I’m always excited right before school starts.  I love school.  I love new notebooks that have clean pages, I love meeting new teachers (ahem, professors) and I love meeting new people.  Even though it has always been challenging, I’ve never been too nervous about the actual school part, though, since it’s what I’m good at and enjoy doing.

This time it’s different.  This time they’re paying me to do well. (Although I guess my parents were previously “paying me” to do well…but they’re my parents and would love me even if I hadn’t done so great).  This time it’s my job.  This time so much more is expected of me.  I’m kind of freaking out.

I made the decision to go to graduate school last summer while I was interning at a software company, ExactTarget, in Indianapolis, IN.  GREAT company–I recommend it to any recent graduate looking for a place to work with fun, dedicated people in an amazing work environment.  While I realized the work wasn’t exactly for me, it also led me to start thinking about potential research questions.

**A little background here is necessary, I think**

I started off at Notre Dame as a Business student; to ensure breadth of education I chose the Management-Entrepreneurship track.  In all of my courses I got a little bit of each part of business: Marketing, Management, Finance, Accounting, IT.  I don’t regret that major in any way.

Second semester freshman year I took an introduction to anthropology course to satisfy my social science requirement. Fell in love right there.  My professor was James McKenna, the tap-dancing, mother-infant studying, mouseketeer.  He is the kindest, most sincere man I have ever met in my life.  Beyond that, he just oozed passion.  I could tell that he absolutely loved the work he was doing.  I never looked back after that class (even though some people considered it an ‘easy’ course, I think you really got out of it what you put into it, and Professor McKenna just let you make that decision for yourself).  I decided I would minor in Anthropology. Scratch that, with a few more classes I could second major.  Oh hell–I might as well go for the dual degree! (This kind of thinking earned me several 18 credit semesters…but now I have two beautiful diplomas hanging to my right, and I think I’m a better person for it).

Fast forward to that internship last summer.  At the beginning of the summer I was still planning on a JD-MBA program.  I was studying for the LSAT, albeit not wholeheartedly.  Instead of the Bones summer program with Sue Sheridan, I decided to take a business internship.  My job was to profile different positions in the company, specifically individuals who excelled at their work.  I was to observe, interview and process all of my data gathering into a list of traits requisite to be successful in the particular positions.  This list of traits was then translated into a behavioral interview guide for new hire candidates.  My favorite part of my work was the observation and interviews.  Sound familiar to another discipline I enjoy?

On top of that, ExactTarget had such an amazing office culture.  It was focused on (genuine) relationships, merit-based seniority, openness of communication, and the desire to make sure that every employee sincerely ENJOYED coming to work every morning.  Jeans and flip flops were the uniform (unless of course you were a developer, in which case you wore shorts and tshirts). Flex hours were acceptable: as long as you got your work done, who cares if you come in at 10AM and leave at 7PM?

I was in awe of how different it was compared to the internships my finance major peers had.  How different it was from any notion of “corporate America” that I had previously held.  What made this company culture so different?  Did the predominantly young workforce influence its direction?  Is the culture driven by the ideals of the CEO? ….My mind was a-buzz with all of these questions.  [By the way, I think in this case, the CEO played a large role.  I invited him (me, a mere summer intern!) to lunch to talk about my internship and about his company and how he ended up where he was.  He accepted and took me and a fellow intern out to lunch at a fancy club restaurant, and was completely candid and genuinely friendly.]

I came to the conclusion that the only way I’d find out would be to study them myself.  And so the decision to go to graduate school for Anthropology was made.  I felt so happy when I finally said it aloud that I knew it was the right choice for me.

And now I’m less than two weeks away from it all starting and I’m freaking out.  What if I don’t do well?  The only other two first years I have met are intimidatingly focused and certain of their research interests.  They’ve taken a few years off in between undergrad and grad school and used the time working in the field.  What if I don’t measure up to my peers? Ahh.  It’s all a bit overwhelming.  I just need to calm down, I’m sure it’ll all be fine.  But I’m starting a massive 6 year journey that I am sure will break me down at times, and I really need to just dive in head first.

Here’s hoping the water’s fine!

