So as you (should) know, I have recently entered the wonderful world of working people.
Last semester, I "worked" by taking notes in my classes for some anonymous person in my class who had diagnosed learning disabilities. I only got 4.5 hours of work a week, for $14/hr.
This semester, I signed up today for more note-taking. So that's 4.5 hours.
Then I have my Financial Aid Office job at 10 hours a week, $14/hr.
The FAO is located about 4 minutes from HGSE campus, so it is super convenient to go before class. They require us (there's 3 of us) to work at least 2 hours a day each in the file room. The file room is a big room with floor to ceiling book shelves that I have to swipe my ID card to access. (Ooo fancy.) All the undergrads have folders in there, but my job is for freshmen filing.
The College received 35,000 applications this year; that's a 20% increase from last year; last year saw a 10% increase from the year before. I don't know why everyone has decided now's the time to go to Harvard, but that's beside the point. The fact that their application fee is $75, so even if we generously estimate that 20% of the students got to apply for free given their financial background, the College still made more than $2 million on applications alone is also beside the point.
Technically, most of the paperwork is submitted online. But there are still a LOT of people, and over-zealous, anxious students/parents who submit paper copies of forms. And that's where I come in. I file all their paperwork into drawers of folders. As the application decision season progresses, we start pulling folders of students the College likes. They get filed on a different bookshelf to be looked at by a financial aid officer. Eventually, they will admit 2500 students.
So technically, I suppose, I have an inside scoop on who Harvard is admitting this year. If only I knew anyone who cared about such information. Although, even if I knew anyone who cared, I am sworn to secrecy, so I couldn't tell you if I wanted to, without getting fired and probably "dismissed" from HGSE.
I will say my alphabet skills will be acutely honed by the end of the semester; with so many applications we are often filing up to the 5th or 6th letter of names. Also, I'm getting a lot of paper cuts. We're talking massive, 1/2" long paper gashes. It makes washing my hands or using hand sanitizer a real treat. Also, it is surreal to come across tax returns and bank statements with 7 figures on them.
That's an amount of money I'm pretty sure I won't ever see associated with my name. I am just happy to have my $203/week, thank you very much. Someday I might make like $1000/week.Maybe.That would be nice. I don't know what I'd do with a 7 figure bank statement... after paying off my student loans.
Anyway- before I get sucked into thinking about just how much money that actually is, I'm gonna be done now.
-mollie
p.s.- I'm going to a sushi restaurant for the first time tonight; I'm wishing I was going to be eating 20 chicken nuggets instead, which I have yet to partake of.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
I'm already looking forward to this:
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
HGSE Convocation, 3:00 p.m. in Radcliffe Yard
Dean Kathleen McCartney welcomes all graduates and guests and introduces the afternoon's three speakers: the winner of the HGSE Student Speech Competition, the student-elected faculty speaker, and the recipient of the HGSE Alumni Council Award. All graduates (both doctoral and masters) are welcome to invite guests and family members to this event, RSVP required.
Commencement Celebration Dance, 8:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. in Radcliffe Yard.
The Celebration Dance features a d.j., dancing, hors d'oeuvres, and a cash bar. All graduates (both doctoral and masters) are welcome to invite guests and family members to this event, RSVP required.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Academic Procession Line-Up, 7:00 a.m. on Appian Way
Masters and doctoral graduates who plan to participate in the Harvard University Morning Commencement Exercises must assemble on Appian Way and process to Harvard Yard as a group.
Harvard University Commencement Exercises, 9:45 a.m. in Harvard Yard
During these morning exercises, the deans of each school introduce their graduates as a class and President Faust confers degrees upon the class as a whole. Please note: graduates will not be awarded their diplomas here. These exercises include the traditional commencement speeches and orations. Harvard University honorary degrees are awarded. Each HGSE graduate is welcome to attend and may request two guest tickets only for this ceremony, with no exceptions. Tickets Required.
