Today I was very excited to come into work, because my To-Do list contained one very important item: crank out a run of parts. And if I am lucky, this will turn out to be the last set of parts I need to finish my thesis!
So I carefully assembled the blanks I made last week with which to make my parts, gathered my lab notebook and my favorite pen, and fired up all my equipment. I ran a couple of warm up parts, and spent the rest of the afternoon laying down some very hot manufacturing science.
The chiller hummed away, the air pressure from the wall remained steady and strong. My poor little ceramic pieces which are so prone to breakage stood up cleanly for every cycle. The little solenoid valves soldiered on, heating up a bit from the work but faithfully actuating the heat sink without a hitch. Every two minutes and fifty seconds, a new little part popped out and I loaded in the next blank. I gave everything the "blue glove treatment," as my advisor says (keeping everything fingerprint-free). Under my watchful eye, my stack of petri dishes full of parts grew beside me, balanced precariously on the laser cutter. Hey, I ran out of work space on the lab bench.
This had to be a manufacturing run, which means the whole set of parts had to be made consecutively and consistently. I had cleared my schedule so as to have no distractions.
But there was unfortunately a variable I never considered. It came into play when I was just about two-thirds of the way done. I realized that I was by myself in the lab, nobody else knew how to run the machine, and... I had to go to the bathroom.
Drat it all. Shouldn't have had the soda with lunch....
I made it for seven more parts, but shortly thereafter anyone watching would have witnessed the equipment operator running frantically down the hall toward ladies' room, yelling behind her "Nobody touch anything!"
The neat little note in my lab notebook between parts 58 and 59 reads simply - "Short break"
Monday, March 30, 2009
Overcoming Challenges
The lovely Candid Engineer of America is hosting the April Scientiae carnival this month. The theme is overcoming challenges - what adversity, gnarly problem, or stubborn obstacle have you dealt with?
In thinking over my career thus far, I must say that I have been mightily blessed. I anticipate that many of the other entries will focus on personal tragedies, and ways in which relationships in private life have caused havoc in the professional life. I have the utmost respect for those who have overcome such things, and I don't mean to detract from that, but I can't really relate. Nobody in my family has died, I do my very best to avoid tangled dramas, I've always been in good health. In fact, most of my problems have been of my own making. I know, I can see you all rolling your eyes - just wait, I can hear you thinking. :)
So instead of personal issues, I must say the toughest thing I've dealt with is managing the politics interfering with the technical. I was homeschooled all the way up through highschool, so I was the very definition of an independent worker. I transitioned smoothly into college classes, where I did my work quickly and brilliantly.
Then in undergrad I hit classes with group projects. And I discovered that there are STUPID PEOPLE out there. And I had to WORK with those people. And I hated it. I thought I did better work on my own, which was largely true. I thought I could get it done quicker myself, which I could.
But I also learned that it is the height of hubris to think you can't learn anything from other people. So I had to learn how to manage in a group, to find people's strengths and work to those. To delegate tasks for efficiency, but then trust your teammates without hovering.
And just when I thought I the whole working withstupid people groups thing down, I hit senior semester and the undergraduate capstone design class. This is soley a project class, in my case in the aero-astro engineering department, which is supposed to be the crowning jewel in your B.S. education. All the graduating class has to take it, about 40-odd people my semester, divided into two groups of 20-odd each.
And there I discovered that stupid and brilliant people alike create POLITICS. I had never tried to complete a highly technical, difficult engineering project while dealing with that many people. Right away the group of 20-odd had a leader, sub-leaders, and then in a Dilbert-like middle management expansion, sub-sub-leaders. So, hello power struggles. And of course there will be personality issues - this person can't get along with this one, this person takes offense to this one's suggestions. Add in some favoritism shown by the professor and teaching assistants, a healthy dose of miscommunication, and a topping of irritable sleep deprivation, and suddenly I could hardly find any trace of the original engineering problem we were supposed to be working on.