So, my parents were supposed to come visit me the first week of September.  That would have meant free food and probably presents (my mom likes to take me shopping when we’re together).  Instead, since my dad’s work schedule is uncertain, I will be going home for that week–which means a $377 plane ticket.  Luckily, I had enough money to cover it, and my parents are going to pay me back for half when I get down there.  However, that is still $190 I wasn’t expecting to spend–and that almost wiped out my savings…oh well.  Only another month and a half  until I start getting my stipend.

Thank goodness for babysitting and the good money it brings.

ciao now.

Effects on Interviewing

I wonder how much blogging and social networking sites figure in to ethnographic research these days.  When it comes to accountability for information, there is hardly any.  Anonymity is the name of the game when it comes to the internet.  But I think, as an anthropologist, it would be kind of silly to ignore one of the largest cultural phenomenons of right now.

I think I want to try some research using Twitter, my blog, and facebook.  I think that the anonymity will help to reduce some of the “interviewer” bias.  If an informant knows that I can’t know who they are (unless I were to take extreme measures on the server scale with IP addresses and such….) they may skew their data less based on what they think I want to hear.  Informants may feel more free to discuss their experiences and opinions if they feel assured that there will not be reprocussions based on what they “say” (type).  In a way, it is a bit of instant rapport.

What about the traditional idea of rapport: the kind you have to earn?  There is a large degree of intimacy and personal trust lost when research is done on the internet.  In fact, informants’ trust is placed in the system rather than the anthropologist him/herself.

Informant Pool

What the internet does do, however, is extend both the sheer amount of data as well as the diversity of the informant pool.  Without geographical limits (and with increasingly smaller limits on socioeconomic barriers, with the widespread availability of internet access), an anthropologist can reach people that were out of their grasp, previously. Using blogs, twitter and other social networking sites, though, may tend to attract certain types of people.  It is hard to seek out informants: you have to get them to come to you.  I guess that anthropologists may not always get the sample group of people they were hoping for.

Is that entirely bad, though? It is already often that anthropologists’ data takes them on a completely different course than originally planned.  I think that makes for a richer literature and theoretical base in the field.

Thoughts?  I’m going to find some articles about this, and check back later.  Why not access informants through tools that they are already using on a daily basis?

It’s funny how financial planning isn’t something 21 year olds talk about with each other.  I mean, I will often bitch and moan about how broke I am, and how I can’t wait until my stipend starts “because then I will finally have some cash.”  A lot of my friends who graduated with me in May are starting jobs in August.  Real bonafied adult jobs.  A lot of my friends moved back home and are looking for jobs (the market is crap–I am glad I’m not looking).  And then there’s me and a select few who are starting graduate school in the fall.

There are three tiers of cash flow–my friends with real jobs are going to be making 2-3X my stipend, then there are grad students with stipends, and finally, the unemployed (or unpaid).  I wonder how much any of us are thinking about the future.  My stipend is well enough to support 1 young person, and I am positively thrilled to have much more money than I need for my day-to-day expenses.

But I don’t want to keep living like I did in college.  I have relatively low debt:  two credit cards (1) with a balance of $773 at an APR of 14.99% (2) with a balance of $1194, but this card is a same-as-cash for a year for my iMac. I am well on my way to paying off both of these debts by February.  More if I divert some of my planned savings for a while.  I was truly blessed that my dad promised me he’d pay for any college I got into.  I didn’t have to take out a single loan in my four years at Notre Dame, so the little debt I have is very manageable and came about mostly because of moving and graduation (desperately needed a new computer).

At the same time, though, my cash reserves have always been very low.  I’m always waiting for my next paycheck to pay for necessities like rent, utilities, and groceries.  Part of this is because my senior year of college I had to pay for a lot more than I thought I would: mommy and daddy were very quickly cutting the cord.  I did not save hardly ANY of my earnings from my summer internship, and therefore was living paycheck to paycheck from a campus job (not incredibly lucrative).

This summer, I haven’t had large cash reserves because moving is EXPENSIVE!  We moved from South Bend to Philadelphia, and beyond the cost of the moving van and traveling–there are so many things you have to buy for a new place (especially when it’s your first, grown-up place) to get it up and running.  We are living in an apartment that is well within our budget of our stipends.  Problem is, I don’t get my stipend until September 30.  So these three months I’ve been getting by on a part-time assistantship and babysitting.

