Socialization

I have been observing, and contemplating, an interesting phenomenon at school: lack of social interaction.

Without entirely giving up my age, I did attend this university a few years back, and let's just say that things have changed. Apart from the web services being light years beyond what they were, campus being a bit different from "improvements," and oh how I love notes in projected PowerPoint form being available online for printing (how frickin' cool is that!), the social atmosphere is greatly changed. The last time I was here laptops were around, but they were a bit big, and if you had one, you had money. Same for cell phones.

My, how the world has changed. Now, when you walk around campus, at least 50% of the people you see are talking or texting on cell phones. ~20-25% have the earbuds to their iPod in.
The student center, being replaced since the last time I wore the title "Student," is now set up on a few floors. Small tables; groupings of a few armchairs around a tiny table; minuscule, stand-up computer kiosks set up in secluded alcoves.
Even the cafeteria is less suited to socialization; gone are the long rows of banquet tables, now it's small to medium sized tables set apart from one another.

Everything is set apart, privatized, catering to each person being able to exist in their own little world. It is far easier than Psycho would like it to be to keep to herself. I cannot tell you how unlikely that phrase is to be escaping my lips; let's just say that Psycho has intimate knowledge of anxiety disorders.

There has to be a research abstract in this somewhere. ;)

I Could Present This On a Poster,
Psycho

It's Been A While...Again

I wish I had more time for this thing, but c'est la vie.

Yet another sum up:

Fall Semester '06: School without work is such a different world than trying to juggle both. I have always loved school and have usually been a dedicated student. I learned some hard truths about grad school admissions at the beginning of Fall semester that no one had bothered to tell me before and totally freaked out. A grad student Psych Undergrad Advisor assured me that I still had a good average, but I had been told that "good" just isn't good enough. It's amazing the things you learn when you can actually be on campus when you're not in class. :-\
I took a course on available career types in the field, a clinical class, and a bio psych class (in addition to others) all at the same time. From this interesting combination I learned that I don't want to get into a clinical PhD program and go into therapy. This is especially poignant due to the fact that PhD's, like psychiatrists before them, are being pushed out of the field of therapy and into supervisory roles, research, and teaching. Now, behavioral neuroscience on the other hand...
Although I was stressed out at times, and wished I hadn't taken one of my courses, I still enjoyed immersing myself in the student experience.
The stupendous news is: I SPANKED last semester, much to my delight. %D My psych GPA went through the roof and I now have Latin Honors back on the old transcript. %D %D I should qualify for Psi Chi now! %D %D %D

Work: If I failed to communicate the fact above, which is not infrequent for me, I am still unemployed. I still don't like not receiving a paycheck, and dislike my new budgetary restraints even more, but it has been for the best...not to mention that nothing suitable has come along.

Winter Break: After finally completing my final (essay) Final (heh, sorry) a few days after the end of the semester, I was ready for school to start back about two or three days into break. Break was almost totally consumed with holiday family trips, and I got the stomach flu twice. %(

Winter Semester '07: I am happy school is back in session and I like my course load just fine. In fact, some of my course load is almost orgasmically blissful, academically and figuratively, of course. ;)
In the Fall Semester '06 summation above I neglected to report that I snagged a much sought after research assistantship position for this semester. %D I am taking a neuropsych course and have decided, with last semester's and this semester's courses so far, that I have found my love, in fact my passion: Behavioral Neuroscience. I have no idea of a subfield of interest, but I just love, in fact get excited about, learning about the workings behind the psychology I have studied. I am such a geek! %D

Socially: I have all but lost contact with most friends with my obsession for my studies taking precedence over everything, including my health.

Now: Once more I find my motivation flagging in the Winter semester. I'm doing fairly well, but I need to get my ass in gear and work harder.
I LOVE working in the lab. I perversely love every single second I'm in the lab. I love the tests I have to run that involve sitting in a dark room and needing four hands to work all the timers, counters, and datasheets to be filled out that you can't see in the dark. I love fighting with the many cantankerous, and even defective, locks on cabinets and doors. I love sweeping up wood shavings and scrubbing out terrariums after I'm done with them. As one prof in the department said, "Uh, oh. She's caught the bug."

Blissed to Be Bugged Out,
Psycho