Post-Semester, Pre-Field
May. 13th, 2010 11:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
archaesophiliaAt the end of yet another semester (they only officially end when the grades have gone up) I find myself more relieved than usual. The classes weren't a problem; I continue my streak of A's and A-'s. Which is average for a grad student.
The problem was that I needed to slow down; up until this semester I've been taking a full course load every semester-three classes. And TAing/RAing.
The point is that with all the classes that I've been taking, I think that I've been too busy to fully participate in certain aspects of academia.
I'm looking forward to writing my thesis and to finally moving forward to my own work in my dissertation; the freedom that research affords is something that I'm enjoying a lot.
I feel like this summer and up-coming year will determine the direction that my career as an archaeologist takes; whether I get my PhD with the eventual aim to teach, or whether I take an MA/PhD and go into the private sector. We'll see.
In other news, I'm very excited about data. Almost three thousand data points for my thesis is substantial enough to make significant statements.
And this semester I participated in an experimental study involving hafted bifaces, wherein I spent a significant portion of the latter end of the semester sawing wood with stone tools. That was fun; it was so much fun that it feels like cheating that I got a grade for the paper I wrote.
And we're going out to survey again this summer; this time for a longer period of time. Boo for not excavating, but hurray for getting out and working.
The problem was that I needed to slow down; up until this semester I've been taking a full course load every semester-three classes. And TAing/RAing.
The point is that with all the classes that I've been taking, I think that I've been too busy to fully participate in certain aspects of academia.
I'm looking forward to writing my thesis and to finally moving forward to my own work in my dissertation; the freedom that research affords is something that I'm enjoying a lot.
I feel like this summer and up-coming year will determine the direction that my career as an archaeologist takes; whether I get my PhD with the eventual aim to teach, or whether I take an MA/PhD and go into the private sector. We'll see.
In other news, I'm very excited about data. Almost three thousand data points for my thesis is substantial enough to make significant statements.
And this semester I participated in an experimental study involving hafted bifaces, wherein I spent a significant portion of the latter end of the semester sawing wood with stone tools. That was fun; it was so much fun that it feels like cheating that I got a grade for the paper I wrote.
And we're going out to survey again this summer; this time for a longer period of time. Boo for not excavating, but hurray for getting out and working.