This situation strained everyone who was in the class, varying by the amount you had invested emotionally. Those with love interests or deep friendships with others in the class were especially hard hit, and it's a wonder at the end of the day that no bodies were buried out at the test flight strip. And at the end of it all, was it really that important? It was just a class, and yes it was a competition, but the original technical problem wasn't worth the political and personal quagmire it was.
And this lesson that the science gets lost in the politics has been reinforced over and over again since then - during internships where my work wasn't published because of internal politics, during graduate study where authorship on a paper can hinge on popularity, on student club governments where funding decisions are made based on friendships rather than merit.
So the hardest lesson I've had to learn is that in the real world, the politics is just as important, and perhaps more important, than the technical side. Would that life would be simple and logical, but it's not.
In thinking over my career thus far, I must say that I have been mightily blessed. I anticipate that many of the other entries will focus on personal tragedies, and ways in which relationships in private life have caused havoc in the professional life. I have the utmost respect for those who have overcome such things, and I don't mean to detract from that, but I can't really relate. Nobody in my family has died, I do my very best to avoid tangled dramas, I've always been in good health. In fact, most of my problems have been of my own making. I know, I can see you all rolling your eyes - just wait, I can hear you thinking. :)
So instead of personal issues, I must say the toughest thing I've dealt with is managing the politics interfering with the technical. I was homeschooled all the way up through highschool, so I was the very definition of an independent worker. I transitioned smoothly into college classes, where I did my work quickly and brilliantly.
Then in undergrad I hit classes with group projects. And I discovered that there are STUPID PEOPLE out there. And I had to WORK with those people. And I hated it. I thought I did better work on my own, which was largely true. I thought I could get it done quicker myself, which I could.
But I also learned that it is the height of hubris to think you can't learn anything from other people. So I had to learn how to manage in a group, to find people's strengths and work to those. To delegate tasks for efficiency, but then trust your teammates without hovering.
And just when I thought I the whole working with
And there I discovered that stupid and brilliant people alike create POLITICS. I had never tried to complete a highly technical, difficult engineering project while dealing with that many people. Right away the group of 20-odd had a leader, sub-leaders, and then in a Dilbert-like middle management expansion, sub-sub-leaders. So, hello power struggles. And of course there will be personality issues - this person can't get along with this one, this person takes offense to this one's suggestions. Add in some favoritism shown by the professor and teaching assistants, a healthy dose of miscommunication, and a topping of irritable sleep deprivation, and suddenly I could hardly find any trace of the original engineering problem we were supposed to be working on.
This situation strained everyone who was in the class, varying by the amount you had invested emotionally. Those with love interests or deep friendships with others in the class were especially hard hit, and it's a wonder at the end of the day that no bodies were buried out at the test flight strip. And at the end of it all, was it really that important? It was just a class, and yes it was a competition, but the original technical problem wasn't worth the political and personal quagmire it was.
And this lesson that the science gets lost in the politics has been reinforced over and over again since then - during internships where my work wasn't published because of internal politics, during graduate study where authorship on a paper can hinge on popularity, on student club governments where funding decisions are made based on friendships rather than merit.
So the hardest lesson I've had to learn is that in the real world, the politics is just as important, and perhaps more important, than the technical side. Would that life would be simple and logical, but it's not.
Last Meal
One of the cool things about being a grad student is the abundance of research studies going on all around.
I think all college campuses get those flyers about sleep studies - recruiting volunteers to record how long they sleep, sleep less, or sleep more, come in overnight to be monitored while sleeping, hand over your firstborn, whatever the research requires. My campus has these in abundance, papered everywhere. Not so much the "you sleep too much" kind. Mostly of the "we want to study you because we CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ARE STILL ALIVE with the amount of sleep deprivation" variety.
But I think graduate-heavy and medical-heavy schools in particular have a cooler variety of research studies recruiting volunteers. If I see one that looks interesting and pays enough to be worth my time, I'll rip off the contact info and volunteer.
