Orientation…
Today I am totally exhausted. I loathe these types of days - the ones were you sit around, do nothing, and are still totally worn out. We had two 3-hour sessions of seminars today, PLUS a “wine and cheese” reception for the new students and faculty. It was so we could meet the faculty who might not be speaking in the orientation, but would be interested in having students join their labs.
Two reasons these receptions suck: 1) Along with a bunch of my classmates, I do not drink wine. Nor do I like beer. Which is all they have to drink at these things. Now, it may get whatever faculty that actually show up (see #2) loosened up, but it does nothing for me. 2) Hardly any faculty show up. We had, I think, a total of about 15 faculty members show up. Whoo. Out of over a hundred. And guess what! Most of them were the same people who’d already spoken, or who would be speaking at the seminars! Plus, absolutely none of the people I want to speak to have been around at all. So frustrating.
Additional reasons for me to complain - I got corned by a faculty member who was way too much of a close talker. Who backed me into a corner. I have personal space issues, so this was unpleasent. Two other faculty members I got roped into talking to - one is a virologist studying HIV (sorry, I want to concentrate on genetics, not HIV anymore), and one studying cancer, but who just kept talking without letting a word get in edge-wise so I could graciously excuse myself. I guess this is what happens when scientists get a couple glasses of wine in them. I know they were more excited about the wine than my classmates were.
Well, only a full week left of this to go…
