Good News

Wow. What a day. I got to talk to a handfull of professors, and there are some very cool things happening in this department in terms of research. One professor is doing physiological research on the interaction between cognition and emotions - the very thing my honors thesis in philosophy was about. I also got to meet with the program director briefly and got a good overview of the nature of the program.

This place is amazing. They openly encourage students to work with other professors in the department, and if my interests should change during the course of my work here, I can freely switch advisors. They discourage "lab-hopping", to be sure, but they also seem to have created a good environment for pursuing diverse interests in this place.

I spent the afternoon talking with Dr. F about her research interests and also about what it's like to be a grad student. Apparently, the sequence of events goes a little like this:

1. Start out by getting your feet wet in an already existing project in the lab your first semester.
2. Second semester, start working on an idea for your masters thesis.
3. Complete and defend masters thesis by the end of your second year or the fall of your third year.
4. Take your preliminary examinations as soon as you can after your masters thesis is done.
5. Start teaching classes your third year (or second, if you want to).
6. After your prelims are done, commence working on your doctorate (assembling your committee, getting your idea set up, running the experiment, etc.).
7. Finish your doctorate degree, graduate with your name on whatever publications you've worked on and with at least two years (four semesters or more) of solid teaching experience under your belt at the end of your fifth year (fourth if you're a workaholic).

Having Dr. F lay out the sequence of events really demistified a lot of things for me about being a graduate student and made it seem more like a realizeable goal that I am very capable of doing. Most of the time, you hear people say things like "grad school is really hard," "I hope you like reading and having no life," "a grad student? Good luck with that!" and "I'll see you in five years when all the reading has ruined your eyes!" To be sure, it takes dedication and a lot of hard work. But from what I can see in the attitudes of the graduate students here, it's not the miserable experience everyone seems to make it out to be. The grad students here seem to really love being here, and love doing what they're doing. True, it is a bit out of the ordinary... but I think that's a very good sign.

I was also informed that after I met with the program director, he ran my name through their computer system and found out that I had been awarded a fellowship through the graduate department. If I decide to come here, I will be awarded $1500 each semester for the first four semesters through this fellowship for a total of $6000 over the first two years to be spent in whatever manner I deem right. And that's on top of the five year standard stipend and full 12-month health insurance coverage for all 5 years, too.

God is good, people!