Awesome University vs. Undergrad U

Undergrad U wins 43-39!!!!!!!!!! YEAHHH!!!!

Note to self:  Don’t wear Undergrad U clothes around campus for the next few days. Ha.

One part of two part email with pictures.  We could not do review bodymapping as a form of health education, maybe not health literacy as such only, although a part of it, without seeing the bodymaps pictures in large and color.

Recently received email from the Ph.D student that I’m working on a class presentation with.  Yes, this is the entire email.  Yes, I’m still confused over what he’s asking for.

Unfortunately, I haven’t.  Or I just suffer from selective memory lapses.

DONE AND DONE.

@higherlearning’s Dad:  “You mean more like your house slave…”

@higherlearning: “….”

Because even though many of the people living in Chinatown (aka. my apartment complex, which is inhabited by possibly a third of the Asian population in this town) are Masters and PhD students, it seems that people still don’t think we’re smart enough to properly operate a washing machine.

Posted in Chinatown ]]> http://athigherlearning.wordpress.com/2009/09/27/how-not-to-do-laundry/feed/ 3 athigherlearning IMG00029 http://athigherlearning.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/smart-is-the-new-sexy/ http://athigherlearning.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/smart-is-the-new-sexy/#comments Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:58:00 +0000 athigherlearning http://athigherlearning.wordpress.com/?p=72 ]]>

So after months of anticipation, I am finally at Awesome University.  Grad school is quite different from Undergrad U.  The campus is double the size of my alma mater, the class sizes are incredibly small and I only have two classes.  Of course, the one thing that obviously has to remain similar to undergrad is that my program is comprised of approximately 96% females.

Not so awesome.

Aside from that, I’ve been doing extra mingling with fellow grad students in hopes of avoiding spending the next two year as a loner.   The following are things that I’ve noticed about grad students:

1) Grad students like their beer

2) Grad students like intellectual conversations over beer (Because only Trivia Night would exist at a Grad Club)

3) Grad students really, really like The Big Bang Theory

Of course, the last point shouldn’t come as much as a surprise since it would be fitting that a group of semi-awkward intellects balancing academia, life and love would find a show about a group of awkward geeky intellects attempting to balance academia, life and love to be entertaining, as well as relatable.

Also, any show that would allude to the idea that a hot blonde would ever end up with a complete dork, is a definite “plus” for every geeky male.

Perhaps, it’s the difference in mentality and living-style that my future housemate experienced while doing her undergrad at Big City University versus mine at Undergrad U, which is located in a small town, that’s the cause of all this unspoken tension.

I would like to think of myself as a simple person when it comes to living arrangements.  As long as it’s cheap, convenient, not located in some sketchy neighbourhood and is free of mutant centipedes, i’m good to go.   I also certainly don’t expect the interior of my home to look almost like a page out of The Pottery Barn catalogue.  Honestly, a couch is a couch.  I don’t plan on sitting on that thing 24/7.  As long as there are no unusual stains left behind by the previous owner and my ass doesn’t touch the ground when i sit down, i’ll take it.  After all, i’m just a student living off of a lowly-graduate stipend.

So here are a few tips on furniture shopping for students:

1) Old and/or used furniture doesn’t mean it’s crap furniture.  Most re-sold furniture are still in good condition.

2) Just because people sell their couches for dirt cheap (i.e. $50), doesn’t mean that there’s anything wrong with it.  When people graduate, they want to get rid of their furniture as quickly as possible, rather than having to find a way to get it to the dumpster or risk getting fined by leaving it on the street.  So sometimes that means lowering the price drastically or even giving it away for free.

Someone needs to inform my future housemate about this… and no, it’s not going to be me.  At least not for the time being.

Ergh.

I also find this mildly amusing considering how I graduated undergrad with a Bachelor of Arts.   I suppose I am finally fulfilling my Asian-scholarly ways (at least partially*) by eventually obtaining a degree with the word “science” in it.

*Next stop, M.D. Haha.  I kid, I kid…

For some reason, I’ve always found graduate and professional (i.e. med and law) students to be a bit… odd.  Somehow attaining that additional degree seems to also come attached with the acquisition of some quirky characteristics.  They may be genuinely nice people, but when it comes to their mannerisms and social tendencies, there’s something off about them – whether it be with the way they act, dress or converse with other people.

Case in point:  TAs.

Many grad students take on TA-ships to fund for their own degree.  With that said, for every one “normal” TA, there are usually 10 oddball TAs conducting tutorials.  I myself have had to deal with many of these oddballs.  The strangest one that I’ve ever encountered was the one who always wore shorts.  This TA wore shorts 24/7.  His entire wardrobe consisted of shorts and running shoes!  Many of us questioned whether he even owned a pair of pants.

Now this preference for wearing shorts year-round might not have come across as unusual if say, Undergrad U was located somewhere that only experienced sunny and warm climates.  Unfortunately, Undergrad U is home to some brutal Canadian winters.  Of course, this seasonal weather never seemed to phase this “Iron Legged”-TA considering how he was spotted multiple times braving the cold winter weather in shorts.

Like I said before, grad students are quite strange.

Perhaps, the reason behind their eccentric habits is because after exhausting their brain power on academic pursuits, they become too tired to remember how to handle social interactions properly normally.  Or quite possibly, couldn’t care less.  I mean, spending the majority of your time with a petri dish of bacteria or figuring out the kinks of SPSS than with people will probably put a damper on your social life.

Such is the life of a grad student.

Not really a post about grad school, but i’ll be heading back to Undergrad U tomorrow evening in preparation for convocation, which is Friday morning.

Yup, I get to wake up super early on Friday, make my way over to campus and put on a very expensive rental gown.  Then I will sit among a few hundred people that I don’t know and wait a few hours until my name is called.  At this point, I will make my way across the stage to receive my piece of paper that I paid $20,000-something for.  I estimate that this will occur in less than 5-minutes.

Sweet deal.

On another note, head over to Chronicle for Andy’s take on grad school.