All in all, I’m sick of being worried about how much cash is in my bank account.  I’m sick of knowing, in the back of my mind, that if my car breaks down, I can’t repair it until I build up some cash.  Luckily, my car isn’t essential for my everday.  I live close to campus, and actually prefer to walk or cycle around the city (except for groceries from BJs).
I have spent a lot of my time this summer reading personal finance blogs to develop a game plan for how to manage my stipend once it starts coming in.  I know how much I want to save for long term, short term and retirement.  I have budgeted my necessary expenses as well as fun money.  I have researched the IRS so I know how much money for taxes I will need to sock away (I have to make estimated quarterly payments).  Will I be able to stick with the program and develop a 6-month emergency fund, while paying myself for retirement and STILL living a fun [as much fun as a graduate student can have] life in my 20s?

I hope so.

Are any of my friends this intent on getting a firm hold on their finances this early in life?

This weekend four of my good friends from Notre Dame came to visit.  Originally I was supposed to meet up with them at a bar where several other ND alums were supposed to be.  Apparently everyone else was out of town so they ended up staying with me and my boyfriend, and I am so happy that they did.

We went out last night and went to a few bars–they paid for our cabs and drinks, which was really nice of them they are the sweetest guys I know.  We came back to our place around 1 am and talked/drank for another hour before hittin the hay.  This morning I made pancakes for breakfast and then we toured the town (complete with Philly cheesesteaks) until late afternoon.   Then they drove back to Princeton (where one of them is a physics grad student).

–In all honesty it was a simple weekend, nothing too crazy.  But it was close to the best 24 hours I’ve had since I graduated from Notre Dame.  I think it’s because it was the first time was with real friends in Philadelphia.  I keep telling people I love the city–but without friends to enjoy it with, my days/weekends are kind of flat.  That’s not to say we have no one to talk to or go out with….but no one is really to the status of “friend” yet, they all still hover around the acquaintance category.

Being with friends again made me truly happy, I was in a great mood the entire time they were here, and I was very sad to see them go.  I laughed a lot, talked alot, danced in front of independence hall (not quite a lot), and was just–comfortable.  They know me and my quirks, so I didn’t have to be on my best (social) behavior.

I can’t wait until we have more visitors….and I especially can’t wait until I’m back out in the world (instead of at my computer all day/everyday) and making some new friends.  I think I’m going to really like it here–and it’ll be an infinitely more satisfying experience when I have real friends to share it with.

—Or I can just not make new friends and force all of my old ones to move here.  I’m holding a certain four someones to their 5-year plan. ahem……plus I really just need Lulu around

ciao now.

My boyfriend needed his laptop at work and offered to treat me to lunch if I brought it to him.  Sounds like a free lunch, right? Wrong.

I pick a place (White Dog Cafe) based on a Zaggat review in our book that sounds “hippy”ish.  Turns out it’s ALL organic fancy food.  EXPENSIVE.  I feel bad because this isn’t what he meant when he said he’d treat me.  So I say I’ll pay my half. Food was very good, but the bill turned out to be $30. blurgh.  OK, so $15 for my part.  Still expensive, but not awful.

ANYWAY, we walk back to the car and I see the meter maid for cars down the road.  Turns out I got a ticket–for coming back TWO minutes late.   what worse is that apparently, in Philadelphia, an expired meter costs you $36!!!!! I wanted to cry.  My boyfriend also said he’d pay half for that, but all in all lunch cost me $33.

Ugh.

Bad mood.  I was having such a great day, too.  I booked three more full days of nannying ($300) and went to a new yoga/pilates studio for an amazing pilates class.

I’ll make it up somehow.

Hello world.

One reason I love my 24″ iMac is because I can have two browsers side by side–currently I’m blogging and watching Benny & Joon.  Good reviews on Hulu (one of my absolute favorite websites).

Anyhoo, on to the subject of this post, productivity.  I never really thought too much about it until this summer when I’ve been working from home.  When I’ve been in school, I didn’t have to think too much about it.  I was given assignments and deadlines. And I just got them done.  I didn’t have a whole lot of time to plan for myself, so a lot of nights I was up very late finishing papers and cramming for tests.  But I got it done, so there wasn’t much thought about “productivity.”  Whenever I sat down to work I had to be productive, otherwise it wouldn’t get done in time.

With this summer research assistantship–it is all I have to do, so I never want to do it.  I waste my days watching Netflix, and making bread (another post).  Because of this dilemma, I have been reading a lot of lifehacker and David Seah trying to figure out a system that helps me be more productive.  I absolutely love David Seah’s Printable CEO series.  I have been trying to use the Day Balancer Grid for my weekly planning, and the Emergent Task Planner and Task Progress Tracker for my daily organizing.

