, let out a deep sigh. Almost forgot, brush my teeth!

8.30 Scrape. The. Goddamn. Windows. Of. The. Car

9-15 Work, work, workity work. Lots of running since it's monday. Of course the printers failed on us, and since it's Monday, a kid hurled right on/by/below the desk. A lot. The stench didn't leave us for a few hours even though we used Pinesoap (The Heavyweight Champion of soaps). Of course, my sense of smell is a bit more sensitive than other people's and I can't smell puke without almost puking myself. Neither can I stand the smell of yoghurt, which was apparently what the kid had eaten before turning his bowels on us. Here's a tip kiddo: 2 litres of yoghurt in one morning might do that to you.

15-15.35 running to the trainstation, buying tickets, getting on the train to Turku.

17-17.50 Walking 20 minutes to Mom and Dad, washing up, eating a banana, changing, improving the war-paint, cursing my stupidity for joining the Mentor-program.

18.00-19.25 At the university, meeting my mentor while everyone else in the program was doing the same. She seems really nice and it was a lot of fun talking to her. Lots of experience, very clever and all in all just a well put-together woman. Free cheese and wine!

20-> At Mom and Dad's place. Trying to read through a thesis I'm supposed to be 1/2 of the evaluation team for tomorrow. I know, I suck at doing stuff in time. Voxing while I pretend to read.

I'll probably get to sleep at around 11-12, or at least that's when I'll say "screw this" and leave the computer.

Of course, not all of my days look like this, but there's a lot scheduled in to these days. And to picture I'm supposed to at least double the workload when I kick my own writing into high gear. Which, by the way, should happen by christmas at the very latest. Which means I should have The Interviews done by then. Which means I should arrange lots and lots more spare time for myself to actually do the interviews. And write them down from the tape.

Crap. I need a caffeine i.v. over here, stat!

As always, Monday sucked a big fat one. It was cold, windy, I missed my train and people were just generally ugly and mean.

Tuesday however, was a bit better. It still sucked, because I started the day with a german lecture, only to discover that I had forgotten everything during the summer. Crap. I'll have to double the effort on that one.

Today had its ups too, love. I found out that I don't have to read a course in a critical view on organizational theory, because my courses organizations and management, which I'm majoring in, are already more than enough in order for me to graduate. Yay! I'm still a bit torn, thinking maybe I should take the course anyway, because I've really enjoyed the topics of all of the courses I've taken. Even the ones I wasn't all that great in. I'll just have to see how pressed for time I am when the lectures on that one start.

My brand spanking new, shiny job is starting on Monday too. Only next week. I'm really excited about it, but it wouldn't be Monday if something didn't suck. My ring is ready to be picked up on next Monday, and I can't possibly get it by then. I guess a few days more waiting doesn't matter, but I'd really like to have it.

Mom asked my if I already miss Sami a lot, and I have to say i kind of do and kind of don't. I've taken on blocking out as a coping method, which means I'm fine as long as I don't think about it. This means my plan for making it might plummet to the ground next week because I expect to think of him every time i see The Ring. I hope it only brings around positive thoughts, but if you see me wandering around the halls of academia, glancing at my left hand and gently sobbing, please do me the favor of buying me a glove.