Dear Undergrads

I understand that some of you might have cultural issues with sticking your hand up in the air so I can see it easily, however calling me over is more disruptive, and calls more attention to yourself. Nor will it seem rude if you're more aggressive - we appreciate being able to see you, and know that you are trying to get our attention in a large room, and do so quietly. Sticking your hand up to about head height makes it very difficult for us to tell if you're trying to get our attention, or if you just stick your hand up there to think. Waving at me only once I look your way is a) a waste of your time, because then you have to watch for me and b) likely to get you second in line to get your question answered, because I always go to the person whose hand I saw first (thank you for not complaining about this at all by the way).

Oh, and if this is injury, please ignore the above.

However, unless you can match the last excuse I heard for why the guy had a cellphone out (he had an exemption as his wife was expecting), don't give me a hard time when I tell you to put your cellphone away. Especially when you can easily see the clock from where you are.

That is all. Thank you. (And if you're one of the ones reading this blog, you know I love you, and that there's no way you were causing these problems in the first place).

Disturbing

It scares me sometimes, just how much importance is placed on academics. If you get good marks, it's assumed that you'll do well in the workplace. Presumably the converse is also true. Given the number of people I know with learning disabilities, I have serious issues with this. (I have issues with it for other reasons, but I digress).

Name Change

So my name change has gone through at the university. Perhaps I shouldn't have agreed though, when the administrative assistant who grabbed my form checked "so you're only changing your last name". Despite me providing a copy of the marriage certificate as proof of name change, I am still listed in the computer system with the courtesy title of "Miss". (And yes, I had to choose a courtesy title. The only way I can think of in which this isn't ludicrous is if I accidentally checked off the wrong courtesy title. In which case it is funnier, but not to me).

Ever have one of those bugs?

You go to see the prof and, without making any changes, the code works perfectly. For the first time ever.

My Favourite Course Again...

I'm seriously thinking that some of the readings for my women's studies course should have "not suitable for women" warnings on them, because there is no WAY that they should be expecting me to get through these without sufficient academic training. The article I'm currently reading is talking about how new technology and pregnancy loss interact. What makes it a real kicker is that the author of the article lost 7 children this way herself. And trust me, it comes out in her writing.

Hey, I get it!

Ok, so I finally understood some of what we were discussing in Women's Studies! That's not to say that I'm not getting anything from the class. It's more that I tend to think it's utter BS. The idea that started to make sense to me was the idea of "the gaze". As far as I can tell, the idea behind it is that women always feel they're being watched (more that they are always being watched) by men, because women are "other".

Now, I still think that is somewhat BS. Yes, I have been aware of a sensation like that, but it's not as a woman, it's more as a woman in engineering. Occasionally in soccer too, but frankly, a guy who was one of 3 in 20 or so would feel just as out of place. However, it occurs to me that the fact that a lot of guys have odd reactions to whistles or yells might qualify under this. The odd reactions to which I'm referring is that a lot of guys don't seem to see anything wrong with accidently giving some sign that they heard the yell, etc. Actually a lot of them don't see anything wrong with reacting at all.

Now, I'm not going to say that the only reason someone would whistle out the window to get my attention , or make patronizing remarks when the light changes, is because I'm a woman. However, the fact that society makes it quite clear that yes, it's because I'm a woman, that people behave like jerks , I tend to assume that I'm the target of that sort of immaturity. (Note the difference between me being the target, and me assuming I'm the target because I've been told that I am). And that, I think, is the idea of the gaze.

Deadline

You know, running back and forth between Lever and E3x is a really good way to test if you're in shape. Of course, for a proper test, make sure you do it late enough at night that the hallways are empty.

And let's say I got a 50% on the test.

What You Don't Want to Hear The TA Say

"What did you DO to it?"

This was while looking at my SolidWorks lab. The really depressing part is that not only did I not know what I had done to it, but I had called him over to help me fix it.

Evil Prof

I managed to finish my exam with a bit of time to spare (it really wasn't worth checking over more than once). As I hand it in the instructor asks me if I thought I'd aced it. It was a fair question to ask, given that I was leaving early and didn't look discouraged. However, leafing through the exam as I'm gathering my stuff and gasping in a horrified manner is rather less than fair. Of course, so was me knitting through his class, so maybe I oughtn't complain...

This is not Studying

Could you tell?

I have a final in two hours. I think I've stopped studying for it already (I'm looking over my notes for Saturday's exam though). Why have I stopped? Well basically I'm making two kinds of mistakes. One is chosing the wrong formula from the 10 that the book offers, all of which *should* be applicable in the situation (at least the solutions don't say why they picked the one they did, and the constraints given on the use of the one I used doesn't exclude the situation I used it for). The other is not noticing the units. Oh. that was Watts per metre squared, not Watts? And that sort of thing is NOT going to get any better by me doing more problems, at least not now. It would get better if I did more problems a week ago, but I think that at this point my best bet is staying somewhat unsure, so that I pay enough attention.

Wish me luck

Worst Time of Term

So I've been suffering insomnia lately. Not that this is unusual. Nor is it unusual for someone (anyone) to not be able to sleep this time of term. However, it is eminently frustrating when I have less sleep than some of my classmates AND was told to stop working at midnight. SIGH

Freaking Out

So I'm sitting here, supposed to be in class. This is due to a lack of freaking out on my part (rather than the normal cause of freaking out). I seem to have a habit of dawdling somewhat when I have late class. I never miss my morning class, but twice out of the last three late class days I've arrived after the lecture begins. I'm really beginning to wish that it wasn't always the same class, because this is probably the worst class to miss. (I'm looking over the lecture notes, and I don't get what we're covering today. I will have to bug a classmate about it later).

So any suggestions that can be given on making sure I freak out in the morning, and hurry as if I had early class would be appreciated. I'm aware that part of why I make it on time for 8:30 classes is that the professor for that class tends to not start the lecture until a few minutes after, however I make it for that, I should be able to make it for almost an hour later.