Because I know you were wondering. . .
Today was the last day of a stats class I took this quarter. The professor was really good. I think she looks like Dorothy Hamill.
Today I also had to meet with "Mr. Gary Thomas of the United States Department of Education." The Department of Education is over the Jacob K. Javits Fellowship that pays for my education/living. So right, no big deal -- "just send your CV (that's like a resume for those of you not living in an ivory tower), unofficial transcript, and a sample of the work you've been doing and I'll forward it to Mr. Thomas," said the UCLA Javits coordinator a couple of weeks ago. I was a little nervous because the point of the meeting was unclear. Lucky for me I did not have to justify my space on their bankroll. Nor was I the 'softy' token social scientist that I feared I would be. Most of the Javits fellows are art students and while the ones at the meeting complained a little (e.g., "Can't we get summer funding too?" "I think I need more than 3 years to get my MFA!"), I used my time wisely to kiss ass and talk about all the academic freedom and efficiency (right, like writing this blog) the Fellowship provides me.
I did get confirmation that I'm not allowed to be gainfully employed while I'm on this Fellowship, although there may be an exception for part-time teaching and research assistantships. This may be a problem for my summer plans-- unless I can find a research institute that's cool with paying me in cash. . .
I also thought Gary Thomas would have white hair (or at least be middle aged) and be kind of a kill joy (this went along well with the 'he's going to take away my funding' scare). Wrong again. He looks like any other Brentwood Todd* I'd see at some pretentious bar in my neighborhood.
*Brentwood Todds are typically under thirty, wear button down, powder blue shirts tucked into jeans to work at their consulting job (and button down, powder blue shirts untucked with jeans to a bar), lease BMWs, and rent an apartment in Brentwood just so they can have swanky zipcode.
Today I also had to meet with "Mr. Gary Thomas of the United States Department of Education." The Department of Education is over the Jacob K. Javits Fellowship that pays for my education/living. So right, no big deal -- "just send your CV (that's like a resume for those of you not living in an ivory tower), unofficial transcript, and a sample of the work you've been doing and I'll forward it to Mr. Thomas," said the UCLA Javits coordinator a couple of weeks ago. I was a little nervous because the point of the meeting was unclear. Lucky for me I did not have to justify my space on their bankroll. Nor was I the 'softy' token social scientist that I feared I would be. Most of the Javits fellows are art students and while the ones at the meeting complained a little (e.g., "Can't we get summer funding too?" "I think I need more than 3 years to get my MFA!"), I used my time wisely to kiss ass and talk about all the academic freedom and efficiency (right, like writing this blog) the Fellowship provides me.
I did get confirmation that I'm not allowed to be gainfully employed while I'm on this Fellowship, although there may be an exception for part-time teaching and research assistantships. This may be a problem for my summer plans-- unless I can find a research institute that's cool with paying me in cash. . .
I also thought Gary Thomas would have white hair (or at least be middle aged) and be kind of a kill joy (this went along well with the 'he's going to take away my funding' scare). Wrong again. He looks like any other Brentwood Todd* I'd see at some pretentious bar in my neighborhood.
*Brentwood Todds are typically under thirty, wear button down, powder blue shirts tucked into jeans to work at their consulting job (and button down, powder blue shirts untucked with jeans to a bar), lease BMWs, and rent an apartment in Brentwood just so they can have swanky zipcode.
posted by kelly at 2:30 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home