"As we headed off to exciting destinations like... Milwaukee"

I have a paper due at midnight, that still needs lots of working over, so of course... it's time for a blog post! Right.

I just got back from my road trip (with my profs!) to the conference in Milwaukee, and let me tell you, that is a cool place! I had so much fun, who knew conferences could be so cool? And traveling on the department... amazing! I didn't have to stress if I could afford the $15 entree for ONCE in my life, I could live it up! I ate tons of cheese (including Limberger-- don't ever do it!), visited a brewery, tried famous Wisconsin cheese curds (DO do it!) and walked along the river. :)

My presentation went well too, even if there weren't that many people there. Apparently not too many people are interested in experimental L2 phonology... I've run into this problem before. But it's so cool, I just don't know why people don't like it! Oh well, it was a good group for my first conference presentation, and one of the profs there offered to send me all this extra material and things to help me out, so that will be sweet. I already can't wait till next year- Austin baby!

Dreaming of Italy... omg

...but the plans have changed. I went to the info session last night... and I decided the Todi program isn't really for me. The town looks amazing, and the trips they have planned are awesome too, but there are some things that turn me off a bit. For instance, you have to live with a family, and they said that many of the families own and operate farms outside of town. I'm def not interested in a farm... PA has enough of those. Also, you have to take studio art classes, and classes go from morning until 6pm every day. Then there are activities with the group almost every weekend, so I feel like I wouldn't get enough flexibility and time on my own to enjoy the place. Not sure I'd like to be stuck with giant groups of 20-year-olds all day and night.

But, luck was with me, because I talked to the language coordinator afterwards, and they offer another program in the south of Italy, in Reggio di Calabria. It's right on the tip of the toe of the boot, right next to Sicily. I would take a language and a culture class, and that's it. The program trips go to Sicily and different islands in the Mediterranean, and also to see old Greek and Roman ruins. Plus I'll get an apartment in the city, and there is a lot more free time to explore the area on your own. I feel like this is a much better fit for me. ESPECIALLY when you see pictures! Basically, I must live there. I've always been insanely jealous of people who live on the coast along the Mediterranean, and now I might get to be one for a few months!

TGI Thursday!

I have a feeling this semester is going to be wonderful... three day weekends every single weekend. Thursdays are my last day of classes!! :-)

In other news, I decided (on a whim kind of) that I want to study Italian in Italy this summer. I've always wanted to live in Italy, because really, what country could be more perfect?? Our school has a summer program in Todi, which is in Umbria and is completely gorgeous. I talked to the higher-ups, and it sounds like my tuition would be covered!! All I would have to pay for is the program fee, which is around $3,000. I know it's steep for just under two months, but that's for your room, all meals, and also weekend excursions. And really, I know I won't regret it... studying abroad as an undergrad was one of the best things I ever did. Anyways, there is going to be an information session tonight, so I'll find out more then. I so hope this works out!!

$1,000 NSF Prize!

Have I ever mentioned how much I love free money?? Cuz... I do! Remember how I applied for an NSF grant back in November? Well our graduate school offers anyone who even APPLIES for the grant $1,000. It doesn't matter whether you win or lose! And, lucky me, I finally got the $1,000! It'll deposit in my account on Monday, but I already have grand plans for it. A little is going into my IRA, a little is going towards paying off my student loan, and the rest I'm going to save for a trip to Germany (I hope!!!!) this summer to visit friends in Marburg... back to the town I used to call home! I'm not gonna lie though, I am super tempted to buy some new clothes... but I think I'm gonna have to resist this time around. Sometimes, it's all about priorities.

Sometimes I love grad school (and those times usually involve free money)

I submitted my NSF grant proposal today. When they told me about the grant last year, I was totally meh about it. For some reason I didn't want to do it, even though it's about $30,000 a year for three years and I wouldn't have to teach at all. Call me crazy, right? But this year I've been working on it for the last 2 months, and I finally submitted it today (right under the deadline)! I'm not really sure if I'll win, since it's a national competition and I'll be competing against linguists from freaking MIT, but it was a good learning experience for future grant writing. AND! (possibly the most important part), our graduate school gives you a free THOUSAND DOLLARS just for applying. I am nervous it won't actually happen, but hopefully that paperwork all goes through alright, and soon I'll be getting my moneyyyyyyyyy.

PS- They picked me for the study! 3 free meals a day on Tuesdays and 75 bucks, here I come!

I passed!