I trained on the next generation simulator intended for NASA astronauts to use to learn and practice how to run the manipulator arms on the space station. It was a bummer because there were two joysticks and hand control sets, with the dominant ones for the right hand. I generally choose to be left handed. I asked if I could switch the controls, but I was told that since on the space station they are, um, BOLTED DOWN, I couldn't really be moving those around. However it turns out I am really good at inspecting nose cone tiles, and maneuvering space-walking astronauts around on the end of the arm. I am not so good at moving tools around. Hey, if you've got to lose something, better it's not the astronaut, right? By the end of the study I had earned the highest grade of achievement that the simulator awards - whatever that means. I don't really think "Master Flight Controller" is gonna earn me any points at NASA....
I did a short, two hour study on hand-eye coordination and depth perception. I had to thread needles with one eye closed, stare at checkered grids, and other slightly dizzying tasks. They wanted me for this study because just like I'm almost even between dominant right and left hands, I'm also almost even in which eye is dominant. Remember the archery? I'd do the eye-dominance tests repeated times, and half the time get the right eye and half the time get the left.
And then last year I saw an advertisement for a really well-paying, interesting looking medical study. It turns out there is a six week screening procedure. I made it through the screening procedure, and they handed me a check for an amount half my monthly stipend just for getting through that!
The reason it pays so well is that it's long - two years. Of course, since I'm chained to my lab chair getting a PhD, I know I'll be around that long. The study centers around food - they provide food for you to eat for the first month of the study, and then after that you can eat whatever you want, they just want you to write it down. And come in once a month for a blood draw.
So the month of provided food starts tomorrow morning, and lasts through April.
And what was I doing tonight? Making a batch of brownies, of course. Of which I had four helpings. :)
I think all college campuses get those flyers about sleep studies - recruiting volunteers to record how long they sleep, sleep less, or sleep more, come in overnight to be monitored while sleeping, hand over your firstborn, whatever the research requires. My campus has these in abundance, papered everywhere. Not so much the "you sleep too much" kind. Mostly of the "we want to study you because we CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ARE STILL ALIVE with the amount of sleep deprivation" variety.
But I think graduate-heavy and medical-heavy schools in particular have a cooler variety of research studies recruiting volunteers. If I see one that looks interesting and pays enough to be worth my time, I'll rip off the contact info and volunteer.
I trained on the next generation simulator intended for NASA astronauts to use to learn and practice how to run the manipulator arms on the space station. It was a bummer because there were two joysticks and hand control sets, with the dominant ones for the right hand. I generally choose to be left handed. I asked if I could switch the controls, but I was told that since on the space station they are, um, BOLTED DOWN, I couldn't really be moving those around. However it turns out I am really good at inspecting nose cone tiles, and maneuvering space-walking astronauts around on the end of the arm. I am not so good at moving tools around. Hey, if you've got to lose something, better it's not the astronaut, right? By the end of the study I had earned the highest grade of achievement that the simulator awards - whatever that means. I don't really think "Master Flight Controller" is gonna earn me any points at NASA....
I did a short, two hour study on hand-eye coordination and depth perception. I had to thread needles with one eye closed, stare at checkered grids, and other slightly dizzying tasks. They wanted me for this study because just like I'm almost even between dominant right and left hands, I'm also almost even in which eye is dominant. Remember the archery? I'd do the eye-dominance tests repeated times, and half the time get the right eye and half the time get the left.
And then last year I saw an advertisement for a really well-paying, interesting looking medical study. It turns out there is a six week screening procedure. I made it through the screening procedure, and they handed me a check for an amount half my monthly stipend just for getting through that!
The reason it pays so well is that it's long - two years. Of course, since I'm chained to my lab chair getting a PhD, I know I'll be around that long. The study centers around food - they provide food for you to eat for the first month of the study, and then after that you can eat whatever you want, they just want you to write it down. And come in once a month for a blood draw.
So the month of provided food starts tomorrow morning, and lasts through April.
