I'm Not Alone, It's Good To Know

I've spent a lot of time thinking these past few days, and I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around how the people I attended school with for the past weeks can think the abuse from the University is acceptable.

For instance, having done gotten an BS in mathematics from my undergraduate institution and having a little bit of an obsession with numbers, I calculated the hours I spent on campus working, doing homework, etc, and how much I would have made hourly. On average, in order to do all the lab work, sieving, homework, and the paper that was required of me, I was working on something about 50 hours per week (often longer because I have no background in the subject and had to work twice as hard to catch up). I was originally given just over $5,000 to survive off of for the semester before I started raising a ruckus. So, basically, I was making just about $7 an hour. Which is lowering than federal minimum wage.  Unbelievable.

Don't Break My Heart and I Won't Break Your Heart-Shaped Glasses

Well, I think I must've somehow broke the University's heart, because they've definitely broken my heart-shaped glasses. I had such naive hopes and expectations of the University and graduate student life, and all that innocence has now been lost. I flirted with the idea of graduate education, and now it's coming around to haunt me.

I'm starting to think this blog and my fiance are the only two things currently keeping me from completely losing my mind. My fiance always knows just what to say to take my mind off of things (like today...we talked about pokemon ha. and him going to school. and our ghost). He's definitely the most wonderful man in the world, and I honestly don't know how I got so freaking lucky. Writing posts in my blog is a great way to vent as well; my mom doesn't want to hear my complaints (she thinks I'm overly dramatic or not giving it enough time), and I feel annoying if I complain too much to my fiance.

Moving on beyond that rant, I'm a completely exhausted. I spent five hours today doing nothing but looking at fossil specimens. That's it. And still after working for a week and the five hours today, I'm not even halfway done.  Getting close to halfway not, but still not halfway. I know I need to be done by Saturday night, so I can spend all day Sunday putting the actual document together and redrawing pictures, and then printing it on campus on Monday.

Not What I Was Expecting...

So today was my orientation and advising. What they said would be a two hour meeting was actually a seven hour meeting. And that was the least of my problems.

I enrolled in Ichnology, Intro to Geology and the accompanying lab, Paleontology of Higher Vertebrate, and some course I don't know the title of where I'm supposed to learn how to critique and read academic writing. Clearly, the only thing applicable here to dinosaurs is ichnology, but too bad the class deals with burrows of invertebrates. And paleontology of higher vertebrates deals with birds and mammals. Sigh.