Each evening I have been making a list of what has to be done the next day, complete with times and locations, since I do not yet have my semester memorized. Tomorrow is a good day; more “free” time on Thursday, as I have only one lecture. Thought about holding office hours then, but I’d rather have that chunk of time for writing and research.
…
Which brings me to the need for OCD schedule making this very first semester. First year PhD student in psychology at University of Oklahoma (inexplicably OU and not UO): teaching (I’d rather be a lab assistant, but TA is what I got!), class, and research. I’ve allowed myself an easy semester, academically, only three courses, and two will be almost repeats of what I’ve done in the Masters program at Humboldt State.
Except for SAS (statistical software); have to learn a new computer program for statistics because gods forbid everyone agree on ONE way to do things. I opened one of my datasets in SAS today and discovered that its code is not sufficiently like R or SPSS syntax to allow me to “guess” how to use it quickly. I will wait to be taught.
The need to familiarize myself with SAS was one of the main reasons I am not fighting to skip these classes I suspect will introduce no new material (all right, other than code). The other main reason is that I have signed a book contract that involves writing a book having a polished draft, complete with illustrations, by next summer. Book contracts have lots of pages and lots of writing that explains how little money you are going to receive, and how you are probably going to be responsible for more money than what you can possibly hope to earn from sales if you fail to produce the required writing by the due date.
Well there is probably some leeway. There is a clause about acts of God and nature, and there are also an average of over a thousand tornadoes a year in Oklahoma… huh. If I count on that kind of divine intervention there probably won’t be a tornado in OK for the next five years 😉
In any case, I want to get the book done for personal reasons, and I’ve left myself time to write to that purpose. So “book writing” is in my google calendar along with research, academic writing, class, studying, office hours, lab, etc. I may be able to add some free time at some point 😛 … but not yet.
Thank goodness I am working with an advisor who writes her own books and will not freak out at the idea of grad students writing books as well as papers and grants and lab reports.
Next post: back to the move.