…

I haven’t been too successful.  I have no idea what happens to me.  I power-work for like two hours, then go to take a 5 minute break–and next thing I know, it is 5 o’clock and I have watched two movies and learned how to grow an herb garden in a hanging shoe organizer. [Even though I'm broke this summer...the perfect time for DIY projects...I keep looking up cool crafts and things to do.]

I think it has more to do with motivation than productivity.  Because when I AM working, I get a lot done, very efficiently and with good results.  I churn out quality work in minimal time.  But it is actually getting me to work that is the problem.  And it’s not necessarily procrastination (although I do have a problem with that, too).  It’s just that sometimes I am so uninterested in what I’m doing I need to find other stimulus before I just fall asleep at my computer.

I need to set up a reward system for myself. Something.  Right now their are neither rewards nor consequences for how much work I do.  I also think I need to get out of the house so I don’t feel so trapped.

I am a work in progress, that is for sure.  I’ll post again with any tricks I’ve for getting myself to work.

ciao now.

GBGS Lesson #1: Pre-Grad School

I intend to make posts here, in addition to capricious copy about my life, with lessons I learn along the way in graduate school.  My experiences and take-aways may not be relatable for everyone, but hopefully I am able to reduce the stress of at least a few people with my advice.  Technically I haven’t started graduate school yet…My classes start in the fall. I would say this post is about that limbo time–after you’ve done all of the work to get in, but before you have to start doing the work to get your degree, there’s some other work you can be doing.

Networking–never too early to start

I have tried to get a head start on some things by working as a research assistant this summer for a professor who will very likely be my advisor/mentor for the next few years.  I think this was a good way to get to know a professor and his work before the stress of my courses cause me to want to hermit up.  I’ve made two friends (at least I hope) of older graduate students–who were more than willing to proffer advice on the department, classes and getting started over a cold beer at the local bar (Local 44 in West Philly, which I highly recommend).  All it took to establish all of these connections was a short e-mail describing myself and asking if the person would be willing to meet me.  Obviously each email had a different tone (to professor vs. to peer), but the content was fairly similar.  I didn’t know any of these people until I wrote them, I just had to take a leap, and it worked out for the best.  I think by having a support “group” established before I even start, I will be well-equipped to deal with whatever is thrown at me in two months.

Test the waters

As for the assistantship–nothing glamorous.  I am searching through documents (electronic, thankfully) of constitutions of almost all of the countries of the world, both contemporary and historical, for specific phrases and terminology to see how governments will “copy & paste” from other constitutions thereby measuring, to a certain extent, the motion of cultural thoughts and ideas.  Since he would like me to keep the information proprietary, I won’t go into much more detail.  So my (half-)days are filled with Ctrl+F and Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V, and a lot of reading.  I am grateful for the work, though, as it is keeping me up to date with my bills and with a roof over my head.  It is also giving me insight into what research is really all about.  It’s the grunt work that goes into research before it turns into eloquent passages in a journal or book.  And if you’re not an already established professor who can pay students (like myself) to do the legwork, it’s all up to you.

I’m finding that I better damned sure find research that I am passionate about.  Because although the work I’m doing this summer is of some interest to me (in the same field of socio-cultural anthropology I would like to go into), I find myself doing some deep soul-searching for motivation since the project itself is not my baby, my passion.

Organize

Another task I have put myself to this summer is to set up my filing system–even though I have hardly any files to put in yet.  The folders I chose were based largely on suggestions made by Robert Peters, PhD in his book “Getting What you Came For: The Smart Student’s Guide to Earning a Master’s or PhD.”  This book was given to me as a present by two of my professors who played a large part in both my decision to go to graduate school as well as my actual getting in (Thanks Vania and Rahul!).  I’ve read it almost all the way through, but I skipped around parts that don’t apply to me yet.  That’s what I really like about this book, it is a comprehensive piece about all of the stages of graduate school, so I know I will keep referring to it again and again as I progress towards my degree.

