Sunday, May 17, 2009
It has been two weeks since my one and only exam ended and I've been bumming around, reading a bit here and there, drawing a bit here and there and basically enjoying a brief spell of rest after my first semester as a graduate student.
But now it's time to get back to serious work. I've just drawn up a timetable for the month of June and already it's looking quite packed. I hope I have not been too ambitious when planning that timetable (perhaps Joan will think me masochistic again) but I have 3 big academic projects lined up for the rest of the year.
1. Publish a paper on the postmodern ''Gothic' in contemporary Japanese popular culture in a journal.
2. Present a paper at an international conference on the "Neo-Victorian".
3. Write an ISM on a research question I haven't even formulated yet.
I also want to take Japanese classes outside school and I may have to tutor classes next semester as well, but right now things are so unconfirmed that I can't really draw up my plans properly, and this irritates me. I've also decided that I can't afford to wait for the ELL department to release information about modules available next semester for me to decide whether I should take a module or do an ISM instead, so unless the department comes up with something extraordinarily fantastic I absolutely HAVE to take, I'm going to do an ISM.
But this also means that I won't be meeting people in a classroom setting (anymore?) and the thought of spending endless hours alone in the Room or in a tiny study carrel in the library seems a little daunting. How do graduate students cope with the loneliness? Or maybe they like it and it's a sign that you're made for academia. Well, I'm not going to take any risks with my personal sanity, so I will be pestering my fellow graduate student colleagues to meet up often to discuss our research or just talk rubbish over lunch/dinner. Hopefully we can build up a supportive network this way and avoid falling into the trap of turning into unsociable hermits and cold, emotionless paper-churning machines.
kaoru said at 9:06 AM
|