I passed candidacy!! I am now a PhD. Candidate... boo yah!! The exam went really well, I wasn't too terribly stressed and once we got the ball rolling and they started asking me questions about my work, I settled in and felt really good about it. PLus they only deliberated for about 3 mins or so before letting me know I passed, so I think that means all three of them agreed that I did well. :-) I'm super proud of myself, and I think my parents are too, if the $100 check I just got in the mail is any indication!!!

Candidacy!

Well folks, tomorrow is the big day... the moment of truth. I have my candidacy exam, which basically means they will review my dissertation proposal and tell me whether I can continue on to the PhD., or if I have to leave with a Master's and go home. It doesn't seem to be too difficult to pass, because it's basically the earliest step of working on your dissertation, but I am still nervous. One of the guys who took it last year failed and left, so it does happen. I am trying to relax tonight though, going over my presentation and details of my proposal only a few times so I don't over-stress. This would all be so much easier if I didn't also have a cold/the flu at the same time!! Oy. Well, I'll let you all know how it goes tomorrow!

Back to reality tomorrow

I'm moving back to school tomorrow to get ready for the next semester! We have an orientation week next week and I have to be one of the new girl's "buddies"-- escort her around, answer her questions, go with her to parties. I know, I know, such a hard job. But the week after that is officially when my summer ends. :-( I'm a bit sad because my summer didn't really live up to the expectation I had for it, and now it's over. Although what really does, right?

The good things is, I have my new apartment! I cannot wait to move in, get settled and decorate my new room! I'm a little nervous about getting along with my new roommate though. She decided this summer that she hates having roommates and told me she never liked any of her roommates before. That might be a difficult situation to move into, but I'm hoping she doesn't judge me before we even live together.

I survived!

I just survived my first semester of grad school!! I am super relieved and super proud. I graded all my students' finals and put in their grades yesterday (and had to turn down a few students who were grovelling for some extra points last-minute). This morning I turned in my last paper, packed up, and drove home. I get to stay home for about three weeks. I am so happy to be home and to have a chance to relax... I need a mental break from school life for awhile. It will be a little weird though, because this is the first break I've had from school where I didn't have to work. I've already got a lot of fun things planned for the break though, so it should be a good one.

Lessons Learned?

Our department is looking for another linguistics professor, and this week we had two guys come and give mock teaching demonstrations and job talks. It's really interesting to be a part of this process and see it from both sides. We have a little bit of a say in who we like and who we want to come here, and it's definitely a learning experience to watch what the candidates have to do. If I go through with the Phd program and try to get a job as a professor, this is the kind of thing I would have to do to get a job. Certainly more stressful than a normal interview!

Oh, and AES put my loan into deferrment AGAIN. Despite my nasty letter telling them never to do that in the future without my prior approval. Apparently my wishes mean nothing. This time I'm done fighting though; I'm so over it (kind of). I'll just keep sending my payments in as usual. *Sigh*

Second Teaching Review

Today I had another review of my teaching. I was uber nervous because the first professor who observed my class a few weeks ago basically ripped me apart. She hated my class and the way I teach, which made me really upset. I was worried that I would never get the hang of teaching and that my students would do poorly overall.

Things are looking up now, though. My class had one of the best averages on the departmental midterm, and the professor who reviewed me today had many nice things to say. It was so helpful to hear the things I am doing right; it really improved my confidence and mood towards teaching after getting blasted last time. She said she was impressed about how knowledgeable my students are. She also told me that I have a great rapport with my students and that I am comfortable in front of them, even if things get bumpy during the lesson, which are things you can almost never teach, you just have to have. These compliments are great, because sometimes I feel like I really have no idea what I'm doing and it's obvious. The professor's criticisms were only that I the way I explain things is too metalinguistic and that both my students and I need to use more German in class. I feel that these are good criticisms that I can use to improve in the next few weeks, until she reviews me again.

Thoughts on Teaching

Today was my first day of teaching, and it went surprisingly well! I had pretty much imagined the worst, but it turned out ok I think. It's easier to stand and talk in front of them than I thought-- my only complaint is that they just stare so much. Everything I did, they were staring at me. I guess it's to be expected, but it is a really awkward feeling for me. Overall though, I'm really very proud of myself! This is the scariest thing for me that I've done in a long time, and I did it fairly well. Get this- Im even excited to teach them more tomorrow.

But some of them already dropped my class! I take offense to this- I may not know exactly what I'm doing, but that totally doesn't mean you should drop my class on the first day! I know it happens for many different reasons, and our advisor did tell us not to be upset if many people drop, but still.

