Yes, I was made slightly giddy by the announcement I have a mailbox on campus. Today was my first day of classes as a graduate student at Colorado University at Boulder. I attended both of my classes and then was supposed to drop by another place for a down-and-dirty new-grad-student orientation. There were several of us from a class scheduled at the same time as the orientation and we got the shorter version--we still got lunch, at least.
During orientation, I learned very little I didn't already know from the department website. However, I did find out I have a mailbox and I decided I'd go try to find it right after orientation. I did. There was my name amidst a huge group of graduate students. And there was something in my mailbox. It was just the Computer Science Cache--a department newsletter found in any graduate student's mailbox--but I was charmed by it being there.
It's amazing how quickly you can feel a part of something larger because of something small. I have mostly considered my graduate education a means to an end--I just wanted my degree so I could get out of school (it's already been 3.5 years just qualifying for grad school) and go to work. I'm not a PhD student, so I didn't expect a lot of research assistant opportunities. I don't even live in Boulder. I figured I'd take my hour-long bus ride, walk to class, take notes, and take the bus back home each day; each semester.
After seeing my name in the taped-on-particle-board community, something shifted in me a bit. I still don't want to remain in academia any longer than I have to--that won't change. However, I realize I am sort of a fringe-part of the CS department. I read the Cache on the bus ride home to see if there were any possibilities for me to give something back (aside from thousands in tuition). I haven't found them yet, but I will contact some professors within the next couple weeks to see what's out there.
During orientation, I learned very little I didn't already know from the department website. However, I did find out I have a mailbox and I decided I'd go try to find it right after orientation. I did. There was my name amidst a huge group of graduate students. And there was something in my mailbox. It was just the Computer Science Cache--a department newsletter found in any graduate student's mailbox--but I was charmed by it being there.
It's amazing how quickly you can feel a part of something larger because of something small. I have mostly considered my graduate education a means to an end--I just wanted my degree so I could get out of school (it's already been 3.5 years just qualifying for grad school) and go to work. I'm not a PhD student, so I didn't expect a lot of research assistant opportunities. I don't even live in Boulder. I figured I'd take my hour-long bus ride, walk to class, take notes, and take the bus back home each day; each semester.
After seeing my name in the taped-on-particle-board community, something shifted in me a bit. I still don't want to remain in academia any longer than I have to--that won't change. However, I realize I am sort of a fringe-part of the CS department. I read the Cache on the bus ride home to see if there were any possibilities for me to give something back (aside from thousands in tuition). I haven't found them yet, but I will contact some professors within the next couple weeks to see what's out there.
No comments:
Post a Comment