asserting self
So, the funniest part of my yesterday's meeting with Committee Prof #3 is when my history prof came to get me for class (they're tight, and she said she wanted to give us both a hard time - and she knew I had a meeting with him, so apparently he'd vented his frustrations to her about me - whatever). I had asked her to be Committee Prof #5 but she's not in town then.
So I asked #3 if he had suggestions for a #5, and he suggested Big Pimp Poppa. I had that guy last year for a class and I do not speak to him. I figure, anybody I can make so angry they both cry and want to kill me, they shouldn't be much around me. And, I don't trust him in many ways - not to sabotage, for instance. #3 is threatening me about my orals, saying how really hard they'll be to pass. OK. Thanks for the heads up, now I know that it's important to have people on my side.
So, before he could say anything beyond Big Pimp Poppa's name, I looked squarely at him and interrupted with a firm, "NO." "But-" "NO. Who else ya got?"
To do it in front of history prof and him - well, they'll have something to talk about. I think BPP is specious and I don't mind them talking. As I explained to advisor, "With all these sabbaticals, I'm about running out of people whom I know and whom I will allow to be in the same room with me."
The thing is, it's MY oral exams. I get to have people I like. And I know prof #3 is doing some power tripping on me because of his tenure frustrations, and I know that he and my chair will have some real disagreements about the suitability of my research, but I think he's a fundamentally smart, good person. I don't think that BPP is either. Not evil, but I think he's like a Vulcan - he has this ultra-friendly veneer to cover his raging Scorpio emotions underneath. And I've seen beneath, and I'm done. He wants too much to be liked, and I don't trust that.
So then #3 suggested The Preacher, who just got tenure because he's a minority. Ugh. The man is beyond incompetent, and my orals would consist of him pontificating using made-up terms. (Maybe that wouldn't be so bad.)
"Who else?"
He wants me to have somebody from policy, which is legitimate. The problem is that with the exception of my advisor, just about everybody sucks. So, I might go with the guy who is retiring at the end of the year. He's a sexist racist pig, but I think he'll go along with Prof Advisor. Which is all I want. Because Prof Advisor and I see eye-to-eye usually, and when we don't the convincing goes both ways. But he's incredibly smart and I don't mind when he speaks in paragraphs. He believes the best in me, which is invaluable.
Oy vey. It's a long way to Tipperary.
So I asked #3 if he had suggestions for a #5, and he suggested Big Pimp Poppa. I had that guy last year for a class and I do not speak to him. I figure, anybody I can make so angry they both cry and want to kill me, they shouldn't be much around me. And, I don't trust him in many ways - not to sabotage, for instance. #3 is threatening me about my orals, saying how really hard they'll be to pass. OK. Thanks for the heads up, now I know that it's important to have people on my side.
So, before he could say anything beyond Big Pimp Poppa's name, I looked squarely at him and interrupted with a firm, "NO." "But-" "NO. Who else ya got?"
To do it in front of history prof and him - well, they'll have something to talk about. I think BPP is specious and I don't mind them talking. As I explained to advisor, "With all these sabbaticals, I'm about running out of people whom I know and whom I will allow to be in the same room with me."
The thing is, it's MY oral exams. I get to have people I like. And I know prof #3 is doing some power tripping on me because of his tenure frustrations, and I know that he and my chair will have some real disagreements about the suitability of my research, but I think he's a fundamentally smart, good person. I don't think that BPP is either. Not evil, but I think he's like a Vulcan - he has this ultra-friendly veneer to cover his raging Scorpio emotions underneath. And I've seen beneath, and I'm done. He wants too much to be liked, and I don't trust that.
So then #3 suggested The Preacher, who just got tenure because he's a minority. Ugh. The man is beyond incompetent, and my orals would consist of him pontificating using made-up terms. (Maybe that wouldn't be so bad.)
"Who else?"
He wants me to have somebody from policy, which is legitimate. The problem is that with the exception of my advisor, just about everybody sucks. So, I might go with the guy who is retiring at the end of the year. He's a sexist racist pig, but I think he'll go along with Prof Advisor. Which is all I want. Because Prof Advisor and I see eye-to-eye usually, and when we don't the convincing goes both ways. But he's incredibly smart and I don't mind when he speaks in paragraphs. He believes the best in me, which is invaluable.
Oy vey. It's a long way to Tipperary.
posted by NOLA at 6:55 AM
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