First, some housekeeping items:
So, what now?
Tomorrow I am going tubing with some of the older grad students and my cohort. Not the kind of tubing where you are behind a boat, just floating down the river. I reeeeeally hope the weather is nice. Monday is Labor Day and for once I have no class! Yay! Super excited about that, though I will probably do work anyway, but I won't have anywhere to go. Tuesday classes start. I've included a list of the classes I'll be taking below:
Social Theory
Sociology as a Profession (1 credit for helping us through the first year)
Human Rights (Cross-Disciplinary Perspective)
Intermediate Stats (ugh)
Sociology of Education Journal Editing (maybe)
TA for Intro to Sociology (leading 2 discussion groups)
And with that I will leave you. I'll try to put some pictures up later.
- I think I will try write in time to my schedule to blog at least one time per week, probably only one time per week. You eager beavers, this is directed towards you--don't bother checking every day ;)
- Please share my blog with other family/friends who may not have Facebook or who may have missed my post. I realized I do not have many email addresses, so I'm counting on you to spread it around!
Okay...
This week was my first real week of obligations: Orientation Week. I had full days Monday-Wednesday and a little over a half day Thursday, so it was a full week and a little bit of a shock to the Allison who was used to sleeping in until 9 and doing things in small doses. Surprise! Back to real life. I ended the week with a trip to the fair with my cousin (in-law) Kate and a party with my fellow cohort members!
Overall, orientation was an enjoyable experience. I wouldn't call it fun, but I did very much enjoy spending time with my cohort members and the faculty/staff in the sociology department. Monday was an all day department orientation and it ended with a reception. That part was fun. How could it not be--they provided free beer! The parts that weren't so much fun were the out-of-department orientations. Tuesday morning we had a grad school orientation--way too many people and way too much general knowledge that I already had heard at the department orientation. My favorite part there was the tables from various organizations set up in the hallway. I got a lot of free pens by talking to people ;) Thursday we had some teaching enrichment workshops outside of the department and I did get some good tips, but it was just too much sitting and listening and I was starving by the time it was done. Wednesday we had all day TA (teaching assistant) training in the department and that was really long and tiring too, but it was a lot more interactive and informative.
I think we have a good group of people in our cohort. There are 11 of us. About half are from Minnesota and the other half from various other places, including one from Tanzania! It's split pretty evenly between people who are coming in with Master's and those who only have Bachelor's degrees. Last night 7 of us got together for a party and conversation went on for a good three hours with no real breaks. It will be interesting to see how we interact with each other and as a group. We share an office and take basically the same classes the first year, so it will be like we are a little family :)
At the department reception, my theory professor gave me some information about places to swing dance, so on Wednesday night I went to Lee's Bar to check it out. It was such a fun (and interesting) experience! When I first got there, there was one other guy there and the bartender, so I ended up talking to the guy (who was about ready to retire to put age in perspective). It turns out it was his first time and he had just moved to the city for work (Jim). I also met Luke who is from Nebraska, fresh out of college and has taught country swing (which I learned uses a lot more space than the swing we did that night). Anyway, we formed a little group, and checked in on each other throughout the night. From 8-9 there was a mini lesson. We learned basically what I already knew, but with a triple step. By the time our lesson was over, the bar was full of people waiting for the band to start playing. I would say there were probably 20 couples there. The dance floor was certainly full! I was feeling a little rusty and worried about embarrassing myself, but overall I think I did very well. Of course it's easier for the follower. If you have a good leader, you can dance with anyone! I also met some people who are into salsa and told me of some places that I could go to dance if I was interested. I kindly reminded them, I was a grad student and could really only plan on one thing a week ;) I do see salsa in my future...Anyway, GREAT NIGHT! I had forgotten how happy swing makes me. I think I will plan to be at Lee's every Wed!
I think we have a good group of people in our cohort. There are 11 of us. About half are from Minnesota and the other half from various other places, including one from Tanzania! It's split pretty evenly between people who are coming in with Master's and those who only have Bachelor's degrees. Last night 7 of us got together for a party and conversation went on for a good three hours with no real breaks. It will be interesting to see how we interact with each other and as a group. We share an office and take basically the same classes the first year, so it will be like we are a little family :)
At the department reception, my theory professor gave me some information about places to swing dance, so on Wednesday night I went to Lee's Bar to check it out. It was such a fun (and interesting) experience! When I first got there, there was one other guy there and the bartender, so I ended up talking to the guy (who was about ready to retire to put age in perspective). It turns out it was his first time and he had just moved to the city for work (Jim). I also met Luke who is from Nebraska, fresh out of college and has taught country swing (which I learned uses a lot more space than the swing we did that night). Anyway, we formed a little group, and checked in on each other throughout the night. From 8-9 there was a mini lesson. We learned basically what I already knew, but with a triple step. By the time our lesson was over, the bar was full of people waiting for the band to start playing. I would say there were probably 20 couples there. The dance floor was certainly full! I was feeling a little rusty and worried about embarrassing myself, but overall I think I did very well. Of course it's easier for the follower. If you have a good leader, you can dance with anyone! I also met some people who are into salsa and told me of some places that I could go to dance if I was interested. I kindly reminded them, I was a grad student and could really only plan on one thing a week ;) I do see salsa in my future...Anyway, GREAT NIGHT! I had forgotten how happy swing makes me. I think I will plan to be at Lee's every Wed!
So, what now?
Tomorrow I am going tubing with some of the older grad students and my cohort. Not the kind of tubing where you are behind a boat, just floating down the river. I reeeeeally hope the weather is nice. Monday is Labor Day and for once I have no class! Yay! Super excited about that, though I will probably do work anyway, but I won't have anywhere to go. Tuesday classes start. I've included a list of the classes I'll be taking below:
Social Theory
Sociology as a Profession (1 credit for helping us through the first year)
Human Rights (Cross-Disciplinary Perspective)
Intermediate Stats (ugh)
Sociology of Education Journal Editing (maybe)
TA for Intro to Sociology (leading 2 discussion groups)
And with that I will leave you. I'll try to put some pictures up later.
Kate and I at the fair
Butter sculptures of the dairy princess finalists (called princess kay in Minnesota)
Snow cone at the fair!
A beautiful night in Minneapolis. Walking home from the light rail.
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