Fellow students and various other people I've met have been asking me how I'm liking U-M, and how it's compared to my pre-move expectations. The answer is that I'm liking it: it continues to surprise me and to surpass my expectations, if at times overwhelm me. The department's professors are high-quality, the breadth of the program is stunning, the peers are friendly and smart, and classes are giving me a lot to chew on. I'm liking it so much, actually, I'm even considering staying here an extra year (!)
That said, I still miss Boston, and I'm still adapting to not having a job to go to: I miss coworkers, users, and fixing things. Right now, if I replace my own hard drive? Dangerous operation that might leave me unable to pass a class. Where's the fun in that?
Two professors, and their energy and dedication, brought me to this program. I've been pleasantly surprised this fall by how engaged other professors have been. The symposium on sustainability and social justice brought this home: from what so many of them shared there, the faculty is paying attention, cares passionately, and admits personal conflict and uncertainty openly. That's worth a lot.
It's time to line up what classes we're taking for next semester: what courses will we rescue from the broad catalog into our narrow schedule? It doesn't make it any easier that almost without exception, every professor in our department has something unique to offer, and is good at sharing it. I know I'm staying away from real estate, and not getting too close to urban design or architecture, so that's a start. I want the time to talk through the problems that each of our professors is working on, and to get to know them and their styles, without the restriction of a course schedule. Tomorrow there's a course fair, where everyone who's teaching an elective says a little about it; hopefully that'll be a start.
I'm working on assembling a peer group of the wacky, the transportation geeky, and the askers of annoying questions. I'm well on my way. Other fellow students are friendly and helpful, even if I haven't made time to study together and socialize as much as I would have liked. In any case, we seem to be smart, studious, and fun, even if some of these whippersnappers have weird ideas of "fun". (I mean, doesn't a tailgate get boring after a couple hours?)
Classes are good if sometimes frustrating. Four of my classes have 35-60 students in them, so conversation is stilted and superficial. There's a lot to learn from the material, it's well chosen, and some classes have optional discussion sections. But it takes a lot of effort to get into the readings and to skim them purposefully, there's only so much to get from a lecture, and I'm strapped for time outside of class, so my attention wanders more than I'd like. Frustrating. Still, I have the building blocks of some good study habits and technologies, I'm working on putting them together in a stable arrangement, and regardless I'm absorbing a lot of good information.
Classes are playing off each other in interesting ways. I can explore this a little in papers for each class (well, primarily it's Theory's assignments that have enough latitude), but I'd love an opportunity to put the concepts and approaches together, and use them to critique each other. Perhaps a future post topic? I'll keep it under 1000 words, promise :-)
Overall, I'm happy to be here, a little giddy about future semesters' possibilities, and daunted by the challenge of fitting everything I want to learn here into 3 remaining semesters. In fact, I'm applying to the School of Natural Resources and Environment to add a second master's degree -- giving me two more semesters! It would be a Master of Science in Natural Resources and the Environment, with a specialization in Behavior, Education, and Communication, starting in earnest next Fall. I really like what I've seen of SNRE so far this fall (through the one seminar). My challenge right now is to focus on writing the application now, and weighing all the options as to whether to accept their offer if and when it comes. (Some considerations include their class sizes, how much funding I get next semester and for next year through their offer, and the retirement of one of the professors that made the BEC specialization so attractive.)
I'll keep you posted!
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