HGSE Presentation of Diplomas and Certificates, 12:15 p.m. in Radcliffe Yard
Immediately following the morning University Exercises, HGSE diplomas and certificates are awarded to all graduates (both doctoral and masters) on stage in Radcliffe Yard. Dean McCartney will speak briefly, after which graduates will be individually presented with degrees and will walk across the stage. Each graduate is welcome to invite an unlimited number of family members and guests and tickets are not required. RSVP Required.
HGSE Convocation, 3:00 p.m. in Radcliffe Yard
Dean Kathleen McCartney welcomes all graduates and guests and introduces the afternoon's three speakers: the winner of the HGSE Student Speech Competition, the student-elected faculty speaker, and the recipient of the HGSE Alumni Council Award. All graduates (both doctoral and masters) are welcome to invite guests and family members to this event, RSVP required.
Commencement Celebration Dance, 8:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. in Radcliffe Yard.
The Celebration Dance features a d.j., dancing, hors d'oeuvres, and a cash bar. All graduates (both doctoral and masters) are welcome to invite guests and family members to this event, RSVP required.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Academic Procession Line-Up, 7:00 a.m. on Appian Way
Masters and doctoral graduates who plan to participate in the Harvard University Morning Commencement Exercises must assemble on Appian Way and process to Harvard Yard as a group.
Harvard University Commencement Exercises, 9:45 a.m. in Harvard Yard
During these morning exercises, the deans of each school introduce their graduates as a class and President Faust confers degrees upon the class as a whole. Please note: graduates will not be awarded their diplomas here. These exercises include the traditional commencement speeches and orations. Harvard University honorary degrees are awarded. Each HGSE graduate is welcome to attend and may request two guest tickets only for this ceremony, with no exceptions. Tickets Required.
HGSE Presentation of Diplomas and Certificates, 12:15 p.m. in Radcliffe Yard
Immediately following the morning University Exercises, HGSE diplomas and certificates are awarded to all graduates (both doctoral and masters) on stage in Radcliffe Yard. Dean McCartney will speak briefly, after which graduates will be individually presented with degrees and will walk across the stage. Each graduate is welcome to invite an unlimited number of family members and guests and tickets are not required. RSVP Required.
Friday, January 21, 2011
School update
So.
My second and last semester of my master's degree starts on Monday.To clear any confusion, I get the Ed.M degree at the end of this year. If I want to be licensed to be a practicing school counselor in MA, I have to attend the second (optional) year of the program next year and earn the CAS (Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study) in School Counseling. Some people who already have teaching certificates will just go back to teaching after this year. It gets confusing.
Anyway. So school starts on Monday. This week was shopping. As I've explained before, the professors each hold two shopping sessions for their classes. They often pass out the syllabus and go over assignments for the semester. It's like the first days of school at BYU used to be, except they get it over with before school actually starts so you can decide you don't want to take a class before you're already missing the first day of one you DO end up wanting to take. And then, since you've gotten your syllabus at shopping, you have assignments due on the first day of class.
Anyway. So we shop. I shopped 10 classes I think. There were three I was really interested in.
One was talking about how different things affect education and child development. Like... how does religious schooling affect children long-term? How does bilingual education affect children long-term? One of his units was about how the education rate of mothers is a very strong predictor of educational achievement in their children. If a mother has a high school degree, her child is less likely to be incarcerated, more likely to graduate from high school, less likely to participate in risk behaviors, etc. than the child of non-high-school-educated mothers. Of course the effects are magnified as the mother's education level goes up. If she's college-educated, her children have a much better chance of becoming responsible, well-educated people.
It was interesting and I wanted to take it, but it was offered at a crappy time.
Another was Moral Adults: Moral Children. The professor (who is also cross-listed at the Harvard Kennedy School) said the class would not be about what IS moral, but about how adults can instill morals in young people, whether they be their children, students, etc. His class argues about what moral qualities adults view as most important, how children develop moral identities, how the world's emphasis on self-esteem and happiness is screwing up children today (in not so many words), and just generally the idea that society's youth seem to lack any semblance of a moral compass these days. The professor summed up his class as: Figuring out how adults can encourage children to become and, even more importantly, WANT to become, good people.
