New School Year

(im on the 5th floor)

So I've finally buckled down. I've been actually doing science for the last couple of days. Therefore, there has been less blogging. I guess the daunting taks of just writing has diminished by now thinking of trying to write AND attend classes AND teach. Oh well, I'm going to have to do it somehow.

I met with the first-year committe on Monday so that they could tell me what classes I needed to take or ones I could skip. As soon as I walked in I made a fool of myself.

Prof: So what is your background?
me: Well, I've studied osmoregulation in frogs.
(LONG PAUSE)
me: Is that not what you meant?
Prof: No.

I keep on feeling so lame! There's been tons of questions I have been wanting to ask my PI about the project I am working on, but I'm scared that if I ask the questions will be really retarded....or that he'll think I am questioning him (I've gotten that feeling before). So instead, every time that he comes up to talk to me about it all I do is nod and say "right, right". But now that's feeling really stupid as well. I mean, shouldn't I be questioning things if I am a grad student? Should I be giving him some ideas about how to proceed? Like, have some input or something? It's not like I know everything about this subject but I do have some ideas/questions. I'm just afraid of his reaction. I totally don't know where I stand, and I have been here TWO months!

Anyways, I will be taking three classes (a Physiology seminar, a Physiology refresher course, and an ecology/evolution seminar, I got to skip statistics). Along with that I will be teaching Bio100....which I hear is relly easy and super structured, which I don't mind at all. I am looking forward to these. I miss being in a classroom. It's been almost a year since I was last in that environment.