Specifically, 'tis the season for writing grant applications, bitterly regretting having an open-door policy for students cramming for the upcoming exam, trying to comply with faculty deadlines for submission of dissertation statements, and for getting all kinds of last-minute assignments dumped on me from people higher up on the academic totem pole.
I've got a love/hate relationship to writing grant proposals, mainly due to the fact that the deadlines from funding agencies always coincide with the deadlines for other annual or biannual major deadlines, partly because of the fact that I'm forced to jump through ever-increasing levels of beureaucratic hoops in order to submit the application, but also in some part because during the process I am forced to do that which I do not want to do, a.k.a. budget projections, and due to the inherent uncertainty of the process combined with the infrequent submission windows.
Dealing with student questions in the last two weeks before the exam is part of the job, and often it's even a rewarding part of it, when well-prepared students ask questions forcing you to think through a derivation or a concept from a new angle. There's also, however, the dealing with the students who've just started looking at old exam questions, not to mention just started browsing through the book, and are trying to make up for an entire semester in two weeks or less. I am very familiar with this process - as a matter of fact I typically waited until the exam date was much closer before I bothered studying (right, Anders?), but this strategy worked out pretty ok for me. Far be it from me to preach about study habits. However; if you're not doing too well grade-wise, the cramming approach might not be the way to go for you, is all I'm saying. Also - there IS such a thing as stupid questions when accounting for circumstances and expected background.
In other news, pro wrestling is choreographed, the Atkins, ketosis and other lo-to-no carb diets are REALLY bad for yo' health, Clapton is the most overrated guitarist of all time and Elvis doesn't share a studio apartment with James Dean and Jimi Hendrix on the mothership behind the comet from the Planet Niburu...
Now it's back to looking at those budget projections, dammit!
I've got a love/hate relationship to writing grant proposals, mainly due to the fact that the deadlines from funding agencies always coincide with the deadlines for other annual or biannual major deadlines, partly because of the fact that I'm forced to jump through ever-increasing levels of beureaucratic hoops in order to submit the application, but also in some part because during the process I am forced to do that which I do not want to do, a.k.a. budget projections, and due to the inherent uncertainty of the process combined with the infrequent submission windows.
Dealing with student questions in the last two weeks before the exam is part of the job, and often it's even a rewarding part of it, when well-prepared students ask questions forcing you to think through a derivation or a concept from a new angle. There's also, however, the dealing with the students who've just started looking at old exam questions, not to mention just started browsing through the book, and are trying to make up for an entire semester in two weeks or less. I am very familiar with this process - as a matter of fact I typically waited until the exam date was much closer before I bothered studying (right, Anders?), but this strategy worked out pretty ok for me. Far be it from me to preach about study habits. However; if you're not doing too well grade-wise, the cramming approach might not be the way to go for you, is all I'm saying. Also - there IS such a thing as stupid questions when accounting for circumstances and expected background.
In other news, pro wrestling is choreographed, the Atkins, ketosis and other lo-to-no carb diets are REALLY bad for yo' health, Clapton is the most overrated guitarist of all time and Elvis doesn't share a studio apartment with James Dean and Jimi Hendrix on the mothership behind the comet from the Planet Niburu...
Now it's back to looking at those budget projections, dammit!
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