And what was I doing tonight? Making a batch of brownies, of course. Of which I had four helpings. :)
Friday, March 27, 2009
Studying Is As Studying Goes
I am taking the qualifying exams to get into the PhD program here at World's Best School in May. End of May, let's get that straight. I don't want to know how many weeks away that is, it scares me how fast it's coming up.
Qualifying exams here are viewed as life- and career-ending by the students studying for them, and by those who fail them. They are viewed as necessary and a rite of passage, and really not that hard, by those who have passed them.
I think it's all psychological, and I refuse to let it psyche me out.
It is traditional that the students studying for the exams form study groups for each of the topics they choose to be examined over. This is an excellent idea, and this is the second week that I have met with my study groups. I have three exam topics, but one topic there are only three of us, and one is not available for study-grouping, so I only have two study groups. Here is about how they go.
Study Group #1 - Control Systems
super-efficient super-awesome foreign student, email one week beforehand: okay, people, we're meeting this day at this time in this room, please prepare problems A-F for discussion.
me, day before just now looking at this: um, shoot guys, I don't have problems A-F. can somebody send them to me?
me, day of: painstakingly working through problems with my creaky old brain trying to recall methods from classes a year ago, carefully writing solutions in blue ink on classic green engineering paper. I make it through A-C (ish) before I get stuck. Do my best on D-E, give up on F. Hope for help during meeting.
super-efficient student calling meeting to order: okay, we are going to work through these like it was the oral exam. would someone like to begin on the board?
me, eagerly volunteering first because I am only confident on the first problems anyway: alrighty, given a complicated system of masses, springs, dampers, magnet actuators, and a pump with bellows, here is my block diagram. here is how I simplified it (diagramming furiously across the board) and here is my answer (triumphant circle).
study group: um, yeah, obviously. go on.
me, a bit deflated: okay, well, here is how I did problem B. same as you got? okay. shall I do problem C?
study group: well, we thought problem C was so straightforward as to be trivial. so we would like to skip it.
me, putting about six pages of my work on problem C back into binder: oh
study group: but would you like to continue with problem D?
me: well, here is how I started (write three lines and a block diagram) and now I'm stuck on .....
other grad student, taking up fresh piece of chalk: actually that's all wrong, now here is how it goes (trying to fix my diagram, ending up erasing and starting again)
me: sits down and tries to understand fast enough to keep up for the rest of the meeting
Study Group #2 - Manufacturing
me, being on top of things three days before in an email: hey guys! just as a reminder, we're on for studying this week
other guys: crickets
me, excited because this is my good subject: I know we're planning to go over topic X this week, and I found this really helpful summary of topic X, so here you go!
other guy 1: I'm out of town
other guy 2: I can't make it this week
other guy 3: what is topic X?
Qualifying exams here are viewed as life- and career-ending by the students studying for them, and by those who fail them. They are viewed as necessary and a rite of passage, and really not that hard, by those who have passed them.
I think it's all psychological, and I refuse to let it psyche me out.
It is traditional that the students studying for the exams form study groups for each of the topics they choose to be examined over. This is an excellent idea, and this is the second week that I have met with my study groups. I have three exam topics, but one topic there are only three of us, and one is not available for study-grouping, so I only have two study groups. Here is about how they go.
Study Group #1 - Control Systems
super-efficient super-awesome foreign student, email one week beforehand: okay, people, we're meeting this day at this time in this room, please prepare problems A-F for discussion.
me, day before just now looking at this: um, shoot guys, I don't have problems A-F. can somebody send them to me?
me, day of: painstakingly working through problems with my creaky old brain trying to recall methods from classes a year ago, carefully writing solutions in blue ink on classic green engineering paper. I make it through A-C (ish) before I get stuck. Do my best on D-E, give up on F. Hope for help during meeting.
super-efficient student calling meeting to order: okay, we are going to work through these like it was the oral exam. would someone like to begin on the board?
me, eagerly volunteering first because I am only confident on the first problems anyway: alrighty, given a complicated system of masses, springs, dampers, magnet actuators, and a pump with bellows, here is my block diagram. here is how I simplified it (diagramming furiously across the board) and here is my answer (triumphant circle).