And then there was an assessment class that is required for school counseling licensure. I took a very very very similar class at BYU, and I even TA-ed for it, so this assessment class should be a piece of cake. The only difference will be some of the assignments; we have to conduct a mental status exam, and also administer an IQ test to someone. Woo! (Watch out family.)
There were others I was interested in, but those were the three I was considering most. I signed up for the Moral Adults:Moral Children class and the Assessment (or "Theories and Methods of Child/Adolescent Cognitive and Psychological Assessment"). I ordered the books required (outside of coursepacks) today for $20! Yay!
I was looking over the syllabus for my Moral Adults:Moral Children class and one of the required readings for the second week of class is The Giving Tree. Awww- I love that book! Any professor who assigns Shel Silverstein is a friend of mine.
So hopefully things go well this semester!
(Oh and in case you were wondering, I have two other classes that were/are full-year; that's why I was only choosing two electives.)
p.s.- the snow is getting ridiculous. 3 of the last 7 school days at my practicum site were snow days. In Cromwell, I heard 4 of the 7 were snow days. And next week there's supposed to be a pretty big storm Tuesday/Wednesday. Ridiculous!
My second and last semester of my master's degree starts on Monday.To clear any confusion, I get the Ed.M degree at the end of this year. If I want to be licensed to be a practicing school counselor in MA, I have to attend the second (optional) year of the program next year and earn the CAS (Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study) in School Counseling. Some people who already have teaching certificates will just go back to teaching after this year. It gets confusing.
Anyway. So school starts on Monday. This week was shopping. As I've explained before, the professors each hold two shopping sessions for their classes. They often pass out the syllabus and go over assignments for the semester. It's like the first days of school at BYU used to be, except they get it over with before school actually starts so you can decide you don't want to take a class before you're already missing the first day of one you DO end up wanting to take. And then, since you've gotten your syllabus at shopping, you have assignments due on the first day of class.
Anyway. So we shop. I shopped 10 classes I think. There were three I was really interested in.
One was talking about how different things affect education and child development. Like... how does religious schooling affect children long-term? How does bilingual education affect children long-term? One of his units was about how the education rate of mothers is a very strong predictor of educational achievement in their children. If a mother has a high school degree, her child is less likely to be incarcerated, more likely to graduate from high school, less likely to participate in risk behaviors, etc. than the child of non-high-school-educated mothers. Of course the effects are magnified as the mother's education level goes up. If she's college-educated, her children have a much better chance of becoming responsible, well-educated people.
It was interesting and I wanted to take it, but it was offered at a crappy time.
Another was Moral Adults: Moral Children. The professor (who is also cross-listed at the Harvard Kennedy School) said the class would not be about what IS moral, but about how adults can instill morals in young people, whether they be their children, students, etc. His class argues about what moral qualities adults view as most important, how children develop moral identities, how the world's emphasis on self-esteem and happiness is screwing up children today (in not so many words), and just generally the idea that society's youth seem to lack any semblance of a moral compass these days. The professor summed up his class as: Figuring out how adults can encourage children to become and, even more importantly, WANT to become, good people.
And then there was an assessment class that is required for school counseling licensure. I took a very very very similar class at BYU, and I even TA-ed for it, so this assessment class should be a piece of cake. The only difference will be some of the assignments; we have to conduct a mental status exam, and also administer an IQ test to someone. Woo! (Watch out family.)
There were others I was interested in, but those were the three I was considering most. I signed up for the Moral Adults:Moral Children class and the Assessment (or "Theories and Methods of Child/Adolescent Cognitive and Psychological Assessment"). I ordered the books required (outside of coursepacks) today for $20! Yay!
I was looking over the syllabus for my Moral Adults:Moral Children class and one of the required readings for the second week of class is The Giving Tree. Awww- I love that book! Any professor who assigns Shel Silverstein is a friend of mine.
