Professor Mamas - it's 2008! - Page 19

[Geofizz]

Originally Posted by Dmitrizmom

D. posted on another forum. Hope she doesn't mind me linking it over here.

: Oh, D, congratulations!!! I hope you get plenty of baby snuggles and ignore the professor stuff for a while. :

Thanks for the stalking Dmitrizmom. That's generally my job on the dingo thread.

I took the afternoon to whack at some of my deadlines for next week. I'm still not sure all this is possible, so I'm working to keep from embarrassing myself...

[kerc]

Originally Posted by kaybee

My family all went to the lake this weekend

you say that like a native. LOL.

Originally Posted by kaybee

and there's still 2 weeks of classes... and there's always more grading...

It's not 2 weeks of classes....it's 6 lectures. oops, 5 now! I'm seriously brain dead, but brilliantly planned to do glaciers/climate (my phd work is on that) in one class and groundwater (my masters work is on that) in the other. Whew. I'm feeling brilliant for having planned that. I can basically get up and talk about either subject for 50 minutes.

I have a field trip tomorrow with my geol 100 class, I'm a little apprehensive about that working out. And my two online classes are seriously crappy this semester. Seriously crappy. Luckily one ends this friday. Unfortunately I'm piled in grading that I've put off.

Sweet babymoon to D. :

Writing? I'm planning on sending off my paper that's been in the works since about April (2005) and I have one grant pre-proposal to work on (by myself) and a second pre-proposal to consider if I want to pursue (with a collaborator).

I must go purchase some beer so that I can follow geofizz's advice to:

Kristin, give the kids red pens and the stack of grading while your kick back with a beer.

[loveandmore]

~minnow~, just read your post again.

[rock_dr]

Originally Posted by dctexan

Am also on the job hunt (last year of postdoc) and am feeling freaked out about committing to a life in academia. Based on my post-baby performance, I am not sure I am cut out for this. I am not sure I want this. I am so sick of the constant pressure to "produce", I dread any/all writing, students suck the life out of me, and I hate feeling like I am not living up to my potential. GAH. I still enjoy research (at least the planning/implementation aspect), but I am daydreaming about a life where I wake up, go to work, complete my daily assigned tasks, go home and feel DONE. Maybe a job at Starbucks or something. I realize I wouldn't be happy there long-term, but I am just so feeling the need for a long, long pressure-free break. The idea of starting a tt faculty job next Aug is twisting my gut into knots.

Is this normal or should I be paying attention to my feelings?

yes it is normal and yes you should be paying attention to your feelings (what's the throwing tomato smilie again??)

I could have written that post about the time i was post-doc-ing and applying for jobs and having to appear as superwoman at all interviews while not being sure i was up for it. And that was pre-baby.

I think if I were doing my pretenure years again right now (not, you know, 30 and single and childless), I would have a much more mature outlook and healthier work-life balance. It took me awhile to figure that out. I think you would do a better job of that than I did. I had to sort of burn out then bounce back, learning the hard way.

6 years into it though, I have to tell you, it is VERY doable.

If what you need is a break, consider that you can always negotiate to start a little later. Maybe next january? once they've decided they want you, they will usually work with you. I 'finished' my postdoc at my new institution and spent the time getting ready so the new semester wasn't such a shock. They even paid me for part of it.

but i also believe in instinct... so are you just worn out and plagued by uncertainty, or there really something about academics that is fundamentally not right for you?

[kerc]

Urgh. I may have just pissed off the dept. chair. I asked her what I needed to do paperwork-wise for kaybee and I to submit a proposal together for a small-ish state funding request. Apparently she (dept. chair) is also submitting one and was rather irked when I decided to do so as well at the last minute. She's a biologist. I'm a geologist. Seems to me like they could fund 2 (or 3) projects from the same university in different departments.

Any advice on how to kiss-a** on Wednesday morning and smooth things over AND still submit this thing next week?

Why can't we all just get along like normal people?

[emilysmama]

I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. The end is in sight. Final exams this week. Grading this week and next week. Then no classes until Jan 12. Love teaching, but no one, including my students is happier when the semeter finally ends.

[namaste_mom]

Thanks for posting the link --
Maya was born on Nov 28
Made it through finals and grading, assigning grades...

Now to babymoom oh wait I forgot about those two papers waiting to be submitted and that lab book just waiting to be revised....

Any ideas on how to travel in India with a 5 month old and still get research done?

[Dmitrizmom]

: : :
finals are scored and grades have been submitted!
: : :



...
Now, to get that syllabus done and start working on lectures and exams for next semester.

[maddymama]

Originally Posted by Dmitrizmom

: : :
finals are scored and grades have been submitted!
: : :

That will be me at 11:00 am tomorrow morning. I can't wait!
~maddymama

[namaste_mom]

digging this out -- anyone want to make a 2009 thread?

[Geofizz]

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