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sisabetSo, yesterday I am awakened by my sister at the door. And she had a check for my rent, soooo that freakout has been avoided. Wow. I am really, extremely, amazingly lucky and have been getting by on that for a very long time now. But, yeah - rent for this month is in the bank and I am relieved and apparently staying put for a while just to see if this can work out.
My new job is wonderful and terrible at the same time *but* the terrible is also part of what makes it wonderful, if that makes any sense at all. It barely makes sense to me, but you know, sometimes I am slow on the uptake. I'm also starting to work on applying to grad school - the deadline is July, but some of the requirements are freaking me out - like a letter of reference from one of my professors. I graduated college 10 years ago. I was an undergrad in a VERY popular major - even if I was slightly memorable, I can't expect anyone to remember me enough to write a letter of reference for me. Hell, I wouldn't feel comfortable applying for a spot in the program based on an assessment of my academic performance ten years ago. I am a very different person now.
I've also got to take the GRE. I took the GRE years ago, maybe 6 or 7? I had Sid, so it was at some point in Sid's lifetime and I had really good scores. I suppose that I have to take the GRE again, though which means I am gonna have to remember math. You know what? Eight years ago this would have been a huge worrier, but now I can just pretend I am researching for an SGA fic in my head. Math sometimes leads to smut and I have fandom to thank for that. YAY motivation.
Also? I cannot BELIEVE I am considering going back to school. I can't believe I am considering a grad program at my alma mater. This is like a terrible idea, except maybe it really isn't. There is a part-time curriculum that will get me my Master's in Social Work in three years. It wouldn't be as if I was taking a class for which I had no aptitude. It wouldn't be as if I was forcing myself to apply my talents to something that they just didn't fit. This is stuff I really dig. This is stuff that I can do and that comes fairly naturally and I find it all incredibly interesting. This could be really really good.
Oh, god they want volunteer hours! I am soooo freaking lazy.
::gets off ass::
My new job is wonderful and terrible at the same time *but* the terrible is also part of what makes it wonderful, if that makes any sense at all. It barely makes sense to me, but you know, sometimes I am slow on the uptake. I'm also starting to work on applying to grad school - the deadline is July, but some of the requirements are freaking me out - like a letter of reference from one of my professors. I graduated college 10 years ago. I was an undergrad in a VERY popular major - even if I was slightly memorable, I can't expect anyone to remember me enough to write a letter of reference for me. Hell, I wouldn't feel comfortable applying for a spot in the program based on an assessment of my academic performance ten years ago. I am a very different person now.
I've also got to take the GRE. I took the GRE years ago, maybe 6 or 7? I had Sid, so it was at some point in Sid's lifetime and I had really good scores. I suppose that I have to take the GRE again, though which means I am gonna have to remember math. You know what? Eight years ago this would have been a huge worrier, but now I can just pretend I am researching for an SGA fic in my head. Math sometimes leads to smut and I have fandom to thank for that. YAY motivation.
Also? I cannot BELIEVE I am considering going back to school. I can't believe I am considering a grad program at my alma mater. This is like a terrible idea, except maybe it really isn't. There is a part-time curriculum that will get me my Master's in Social Work in three years. It wouldn't be as if I was taking a class for which I had no aptitude. It wouldn't be as if I was forcing myself to apply my talents to something that they just didn't fit. This is stuff I really dig. This is stuff that I can do and that comes fairly naturally and I find it all incredibly interesting. This could be really really good.
Oh, god they want volunteer hours! I am soooo freaking lazy.
::gets off ass::
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no subject
Date: 2006-03-28 05:22 pm (UTC)I'm thinking a former supervisor can count as one - and I might hit up someone at the last job, surely out of the 6 I had at least one will write me a letter of rep, if only to insure I never work in their field again. Then I can have someone at *this* job write one for me. A volunteer supervisor would work, according to the app guidelines, but since I haven't physically volunteered anywhere since New Orleans and... well I don't think getting me into grad school is tops on anybody's list there, right at this moment.
I should probably do some volunteer work now. I have time to sign up, be accepted and get trained for something complex - but maybe I should pick something much less involved? Something where I can just step in and start doing whatever it is that needs to be done. I should call the nursing home ombudsman I met last year. I bet she has stuff for me to do and then there would be the added benefit of getting to hang out with old people. I love old people!
Do you think it will be weird, though, not having a professor's recommendation on my app? I did graduate in '96 and I had really good grades, well above the admission requirements, and it was to the same school's psych program. ACK! WHAT AM I DOING???
no subject
Date: 2006-03-28 05:25 pm (UTC)This is so exciting!
no subject
Date: 2006-03-28 05:54 pm (UTC)I think it really depends on the program. Does it have a more research-y flavor, or applied? A quick glance at the Faculty Interests page tells me it's both, but it's hard to tell without talking to the individuals what they're really into.
One thing you could do is contact a professor in the program whose work interests you, and if they're up for a meeting, great! If their work is more on the applied side, maybe a lack of rec from a prof won't hurt your application. Also - don't forget the grad students. They are your best spies. ::cough::
no subject
Date: 2006-03-28 06:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-28 06:17 pm (UTC)I haven't thought about research in years - beyond YOU!!!
Dude - I was so drunk Saturday night, I remember rambling something about p-values and statistical probabilities. You might've heard me on the phone, in the background.
::hides in shame::
no subject
Date: 2006-03-28 10:03 pm (UTC)It would be weird -- though not killer weird, because you *have* been out of school for a while and the admissions committee will know that.
Do you still have any of the papers you wrote in college? When I'm writing rec letters for students who took classes with me more than a year or two ago, I always ask to see copies of a paper or two that they consider the best work they did in my class, as a refresher. (They sometimes provide comments on how they'd write the paper differently now, which is VERY helpful.) I also ask them to give me an update on what they've been doing in the intervening years, a draft of their personal statement -- basically any information that will help me write an informed letter explaining what strengths and experiences they could bring to whatever they're applying for.
So if you could assemble some of that kind of info for a professor or two -- someone who'd be likely to remember you fondly and for whom you could provide info that might trigger specific memories -- I think it would be worth *trying* to get at least one rec from a professor. If the application's not due until July, you've got plenty of time to make contact, dig out old papers, etc.