study group: um, yeah, obviously. go on.
me, a bit deflated: okay, well, here is how I did problem B. same as you got? okay. shall I do problem C?
study group: well, we thought problem C was so straightforward as to be trivial. so we would like to skip it.
me, putting about six pages of my work on problem C back into binder: oh
study group: but would you like to continue with problem D?
me: well, here is how I started (write three lines and a block diagram) and now I'm stuck on .....
other grad student, taking up fresh piece of chalk: actually that's all wrong, now here is how it goes (trying to fix my diagram, ending up erasing and starting again)
me: sits down and tries to understand fast enough to keep up for the rest of the meeting
Study Group #2 - Manufacturing
me, being on top of things three days before in an email: hey guys! just as a reminder, we're on for studying this week
other guys: crickets
me, excited because this is my good subject: I know we're planning to go over topic X this week, and I found this really helpful summary of topic X, so here you go!
other guy 1: I'm out of town
other guy 2: I can't make it this week
other guy 3: what is topic X?
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Soundtrack
I had a horrible thought this past weekend. If the lab were to flood, and all the circuits on my machine fry... Or if someone was to realize the priceless value (well, I guess that's subjective) of the machine I've been slaving away on for the past year and a half, and break down the door and cart it away... Or if *gasp* something major were to break and the machine could no longer run...!!!
If any of those things were to happen, I HAVE NO VIDEO.
My Master's thesis is on the design, building, and testing of a machine that makes little plastic chips with tiny patterns on them. (Another post on that a different day, I think).
I have been making my little plastic chips since last June - almost a year - yikes! I have bins full of stacked petri dishes with parts. I have data coming out my ears, and enough profilometer measurements to choke a horse. I have detailed pictures of my machine and all its constituent parts.
But I have no video of it running and making a part.
So if the end of the world arrived and the earth was wiped clean - and then, of course, put back in time for the next conference I'm presenting at - there is the remote possibility that no one would believe my machine ran as I said it did. I can just imagine presenting data from a run of 100 parts, declaring that I made them all in two minutes apiece (which is a major claim), and some commenter from the audience goes "Are you sure? You didn't just sit there with a chisel and chip out the exact same pattern in 100 parts? Over spring break? For fun?"
And I couldn't refute it. Because, you know, I do own a set of very small chisels.
So this morning I decided to rectify this situation. I ran a few parts to warm up the machine first. (Technically it doesn't need a warm up period, but that goes against my practical engineering bent... people need to stretch before they work hard, right? I should give my machine the same treatment, I rationalize. Or maybe I just like watching it pop out pretty little parts.)
Then I whipped out the lab video camera, and taped the making of one part. Loading in the blank, starting the program, watching the heating, squashing, and cooling steps execute. Then, removing the demolded part at the end. Taped the making of several parts, actually. Do you know how hard it is to load in a blank and run a cycle with one hand (clean room gloves and tweezer required for loading) while taping said operations with the other? If I am watching myself load in the blank, I'm liable to be aiming at the wrong thing with the camera. If I watch the camera, I tend to drop the part with my tweezers, which also does not look good on tape. And trying to hold steady for a 90 second process? Don't get me started.
I got all of this coordinated on the third run, and everything was going well. I didn't make a peep throughout the video, so the only sound was the humming various lab equipment.
I had 27 seconds left in the cycle to tape. And then - "F**k this s***t!"
Say WHAT? One of the new grad students across the room had apparently had enough of his experiment not working, and chose that moment to express himself in this colorful manner. Loudly.
Sigh.
Part #4 coming up....
If any of those things were to happen, I HAVE NO VIDEO.
My Master's thesis is on the design, building, and testing of a machine that makes little plastic chips with tiny patterns on them. (Another post on that a different day, I think).
I have been making my little plastic chips since last June - almost a year - yikes! I have bins full of stacked petri dishes with parts. I have data coming out my ears, and enough profilometer measurements to choke a horse. I have detailed pictures of my machine and all its constituent parts.
