academia doll

Hey. I’m Doll, and this is my studyblr. I’m hoping to have this basically being my diary through graduate school.

Early morning Friday classes are so trying, and I was discussing with my friends the difficulties I’m having this semester. It’s not the fault of the students, mind you, but we are just not equipped to handle all of these students. I see my students struggle and I want to help all of them understand, but I genuinely don’t have time. I wish I could give them more 1:1 attention because I love geography and would love them to understand the world they live in.

The atrium in the biology building! This was my favorite place to hang out my first semester (I was a bio major). I got to tour some of the biology labs that I’ll be working in for my thesis research.

Teaching today! It’s much more difficult than last semester. I feel like I am more equipped to handle the material, but things are just going difficultly in terms of the students adjusting to the way the class operates. Sometimes the best thing you can do is try your best and give everyone grace.

Went to class, and then calibrated the scales in the lab. It was simple once I figured out how they worked, which is nice. They were pretty accurate, but they’re even better now. We’re still working on calibrating the set-up I’ll use for my main experiment.

Teaching the GPS lab this week, and then setting up for next weeks labs! Nothing super wild today, which is typical because I really only instruct on Fridays and I like it that way. One of my students wished me a happy women’s history month, which is so sweet.

We spent class outside today! We’re using GPS devices (the same ones I teach with), and it was a little stressful. We had a lot of issues with our devices and fell a little behind, but it was ultimately fun. We got to see our devices lose satellite connection around these buildings and trees. Also, I met with some of the team that’s working on my new project with me! Very exciting.

Today was fairly normal! That’s good. Nothing particularly interesting, but teaching has become much more comfortable that the temperature in the room has stabilized. I spent a bit of time admiring some of our fossil displays.

Class, meeting with my advisor, and making up some of the lab I didn’t finish last week. I definitely feel like I’m getting better at GIS, but I need to brush up on a lot of stuff before my big project at the end of the semester (poster presentation).

We did not run typical labs this week because of Presidents Day earlier this week, so me and my team of TA’s ran some make-up lab sessions. Today was a little bit a lot. Quite a few people took advantage and made up their labs, which is great, but very hectic. Overall, I do like teaching and I’m so thankful for my other TA’s. I’ll be going to a party with them this weekend!

Yes, I skipped out on a little bit of lab to make dinner with my lab group… I’ll make it up later. Dinner was super fun! I ate with a bunch of our local hydrogeologists, since we don’t have specific lab groups formed yet. I also found out that my friend from undergrad is now for-sure working with me! She’s starting school in the fall, and we’ll be working on different parts of the same larger project! I loved talking with everyone today.

Today was so fun! I spent the morning setting up an experiment in the lab, and we’re having graduate student recruitment events all this week, so I ended up talking with a lot of my friends and meeting some new prospective students. One of those prospective students is my friend from undergrad! I was so excited to meet new people, talk with my friends, and see some old friends!

Attended class, and spent some time in the lab today! I pulled some data from our last experiment and took a look at it with my advisor. We have good results in that they’re probably accurate, but they’re definitely not what we want. We’ve got some more work to do.

Typically, I teach lab and then head home for the day. However, I had a meeting with my advisor this afternoon and spent my afternoon in the lab setting up another experiment. We’re still trying to fine-tune the setup I’ll be using for my thesis research, so wish me luck with that!

Spent today planning next weeks lab and then heading to class (and lab afterwards, as a student). I honestly feel like I’m falling behind, but everyone feels like that I’m grad school I guess.

Working? On Valentine’s Day? Absolutely. We don’t cancel labs for Valentine’s Day, much to my and my students dismay.

Didn’t do much today, but I did print the map I made for class! I followed a step-by-step guide, so it’s not my design, but it was fun to finally make something and to see it physically in color. I’m very excited to start making my original maps for my final project in this class!