For years I’ve been reading the phdcomics in an elegant attempt to envision the grad school experience in order to preempt back-to-school shock. Ok, the true story is that I was just reading them for laughs. But still… One week in, I’d like to report that reading comics about grad school actually taught me a lot 🙂
For one thing, the elusive Advisor jokes ring true. And all those jokes about grad students going wherever the foods at – well…
There are a few things I wasn’t prepared for though, or rather, I was misinformed about. And the source of misinformation was not the comics, by the way.
Several people told me, “Oh, Seminary? Walk in the park!” They must have longer legs than me or I missed the park sign and ended up in a marathon. This is not to be misinterpreted as a complaint. When you’re paying several $hundreds per credit hour, it’s comforting to know you’re getting value for your money (or the loan-provider’s money)!
Then I heard, “Oh! Seminary eh?…” Before getting here, I wasn’t sure what to think of those comments but I think I get it now. It’s kinda like, “You’re a woman going to the Seminary…You’re not like other women…” and that’s not really meant in a nice way. The judgmental/apprehensive glares bugged me at first, but then I remembered that I’m not here to answer to anybody but Christ. So you just let it roll like water off a duck’s back and keep smiling.
Finally, in spite of everything I’d heard about the Seminary, I thought it’d be this little slice of Heaven where everyone is happy and holy and stuff. But my first day in the building, NOBODY was smiling! Since then, I’ve seen way more smiling faces, thankfully! And not everyone is uptight all the time. At least you know the smiles you see are genuine eh.
One week down – umpteen to go!