I survived my meeting this morning, and have discovered, yet again, that my early morning jitters were meaningless. It was a fine get-together, and, despite my fears, there was no pressed suggestion that we prepare for the comps as some big work-sharing Borg collective. I must say, I had been worried about that.
I didn’t know how I would respond to some nonsense suggestion like, “Why don’t we each read seven books and then share our notes!” Bah!
The only major controversy arose when I discovered that the early January 2007 date for the first comprehensive exam has not been set, and that the exam may still be set for early December 2006. I am not pleased. My schedule depends on the January date. This can change around, if necessary, of course, so I will survive this upset. However, the fact that TA duties wind down in the same week that the comp may be set for… ? That I may not survive.
My main problem with this situation is the reasoning behind my colleagues’ desire to keep it in December. They want it in early December so that they can have their Christmas free of comp thought. I try to be tolerant of Christmas and the weird attachment people place on it, I really do. But 28 years’ worth of bitterness spikes my blood pressure when I hear that, once again, Christmas is the reason my plans may go awry.
It seriously makes me want to hunt Santa down and plug him between the eyes!
Oh well, I have logged my displeasure with my departmental rep. This, of course, will not help, because Christmas always wins in these situations. Nevertheless, at least it allowed me to feel even the slightest amount of agency through my ineffectual attempt at protest.
Sigh.
No comments:
Post a Comment