I have had the most exhausting week, and hence my blog posts have fallen by the wayside (as has sleep and sanity, really)!
The past two weeks have involved enormous amounts of work, because our Honours research proposals had to be handed in on the 8th of April, and we then had to present our proposals on the 16th and 17th of April. The entire experience was incredibly stressful, as in the midst of writing a 20 or so page proposal, we also had a research design test and I had an essay due for a course that I’m doing through Unisa. The major problem was really that I didn’t allow enough time for my supervisor to correct and edit the proposal, and so I was printing drafts and editing ethics forms about twelve nanoseconds before the proposal was meant to be handed in. It wasn’t great. In fact, it was utterly awful, and I’ve now decided that for all future deadlines, I will have completed to work a week ahead of time so that this doesn’t happen again. Aside from all this, I was also running on very little sleep and incredibly stressed about some interpersonal issues I was having with someone, so my general state of mental health has been somewhat lacking for the past two weeks. It all culminated in a small psychotic episode in the Honours room on Tuesday morning – an event which was witness by 3 of the boys in my psychology class. I have since had to do damage control and have told them it was a combination of PMS, sleep-deprivation and stress. I’m not sure if they believe me…
Despite this, the proposal presentation itself went incredibly well. I was one of the few students who had everything approved first time, and the readers liked my writing style and my project. I’m extremely relieved about this, because I suspect that I would’ve dropped out and become a yoga instructor in Tahiti if they had told me that I needed to start from scratch. It also means that I only have to make some minor changes to the proposal before the final hand in.
In addition to this, I managed to sort out the interpersonal issues that I was having (which is an enormous relief, since I’ve been terrified of confronting this issue), managed to successfully teach my second year stats students the section that I absolutely dread (and which I now actually understand too!) and finally bought a new cellphone. The week was also filled with some amusement:
• Sleep-deprived quote of the week: “There are Mondays in every week” (me, trying to explain that there are stats tuts every day)
• Anti-technology quote of the week: “Just f*%k off!!!!” (Granville, trying to get his laptop to cooperate with him).
• Nervous breakdown moment of the week: watching my computer switch off due to a power failure, as I was finishing an essay and preparing to email it to Unisa (they let me email it that evening when the power came back on)
• Good judgment call of the week: staying home and doing my essay instead of watching people ice-skate for 3 hours
• Surprise of the week: the approved proposal, and Luke suddenly appearing at movies with Duncan and I on Saturday night (I had no idea that he was coming).
• Assorted moments of joy and bliss: having my stitches taken out, getting my new phone, finishing presenting my proposal and having it approved, the end of Pesach and going to movies with Luke and Duncan
The past two weeks have involved enormous amounts of work, because our Honours research proposals had to be handed in on the 8th of April, and we then had to present our proposals on the 16th and 17th of April. The entire experience was incredibly stressful, as in the midst of writing a 20 or so page proposal, we also had a research design test and I had an essay due for a course that I’m doing through Unisa. The major problem was really that I didn’t allow enough time for my supervisor to correct and edit the proposal, and so I was printing drafts and editing ethics forms about twelve nanoseconds before the proposal was meant to be handed in. It wasn’t great. In fact, it was utterly awful, and I’ve now decided that for all future deadlines, I will have completed to work a week ahead of time so that this doesn’t happen again. Aside from all this, I was also running on very little sleep and incredibly stressed about some interpersonal issues I was having with someone, so my general state of mental health has been somewhat lacking for the past two weeks. It all culminated in a small psychotic episode in the Honours room on Tuesday morning – an event which was witness by 3 of the boys in my psychology class. I have since had to do damage control and have told them it was a combination of PMS, sleep-deprivation and stress. I’m not sure if they believe me…
Despite this, the proposal presentation itself went incredibly well. I was one of the few students who had everything approved first time, and the readers liked my writing style and my project. I’m extremely relieved about this, because I suspect that I would’ve dropped out and become a yoga instructor in Tahiti if they had told me that I needed to start from scratch. It also means that I only have to make some minor changes to the proposal before the final hand in.
In addition to this, I managed to sort out the interpersonal issues that I was having (which is an enormous relief, since I’ve been terrified of confronting this issue), managed to successfully teach my second year stats students the section that I absolutely dread (and which I now actually understand too!) and finally bought a new cellphone. The week was also filled with some amusement:
• Sleep-deprived quote of the week: “There are Mondays in every week” (me, trying to explain that there are stats tuts every day)
• Anti-technology quote of the week: “Just f*%k off!!!!” (Granville, trying to get his laptop to cooperate with him).
• Nervous breakdown moment of the week: watching my computer switch off due to a power failure, as I was finishing an essay and preparing to email it to Unisa (they let me email it that evening when the power came back on)
• Good judgment call of the week: staying home and doing my essay instead of watching people ice-skate for 3 hours
• Surprise of the week: the approved proposal, and Luke suddenly appearing at movies with Duncan and I on Saturday night (I had no idea that he was coming).
• Assorted moments of joy and bliss: having my stitches taken out, getting my new phone, finishing presenting my proposal and having it approved, the end of Pesach and going to movies with Luke and Duncan
And, because I'm really not in the mood to do the prep work for my stats tut this week, here are my answers to the "getting to know your friends" spam mail that landed in my inbox last week.