My system is simple, which will make it easier to maintain as I use it.  Also, it is well apt to grow with more categories as I see fit.  One thing I don’t necessarily agree with Peters on is the need for a heavy duty filing cabinet right off the bat.  I realize that a reliable (doesn’t get stuck and is sturdy) filing cabinet with 2-3 drawers will be useful when the time comes, but there is no need to outlay that cash until necessary.  Lifehacker pointed to this in an article a little while back, don’t buy expensive organizational tools until you’re already using an organizational system. That is, buying a $200 filing cabinet will not compel you to be organized. And if you’re not organized, why spend the money?  Keep it in the bank earning interest.  That being said, if you do set up an efficient filling system that you actually use, you will need a good filing cabinet at some point.

For now, I have two plastic filing boxes, a smaller one for my personal files and a larger one for my school files.  I have also set up file folders on my computer that mirror my paper files.  This is because there is no need to print everything, it wastes paper when having a digital copy does just fine; having the same named folders, though, helps keep consistency in my system.  The same type of document can be found in the same folder–whether it be hard copy or digital.

My folders are as follows:

• Personal
  • Financial
    • Expenses: with folders for food, shopping, each of my bills (electricity, internet, rent, cell phone, insurance) and miscellaenous
    • Income: with a folder for each source of income (at the moment, my assistantship, babysitting and my fellowship)
    • Banking: a different hanging file for each bank and folders for each separate account
  • The rest of my Personal Files, for now, are only housed on my computer because their are things that are almost entirely digital (writing, task management, fitness, cool things I find on the internet, etc)
• School
  • Courses
  • Thesis
    • Thesis Ideas
    • Thesis Proposals
    • THESIS
      • Research
      • Drafts
      • Comments/Interviews
  • Publishing
    • Ideas for Papers
    • Papers (follows similar hierarchy to “THESIS”)
  • Old To Do Lists
  • Monthly Progress Reports
  • CVs/Credentials
  • Exam Material (items with which to prep for my comprehensive exams)
  • Conferences/Seminars
  • Graduate Groups
    • Study/Support Groups
    • Graduate Committees, etc.

I know that as I progress towards my degree, my two plastic file boxes won’t suffice, but until I need an upgrade, I’ll save the money.  My files are easily accessible from my desk, and clearly labeled.  Also, I don’t have either stuffed to capacity: when there is free space, it is easier to file and retrieve (thereby making it more useful).

Well, that is all I have for today.  I’ll periodically add more as I learn more.

ciao now.

I recently participated in the Philadelphia Women’s Triathlon and Duathlon.  Except that it was only Duathlon.  The night before there were severe storms both at the race site and further north up the river, causing the flow to be dangerously fast, as well as increasing bacteria beyond safety levels (plus lots of debris).  Therefore, the swim was cancelled and I was heartbroken.  Swimming is my favorite of the three sports.  What’s worse is that no swim meant an extra run. Blargh.  So I ran 1.9 mi, biked 17 mi, and then ran another 3.1 miles.  5 miles of running in one day is a lot for my little legs.  and with the bike in between–I had nothing left in me by the end.

However, I did have a lot of fun.  I came at it much differently than my first, making sure to enjoy the scenery of the bike, and making the effort to chat with women I passed (or passed me, more often the case) on the run and bike.  I finished the race with a smile on my face, even though my time was a pitiful 2:15:20.  I really didn’t train enough, but I am very happy I did it.

Anyhoo, on to the next items on my Summer To-Do list. I will admit I haven’t accomplished much on there.  Surprisingly, too, given that I spend almost all day at my computer reading very interesting blogs–I haven’t written hardly anything in my own.  But that isn’t to say I haven’t accomplished ANYTHING… but that’s another post.

ciao now.

I think it will help encourage me to accomplish some goals this summer if I get them all written out.

* I would like to write a few short stories and poems by summer’s end. Possibly even start thinking about a memoir?

* Get started on reading for my fall courses. I already have the syllabus for one of them. If I can be a few weeks ahead when we first start, it will be much less stressful.

*Personalize my office. I have the makings of a pottery barn office, but right now there aren’t any personal photos….so I want to make it look like its actually mine.

* Lose 10-15lbs. If I really set my mind to it, I think this is possible. It would be awesome to start grad school at 125lbs…..to go w/my uber cute haircut. [I have 11 weeks in which to do this...]

* Read anthropology journals, get a feel for what research I enjoy reading about, and maybe think of a paper I might want to write/publish.

…..

more to come later

…..

ciao now.