Long time no see

Hey wow, sorry I have been lame on the updating front recently. I've been super busy this week, moving into my new apartment and going to orientations for grad school 9-5 each day. But now I've settled in mostly, and I really love my apartment and my roommates. Only one complaint- the walls are so thin and the sound carries very easily. But other than that, it's about a million times better than my old apartment at MU. So I'm not complaining.

I'm ready for classes to start on Monday. I have three classes this semester, and I have to teach one section of German 1 as well. I'm soooooo incredibly nervous about teaching, but sometimes I think it might be fun too. This week has been full of mega mood swings, ranging from "I hate my life, what was I thinking" to "hey this could be really awesome." But as of right now, I'm feeling pretty good. I have a plan for the first day, I already saw my classroom and played around in it, and I even looked some of my students up on Facebook to see what they're like. I just have to remember to relax and be confident, which of course is easier said than done...

Well this doesn't look good

So grad school is starting soon (I move in one week!!) and I’ll be honest- the idea of having to live off of around $1,000 a month scares me. I don’t make much more than that right now, but I have very few expenses that I have to pay- on an average month over half goes to savings. But now I have to pay for everything. I am trying to make a rudimentary budget, and it's not going well at all. I think I'm going to have to dip into my emergency savings for some things, like car insurance, and maybe gas. Which, you know, is awesome- NOT. So this is what I'm planning right now; I have no idea if this is how it's really going to work.

Rent $655 (this includes all utilities which is sweet)
Food $130 (hopefully I can use even less than this!)
Student Loan $150
Fun Money $65

So basically, that leaves about $40-50 for gas and $71 each month for car insurance. I guess this will be coming out of my emergency fund, unless I can find a part-time job or some other form of supplemental income. Oy, this is more depressing than I originally thought...

Roommates

Well, I emailed my roommate (the one moving in on the 18th) and asked her if I could stay overnight as her guest instead of at the hotel. She says that's totally fine (if she said no, frankly I'd be a little nervous about being her roommate!), and is going to call me when she gets the keys and all to let me in. Hopefully it's early enough that I can throw some of my stuff in the apartment, so it's not sitting in my car all day and overnight.

One thing did bother me slightly though- she asked if I am bringing a car to campus, because she is not. She said she just joined Sam's Club and wants to make trips there, but has no car. I didn't think of this before, but I really hope that I am not the only roommate with a car and that she doesn't ask me to drive her there alllll the time. That would be really annoying, not to mention it would blow my already tight budget!

Roommates & Housing Rant

I found out who my roommates are for grad school last week, and since then we've all been emailing back and forth to see who has what stuff for the apartment. It's a grad student apartment through the university, so it's all furnished- we just have to bring things like kitchen & bathroom supplies, cleaning things, etc. So far it seems like between the four of us, we have everything covered and won't need to buy anything, which is good. They also seem pretty cool, so I'm excited to meet them.

The thing that's getting me is that I have to be at school on August 18th for, but the housing officer told me I cannot move in on that day (the lease doesn't start until Aug 23rd). She said my room won't be ready yet, and she told me to get a hotel for that night and move in the next morning- which in the town where my school is, is not cheap. But when emailing with my roommates, I found out the one girl is allowed to move in on the 18th! I called housing yesterday just to check that there wasn't any mixup, and they confirmed that she will be moving in, but I still cannot. I realize that there is someone living in my room now, and not in hers, and my room needs to be cleaned first. But seriously, I don't see how checking in late the night before is going to be any different from checking in first thing the next morning. Check-in goes until 10pm- who is going to be cleaning my room at ten at night? Plus even if my room isn't totally clean by then, it's going to be my apartment, why can't I just come check in that night and sleep on the couch or something? I don't mind leaving my things in the car until the morning. I just want to avoid spending $80 on one night in a motel, when my extra rent for the whole week is only $88!

To defer or not to defer?

As most of you know, I will be starting grad school next month (actually in less than three weeks!!). This gives me the option of deferring my student loan payments until I graduate, which will be either in two or five years, depending. But deferment seems to have some major flaws. These are my options:

a) I can defer and postpone all interest payments, which they will later tack on to the principal of the loan! Needless to say, deferring without paying interest is not an option for me at all- I could end up owing over $23,000 as principal by the time I graduated!!

b) I can defer and still make interest payments, which would run roughly $300 every quarter. I would have to save $100 each month to be able to afford paying off the interest payments, and my principal would stay at roughly $16,000.

c) I can keep right on making payments to the loan, and keep chipping away at my principal. Right now, my payment is only $150 every month.

So looking at it this way, the winner is: C!! I just have to move some things around within my budget to find an extra $50 every month. Hopefully, by the time I graduate, I will have paid off a fairly good chunk of my loan. :)