So hopefully things go well this semester!
(Oh and in case you were wondering, I have two other classes that were/are full-year; that's why I was only choosing two electives.)
p.s.- the snow is getting ridiculous. 3 of the last 7 school days at my practicum site were snow days. In Cromwell, I heard 4 of the 7 were snow days. And next week there's supposed to be a pretty big storm Tuesday/Wednesday. Ridiculous!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Nightmare on Not-Elm Street
So first update: The job. The woman emailed me yesterday asking me when I wanted to work, but she hasn't actually said I'm hired. So... I'm getting kind of impatient. Part of me wants to email her and say "It's now been a week since you told me you'd let me know if you were hiring me. Can you make a decision so I can try to find work somewhere else if you're not going to hire me?!?!" Grrr.
Second: Here's a story for you. But you have to know
A) I had practicum today. My practicum days mean an hour commute. It's... calming but tedious in the morning, and irritating in the afternoon. But this means I have to force myself to bed around 9:15. and
B) I live in the basement of a house, so one of my windows is made of shower blocks and looks out (if I could see out) onto the driveway of our property-owner who lives behind us.(The other is a double window looking out to a small patch of garden and bushes, the sidewalk, and the street) I promised myself I would never live in a basement partly because of my mom's creepy my-roommate-got-murdered story, and partly because I'm just paranoid and worry about someone getting in. But alas, when I found this beauty of a house, I did not care if I lived in the basement; I would have slept in the bathtub if it meant getting to live here. So I live in a basement room.
So, now that we've got the background covered, here's my story. Last night I dutifully flopped into bed around 9:30. Around 10:30, I groggily woke up to the light of our property-owner's headlights coming through my windows as he pulled into his driveway. As I laid in bed half asleep, I realized the guy (who's like a 40 yr old Asian man) was out of his car and looking in my window. Could he tell I was there lying in bed? I tried not to move. I started to get scared. I looked away.
I looked back and he was silently inspecting the screen on the window. What was he doing? And then I watched him carefully pull out the pins to the screen. He was trying to find a way to get into my room!! I FREAKED out and started thinking "Surely he won't actually open my window. If he does, what weapons do I have around my room?" I was sweating and my heart was beating in my ears. I'm not sure why I was still lying quietly in bed and wasn't thinking "How quickly can I get upstairs and call 911?" Oh wait, I know why.
I WAS DREAMING.
Everything after seeing the headlights flash into my room was a dream. At the point of his trying to get into my room, amidst my dream freak-out, I jostled myself awake and looked at the window. There was nothing there. It took me like 30 full seconds to realize I had dreamt the whole thing and there was no one there. It took a while to get back to sleep after that.
Seriously.
-mollie
Second: Here's a story for you. But you have to know
A) I had practicum today. My practicum days mean an hour commute. It's... calming but tedious in the morning, and irritating in the afternoon. But this means I have to force myself to bed around 9:15. and
B) I live in the basement of a house, so one of my windows is made of shower blocks and looks out (if I could see out) onto the driveway of our property-owner who lives behind us.(The other is a double window looking out to a small patch of garden and bushes, the sidewalk, and the street) I promised myself I would never live in a basement partly because of my mom's creepy my-roommate-got-murdered story, and partly because I'm just paranoid and worry about someone getting in. But alas, when I found this beauty of a house, I did not care if I lived in the basement; I would have slept in the bathtub if it meant getting to live here. So I live in a basement room.
So, now that we've got the background covered, here's my story. Last night I dutifully flopped into bed around 9:30. Around 10:30, I groggily woke up to the light of our property-owner's headlights coming through my windows as he pulled into his driveway. As I laid in bed half asleep, I realized the guy (who's like a 40 yr old Asian man) was out of his car and looking in my window. Could he tell I was there lying in bed? I tried not to move. I started to get scared. I looked away.