But I have no video of it running and making a part.
So if the end of the world arrived and the earth was wiped clean - and then, of course, put back in time for the next conference I'm presenting at - there is the remote possibility that no one would believe my machine ran as I said it did. I can just imagine presenting data from a run of 100 parts, declaring that I made them all in two minutes apiece (which is a major claim), and some commenter from the audience goes "Are you sure? You didn't just sit there with a chisel and chip out the exact same pattern in 100 parts? Over spring break? For fun?"
And I couldn't refute it. Because, you know, I do own a set of very small chisels.
So this morning I decided to rectify this situation. I ran a few parts to warm up the machine first. (Technically it doesn't need a warm up period, but that goes against my practical engineering bent... people need to stretch before they work hard, right? I should give my machine the same treatment, I rationalize. Or maybe I just like watching it pop out pretty little parts.)
Then I whipped out the lab video camera, and taped the making of one part. Loading in the blank, starting the program, watching the heating, squashing, and cooling steps execute. Then, removing the demolded part at the end. Taped the making of several parts, actually. Do you know how hard it is to load in a blank and run a cycle with one hand (clean room gloves and tweezer required for loading) while taping said operations with the other? If I am watching myself load in the blank, I'm liable to be aiming at the wrong thing with the camera. If I watch the camera, I tend to drop the part with my tweezers, which also does not look good on tape. And trying to hold steady for a 90 second process? Don't get me started.
I got all of this coordinated on the third run, and everything was going well. I didn't make a peep throughout the video, so the only sound was the humming various lab equipment.
I had 27 seconds left in the cycle to tape. And then - "F**k this s***t!"
Say WHAT? One of the new grad students across the room had apparently had enough of his experiment not working, and chose that moment to express himself in this colorful manner. Loudly.
Sigh.
Part #4 coming up....
Friday, March 20, 2009
Straight On
The last day of the archery class I've been taking was last Thursday. And I couldn't announce this randomly in lab because I'd look like a jerk, but here on the internets -
I kicked butt!
We had two competitions during class. For the first competition, you shoot seven rounds, with each round further back from the target. The last round was the distance of a full basketball court away from the targets. The winner is the one with the highest score for the seventh round.
The first few targets were easy - we were close enough I could see the target clearly, and I could correct if I was off.
On the fourth round, the targets started getting a little fuzzy and I couldn't see where my arrows landed on the target.
So imagine my surprise when I walked to the target to retrieve my arrows, only to find I had made a bulls-eye! And, sticking out of the back of that arrow was my next arrow, which split the first one for a second bulls-eye!
W00t! The teacher said that was the first time she had seen an arrow split on the bulls-eye in fourteen years of teaching. Technically, you are supposed to use the same arrows for all rounds, but she made an exception for this case so I could get a new arrow...
By the seventh round of that competition, all I could see was the yellow spot in the middle of the red target, and the only way I could tell I hit the target was by the "thwack" sound. It was rather entertaining, actually, holding my breath as I walked toward the target, watching the little feathers come into focus...
And I won! I had the best score on the last round. My best arrow was a nine - only one ring off the bulls-eye. Actually, when I shot that particular arrow, I heard somebody mumble with a laugh from down the line: "she must cheat..." so I knew it had to have been a good one! :)
The second competition we ran was a one-arrow, winner-take all round. Standing from a close distance, whoever shot the best with one arrow won.
Well that's just too easy. I could see both the target AND my arrows.
I was the only one to make a bulls-eye.
The teacher dismissed us with a speech congratulating us, and noted that the last winner-take all round was shot from the same distance we started at on the very first day of class. That was pretty neat - we all remembered how difficult it was just to hit the target on the first day, and now I considered it easy to make a ten.
My arms and back have become so much stronger; I notice it in my posture (and in the sore muscles the next day, ahem). I have calluses on the insides of my fingers, and my fingers on the hand that holds the string have become stronger. My ring finger especially is now fatter on the left hand than on the right - a bit strange. I never thought about the fact that the poor little ring finger never got much exercise before this class!
