Winter Break!

I've officially been on break for about two weeks now (aka, since my last paper was turned in) and so far it's been quite nice. The first week of break was busy with many holiday parties to go to with fellow grad school friends. This second week has been much slower with Christmas and all. Since your lovely blogger does not celebrate Christmas, that meant an evening of Chinese food and the new Sherlock Holmes movie (which I thought was really good!).

The semester brought me one A- and two As, giving me a GPA of 3.90 and a cumulative GPA of 3.74, which is a nice jump from my previous 3.67 GPA. Anything I can do to make myself more competitive for next year's applications is gravy!

Some more news. I was selected to present at the Texas A&M Graduate Conference in March! I will be presenting a paper I wrote as an undergraduate, which was about music and underground radio during Apartheid South Africa. It's a bit of a departure from what I actually study (Colonial America, to say the least), but it's a paper I was proud of and I figure it can't hurt to showcase whatever diverse interests I have. In two weeks I will be presenting at the Phi Alpha Theta Biennial Convention, in which I'll be discussing a paper on music and slave identity in the Antebellum South. This is much closer to what I actually focus on. Again, diversity!

As for next semester, it looks like I'll be TAing again as a replacement for my friend. Due to health issues, she can no longer TA so I am stepping up to fill her shoes. I love TAing, so I am looking forward to it. It will be for the same professor as I TAed for this semester and I know it will be a good Spring 2010 because we got on really well this fall and he said he'd have me TA again for him in a heartbeat. Good times!

The spring will also have me working on campus for about 20 hours a week, which will be great so I can save money for a trip I want to take after I graduate next December. Two research seminars, TAing, and part-time work will undoubtedly equal a great load of work that will be an immense challenge to undertake, but I will grit my teeth and plunge ahead because I can do it!

Just a quick note...

It is a truth universally acknowledged that papers will not write themselves.

It's Been Too Long!

I haven't updated in quite a while, apparently. Here's my news!

Here is a list of what I have to do by December 10:

1. Finish my paper for Southern history - finished as of tonight!
2. Write my paper for Atlantic history: 15-20 pp.
3. Prepare a precis for Southern History for discussion and do 1-page summary.
4. Grade final exams.

Not too bad, but it will keep me busy. Luckily I've got a thesis ready to go for my Atlantic history class (hopefully) so all I have to do is pull quotes. Professor liked my thesis and told me to "run with it!"

Next semester will be busy, which is always good:

1. World History research seminar
2. Early America/Atlantic World research seminar
3. Directed Study (this may change - we'll see)
4. French II to make my transcripts look good
5. An English class on Shakespeare just because (we'll see about that one)

Next semester will be busy but exciting!

Other news:

1. My first conference is in January down in San Diego and I'm scheduled to present on January 7. My topic is slave identity through music.

2. I'm going to New York for a few days right after the conference! I am going to check out Columbia while I am there as a Ph.D. application prospect.

All in all, a successful semester! I have been heavily involved in our new Associate Grad Students of History as the secretary and have made great new friends because of it. I getting a lot out of my program and the professors continue to be awesome and supportive. Once again, I still have not felt too many effects of the budget cuts that my State School is suffering from, but today was a furlough day which meant that I got to take over and run a final exam review session. I love doing that sort of thing as a TA. It makes me feel like a teacher. I hope to TA again before I graduate, but since I only have two semesters left, we'll see.

By the way, I have been faced with a choice to make. I will graduate in December 2010 and since there's no ceremony mid-year, I have a choice to walk May of 2010 or May of 2011. All of my friends are walking this coming May, which makes me inclined to do that. At that point I will be done with all coursework, but I will still have a thesis to complete. What's the point of "graduating" before I am done? But then again, why would I want to sit through a ceremony 5 months after I finish?

Opinions?