I looked back and he was silently inspecting the screen on the window. What was he doing? And then I watched him carefully pull out the pins to the screen. He was trying to find a way to get into my room!! I FREAKED out and started thinking "Surely he won't actually open my window. If he does, what weapons do I have around my room?" I was sweating and my heart was beating in my ears. I'm not sure why I was still lying quietly in bed and wasn't thinking "How quickly can I get upstairs and call 911?" Oh wait, I know why.
I WAS DREAMING.
Everything after seeing the headlights flash into my room was a dream. At the point of his trying to get into my room, amidst my dream freak-out, I jostled myself awake and looked at the window. There was nothing there. It took me like 30 full seconds to realize I had dreamt the whole thing and there was no one there. It took a while to get back to sleep after that.
Seriously.
-mollie
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Oh and...
I had a job interview to file records in the Harvard Financial Aid Office.
It would be mind-numbing in a good way, and has an added bonus of looking good on a resume to be a school counselor.
... I reallyyyyyyyyy want to get hired, so here's hoping they tell me good news on Friday.
p.s.- if I get the job, I'm celebrating by finding a McDonalds and eating 20 chicken nuggets for $5. I have no shame.
Update as of 1/17: No word yet. She said they were interviewing last week,but everything was shut down for snow, so I'm hoping they're just behind. Because... they would tell me if they weren't going to hire me, right?
It would be mind-numbing in a good way, and has an added bonus of looking good on a resume to be a school counselor.
... I reallyyyyyyyyy want to get hired, so here's hoping they tell me good news on Friday.
p.s.- if I get the job, I'm celebrating by finding a McDonalds and eating 20 chicken nuggets for $5. I have no shame.
Update as of 1/17: No word yet. She said they were interviewing last week,but everything was shut down for snow, so I'm hoping they're just behind. Because... they would tell me if they weren't going to hire me, right?
a letter
Dear Erin,
Please move to the East coast somewhere ASAP. I miss Will and Sawyer.
Many thanks,
mollie
Blah.
Please move to the East coast somewhere ASAP. I miss Will and Sawyer.
Many thanks,
mollie
Blah.
Friday, January 07, 2011
Because I'm bored...
Watching a Dr.Phil episode on how 65% of high school students cheat by taking drugs, copying each other, writing on their hands, etc. is making me so annoyed.
People who cheat make me crazy. And kids who say they "have no other choice" make me even more crazy. Having no morals should not be beneficial, and it often is.
People who cheat make me crazy. And kids who say they "have no other choice" make me even more crazy. Having no morals should not be beneficial, and it often is.
Thursday, January 06, 2011
So sleepy...
Well, I am back in Boston after a lovely trip home to CT for about 10 days.
Christmas and New Years posts will have to wait. I just have to say that since school got out last semester, I have been So. Exhausted. Of course, lately it may be due to waking up at 5:15, but that's besides the point.
I've been sleeping ALOT. I think I'm dying.
*sigh* I'm hoping my energy comes back sometime before second semester starts (the week of Jan. 20 is when shopping starts).
Also, I got my grades for first semester. I took five classes, but one is a year long, so I only got four grades. I don't want to be whiny and say I'm disappointed that I got an A- in one of them, but... I'm disappointed I got an A- in one of them. So we're not talking about it.
The end. Time for bed. Yes, it's 8.30.
Mollie
Christmas and New Years posts will have to wait. I just have to say that since school got out last semester, I have been So. Exhausted. Of course, lately it may be due to waking up at 5:15, but that's besides the point.
I've been sleeping ALOT. I think I'm dying.
*sigh* I'm hoping my energy comes back sometime before second semester starts (the week of Jan. 20 is when shopping starts).
Also, I got my grades for first semester. I took five classes, but one is a year long, so I only got four grades. I don't want to be whiny and say I'm disappointed that I got an A- in one of them, but... I'm disappointed I got an A- in one of them. So we're not talking about it.
The end. Time for bed. Yes, it's 8.30.
Mollie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)