So yay for learning new things! There is an archery club on campus, so I hope to go over and continue to improve. As the teacher said during her closing speech, you readers can all say "you knew me when..."
I kicked butt!
We had two competitions during class. For the first competition, you shoot seven rounds, with each round further back from the target. The last round was the distance of a full basketball court away from the targets. The winner is the one with the highest score for the seventh round.
The first few targets were easy - we were close enough I could see the target clearly, and I could correct if I was off.
On the fourth round, the targets started getting a little fuzzy and I couldn't see where my arrows landed on the target.
So imagine my surprise when I walked to the target to retrieve my arrows, only to find I had made a bulls-eye! And, sticking out of the back of that arrow was my next arrow, which split the first one for a second bulls-eye!
W00t! The teacher said that was the first time she had seen an arrow split on the bulls-eye in fourteen years of teaching. Technically, you are supposed to use the same arrows for all rounds, but she made an exception for this case so I could get a new arrow...
By the seventh round of that competition, all I could see was the yellow spot in the middle of the red target, and the only way I could tell I hit the target was by the "thwack" sound. It was rather entertaining, actually, holding my breath as I walked toward the target, watching the little feathers come into focus...
And I won! I had the best score on the last round. My best arrow was a nine - only one ring off the bulls-eye. Actually, when I shot that particular arrow, I heard somebody mumble with a laugh from down the line: "she must cheat..." so I knew it had to have been a good one! :)
The second competition we ran was a one-arrow, winner-take all round. Standing from a close distance, whoever shot the best with one arrow won.
Well that's just too easy. I could see both the target AND my arrows.
I was the only one to make a bulls-eye.
The teacher dismissed us with a speech congratulating us, and noted that the last winner-take all round was shot from the same distance we started at on the very first day of class. That was pretty neat - we all remembered how difficult it was just to hit the target on the first day, and now I considered it easy to make a ten.
My arms and back have become so much stronger; I notice it in my posture (and in the sore muscles the next day, ahem). I have calluses on the insides of my fingers, and my fingers on the hand that holds the string have become stronger. My ring finger especially is now fatter on the left hand than on the right - a bit strange. I never thought about the fact that the poor little ring finger never got much exercise before this class!
So yay for learning new things! There is an archery club on campus, so I hope to go over and continue to improve. As the teacher said during her closing speech, you readers can all say "you knew me when..."
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
RA Interviews II
I have finished all of my interviews, follow-up interviews, and final-round interviews for an RA position next year. Whew! Each dorm has their own process and their own style for picking an RA, but in general most dorms have two or three rounds of cuts - the shuffling through of applications nets the first round of interviews, then if you make it past the first interview you meet the entire student population of the hall, and then if you make it through the students you meet the housemasters. I have made it through all three rounds at three different places, so I am confident I will get an offer from somewhere out of all that.
The way the next part works is that the dorms all turn in their top picks for RAs to a central body, which runs through an algorithm and matches people up. I inquired about whether I get to put in my preferences - which of the three short lists I am on I would prefer.
And I got back the rather surprising answer that there is no system for that - these positions are so competitive that it is highly unusual more than one or maybe two places would want any particular RA. They do ask the potential RAs if there is anywhere they would NOT want to work, but in my case I would take any offer - I liked all the places I interviewed.
And it's tough because at the last-round interviews I would be asked, basically, "How serious are you about this job?" or some variant thereof. They wanted to suss out if they were my top pick. That's a tough one to answer, because I don't want to rule out any possibility, but of course not every dorm can be your first choice in your head. I settled on some variant of "Well, I have really enjoyed getting to know your students, I am excited about the possibility, and I wouldn't be here at the last round if I wasn't interested in the position."