1. What time did you get up this morning: 8:05am (utter bliss, considering I'm usually up at 5:30am!)
2. Diamonds or pearls?: Diamonds
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? "Slumdog Millionaire"
4. What is your favourite TV show? Um... At the moment, the "X-Files" DVD's I got from Helen!
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Oats
6. What is your middle name? I don't have one!
7. What food do you dislike? Brinjals
8.What is your favourite CD at the moment? The Blue Album by The Beatles
9. What kind of car do you drive? A 1996 Ford Tracer
10. Favourite sandwich? Mozzarella cheese, tomato and basil pesto
11. What characteristic do you despise? Hypocrisy
12. Favourite item of clothing? At the moment, my new dark blue jeans.
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on holiday, where would you go? Italy
14. Favourite brand of clothing? Nike. I am in love with Nike Air running shoes. Pity they cost R1200!
15. Where would you retire to? Borneo, so that I can help look after the baby orangutans!
16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? My 21st, and the tea party which accompanied it!
17. Favourite sport to watch? Cricket (or bob-sledding or figure-skating!)
18. Farthermost place you are sending this? Cape Town
17. Favourite sport to watch? Cricket (or bob-sledding or figure-skating!)
18. Farthermost place you are sending this? Cape Town
What happened to number 19?
20. When is your birthday? 22 June
21. Are you a morning person or a night person? Morning (one of the 3 on the planet!)
22. What is your shoe size? Depending on the type of shoe, anywhere between 3 and 6!
23. Pets? One kitten, and 2 dogs.
24. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? My Honours research proposal was approved! Woo hoo!
25. What did you want to be when you were little? A dolphin trainer (and I couldn't swim)
26. How are you today? Tired
27. What is your favourite sweet or chocolate? Lindt chocolate. Failing that, any chocolate will do!
28. What is your favourite flower? Red roses
29. What day on the calendar are you looking forward to? 17 October (the day after our research projects are handed in!)
30. What is your full name? Candice Schneider
31. What are you listening to right now? Bubble Toes by Jack Johnson
32. What was the last thing you ate? A chocolate biscuit
33. Do you wish on stars? Sometimes...
34. If you were a crayon, what colour would you be? Red
35. How is the weather right now? Nice and warm.
36. The first person you spoke to on the phone today? No one yet!
37. Favourite soft drink? Vanilla Coke
38. Favourite restaurant? Mike's Kitchen (or any really good Italian restaurant)
39. Real hair colour? Brown
20. When is your birthday? 22 June
21. Are you a morning person or a night person? Morning (one of the 3 on the planet!)
22. What is your shoe size? Depending on the type of shoe, anywhere between 3 and 6!
23. Pets? One kitten, and 2 dogs.
24. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? My Honours research proposal was approved! Woo hoo!
25. What did you want to be when you were little? A dolphin trainer (and I couldn't swim)
26. How are you today? Tired
27. What is your favourite sweet or chocolate? Lindt chocolate. Failing that, any chocolate will do!
28. What is your favourite flower? Red roses
29. What day on the calendar are you looking forward to? 17 October (the day after our research projects are handed in!)
30. What is your full name? Candice Schneider
31. What are you listening to right now? Bubble Toes by Jack Johnson
32. What was the last thing you ate? A chocolate biscuit
33. Do you wish on stars? Sometimes...
34. If you were a crayon, what colour would you be? Red
35. How is the weather right now? Nice and warm.
36. The first person you spoke to on the phone today? No one yet!
37. Favourite soft drink? Vanilla Coke
38. Favourite restaurant? Mike's Kitchen (or any really good Italian restaurant)
39. Real hair colour? Brown
40. What was your favourite toy as a child? Probably crayons and paper!
41. Summer or winter? Summer, provided that I can swim, or winter, as long as I'm inside!
42. Hugs or kisses? Depends on who is giving them! ;)
43. Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate.
44. Coffee or tea? Tea
45. Do you want your friends to email you back? Only if they have some important work to avoid!
46. When was the last time you cried? About 2 weeks ago, in the midst of research proposal hand-in madness!
47. What is under your bed? A heater, and probably some dead creature that my kitten brought in.
48. What did you do last night? I went to movies with Luke and Duncan
49. What are you afraid of ? Snakes
50. Salty or sweet? Sweet
51. How many keys on your key ring? Probably about 8
52. How many years at your current job? Over a year and a half
53. Favourite day of the week? Fridays and Saturdays
54. How many towns have you lived in? One
55. Do you make friends easily? Yes
41. Summer or winter? Summer, provided that I can swim, or winter, as long as I'm inside!
42. Hugs or kisses? Depends on who is giving them! ;)
43. Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate.
44. Coffee or tea? Tea
45. Do you want your friends to email you back? Only if they have some important work to avoid!
46. When was the last time you cried? About 2 weeks ago, in the midst of research proposal hand-in madness!
47. What is under your bed? A heater, and probably some dead creature that my kitten brought in.
48. What did you do last night? I went to movies with Luke and Duncan
49. What are you afraid of ? Snakes
50. Salty or sweet? Sweet
51. How many keys on your key ring? Probably about 8
52. How many years at your current job? Over a year and a half
53. Favourite day of the week? Fridays and Saturdays
54. How many towns have you lived in? One
55. Do you make friends easily? Yes
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