So I just finished formatting for today, I think. I'm not sure what I'll be posting in the near future, whether it'll be a dialog of my applying to graduate schools agony or my planning a wedding tragedy.
Note to anyone out there considering applying to graduate school and planning a wedding: DON'T, those two activities are hard enough alone, let alone together.
It's do-able, but heck. I don't like getting into arguements with everyone, I really don't. But sometimes you have to lay down the law, when it comes down to your colors, date or location. But then, applying to graduate schools and trying to find the program that fits your needs the best, that's horrible.
How do you really truly find what graduate program fits you the best? It's hard to say. I know I want to move to the North-Eastern part of the US, or maybe the Mid-West. But besides that, and a program with lots of resources, what else am I looking for? I don't know.
I do know that I've learned a lot in the program I'm at. I know how to approach problems, in a reasonable manner.
I took a class called Problem Solving this last semester, which has become a really cool class to have taken. Not every university has a class like this, which I think is super cool since my university is so small and it feels like all the big universities have something up on us.
Which of course they should. They have more people, more students and more professors, can teach bigger classes, more discussion, more research funding. It's a major leg up. But they don't have me, at least not yet. I'll be moving to a bigger university, at least that's what I want.
But I'll have to wait for the universities to decide, not me. I'll just apply and see what they say.
In other news, I got my father's bday present and deposited it in the bank. I'm one step closer to being debt-free. Which is really great. The really sucky part about my finances is that 1) I don't have a job that pays decent and b) I'll have a gazillion student loans when I get out which I'm not counting in my current debt.
Ok, so it's naive not to count those, but I figure if I'm out of my consumer debt when I finish college, I'm in the green/black.
The trouble is that with "independence" comes this need/want to not call in the troops when the wateres get hot. I don't like asking for money, from my mom, dad, or fiance, let alone my sister. Now, I love my family, but it sucks to say something to the effect of, "I need money - again..." I strive for independence, and don't want to be a burden on anyone, which is what makes me dig myself into a deeper hole sometimes.
My family is cool, but sometimes they kinda suck. For my birthday I got an awesome $50 gift certificate to Bath and Body Works, when all I really would have wanted is the cash. I have another friend who is sending me a package, I have no idea what it is, but she says I'll like it. I like it when people acknowledge my birthday, which happened to be on June 3rd in case you were wondering.
But my fiance, he gets a party for his graduation and a get-together for his birthday, I never realized until recently that my family sucks when it comes to presents. Mind you, $50 at Bath and Body Works isn't cheap, but not everyone gets me something for my bday. I guess I shouldn't complain. I have my health and love and that's all that really really matters, right? Except to debtors.
So I have 3 credit cards, VISA, Victoria's Secret, and EXPRESS. I had an underwear emergency once, a long time ago. I was on a flight to California through Sacramento and a bottle of nailpolish erupted in my bag, in the compartment with all the underwear. So I had to buy all new underwear. Believe me, I tried to get the nail polish out. But there's only so much you can take off with nail polish remover.
The EXPRESS card, well the explanation for that is that I had to buy clothes for a conference. That one is almost paid all the way down, which is good for me. I have professional clothes which make me look good, for the most part, and which are helping me with the conference/grad school rush.
At least I like to look nice at conferences.
You know what's odd??? What people wear at conferences. I can understand specific conferences, like wearing whatever. For example, the Joint Mathematics Meetings. People wear whatever they want there. No one to REALLY impress. I mean, you could go to impress people. But the people there are just that, people. They all love math, it's just amazing. I loved that conference and, thankfully, it's in my town next year.
I'll probably be moving that fall, but at least in January, I'll be able to go and won't have to travel for like an entire day to get there. :D.
But at other conferences, I can't understand certain people.
So I'm in this program called the McNair Scholars Program. It's for under-represented, first-generation, low-income minorities, it helps them get prepared for the graduate application process. It's for students who really really really (can't stress that enough) want the Ph.D. in whatever field they are in.
If I haven't mentioned it before, I'm a math major and want a Ph.D. in Pure Mathematics.
The program gives students the opportunity to do undergraduate research and let's them present at XYZ conferences. These conferences are supposed to be places where you go to the graduate fair, present your research, get contacts, really make a name for yourself. So they like for people to dress really professionally. I'm not saying business casual isn't nice. I'm not saying casual isn't nice either. But for goodness sakes, don't wear pyjamas to the graduate fair.
Why do people do that? I don't understand.
Fashion is changing, yes. It's ok to wear a cami as a shirt, and you look cute, relatively, but at the same time - these are people that want someone who is going to be professional and not likely to sexually harrass other labmates while working.
Should you look sexy at a conference? That's really the bottom line here, what is appropriate to wear at these things?
At the Joint Meetings I saw people wear almost everything, but there were no camis. People respected each other for their mathy-ness. I'm making a new word here, mathy-ness. I don't know whether to spell it with an "i" or a "y", but there it is. Definition: How much mathematics you know, how full of math splendor you are. There are probably a lot of things one could add to that definition - but those of you in math understand what I mean. I think.
I'm going to leave this post as is and see who responds. I might add to it later. Who knows...
- V.
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