But then I got to thinking - if I had the choice, where would I go? Only considering the three I am most confident I would get an offer from, to make it easier. One of the dorms has an absolutely gorgeous apartment for the RA, with a kitchen, living room, study/guest room, and bedroom with attached bathroom. After living in my one-room dorm for the past two years, that's my definition of luxury. I already know one of the other RAs, who put in a good word for me with the housemasters, and I would love working with him. But at this dorm, I barely squeaked by into the last round of interviews, and I just felt uncomfortable with the housemasters. It just didn't feel like as good a fit with the students, either. They play lots of videogames, which I know nothing about, they have a higher percentage of greek frat/sorority students, which I also know nothing about.
At the second dorm, I had a fantastic time with the housemasters. We bonded over similar research interests, talked about the art in their apartment that I recognized, were on the same page about how to approach student life. The apartments for RAs were lovely, with a bedroom, living room, and kitchenette. And I enjoyed the students - a bit odd, but then I like quirky kids.
And at the third dorm, I absolutely loved the students. They are all hands-on, they build projects all the time, they were friendly and laughed at all my jokes and stories. They are known for a high percentage of mental problems, but hey - I have mental problems too. That just means we're brilliant. :) But the building is crappy. It's one of the oldest buildings on campus. The asbestos has been cleaned out of the RA rooms, thankfully, but still you get what you get. However at this dorm you can modify your room however you want - ability to customize helps offset crappy room a little bit.
So the question is - keeping in mind the fact that the student population changes every year, and this would be at least a three year job - would I rather go with a fantastic apartment? Or a crappy room, and current students I love? Or the middle road on both counts?
Thank goodness I'll only get one job offer - it would be hard to choose...
The way the next part works is that the dorms all turn in their top picks for RAs to a central body, which runs through an algorithm and matches people up. I inquired about whether I get to put in my preferences - which of the three short lists I am on I would prefer.
And I got back the rather surprising answer that there is no system for that - these positions are so competitive that it is highly unusual more than one or maybe two places would want any particular RA. They do ask the potential RAs if there is anywhere they would NOT want to work, but in my case I would take any offer - I liked all the places I interviewed.
And it's tough because at the last-round interviews I would be asked, basically, "How serious are you about this job?" or some variant thereof. They wanted to suss out if they were my top pick. That's a tough one to answer, because I don't want to rule out any possibility, but of course not every dorm can be your first choice in your head. I settled on some variant of "Well, I have really enjoyed getting to know your students, I am excited about the possibility, and I wouldn't be here at the last round if I wasn't interested in the position."
But then I got to thinking - if I had the choice, where would I go? Only considering the three I am most confident I would get an offer from, to make it easier. One of the dorms has an absolutely gorgeous apartment for the RA, with a kitchen, living room, study/guest room, and bedroom with attached bathroom. After living in my one-room dorm for the past two years, that's my definition of luxury. I already know one of the other RAs, who put in a good word for me with the housemasters, and I would love working with him. But at this dorm, I barely squeaked by into the last round of interviews, and I just felt uncomfortable with the housemasters. It just didn't feel like as good a fit with the students, either. They play lots of videogames, which I know nothing about, they have a higher percentage of greek frat/sorority students, which I also know nothing about.
At the second dorm, I had a fantastic time with the housemasters. We bonded over similar research interests, talked about the art in their apartment that I recognized, were on the same page about how to approach student life. The apartments for RAs were lovely, with a bedroom, living room, and kitchenette. And I enjoyed the students - a bit odd, but then I like quirky kids.
And at the third dorm, I absolutely loved the students. They are all hands-on, they build projects all the time, they were friendly and laughed at all my jokes and stories. They are known for a high percentage of mental problems, but hey - I have mental problems too. That just means we're brilliant. :) But the building is crappy. It's one of the oldest buildings on campus. The asbestos has been cleaned out of the RA rooms, thankfully, but still you get what you get. However at this dorm you can modify your room however you want - ability to customize helps offset crappy room a little bit.
So the question is - keeping in mind the fact that the student population changes every year, and this would be at least a three year job - would I rather go with a fantastic apartment? Or a crappy room, and current students I love? Or the middle road on both counts?
Thank goodness I'll only get one job offer - it would be hard to choose...
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