DONE!!!

I am officially done with my first year of grad school! Yay! I pulled my last all-nighter of the semester last night starting/finishing my Performance Appraisal exam. I proctored a test for my GA, entered the grades, and now I have nothing to do! Its a really really bizarre feeling. But no worries, I got an email from Job analysis/performance appraisal teacher saying I have to summarize our JA report for TCCW before our meeting with them on the 18th since I was the group leader. I have plenty of time, but if is still another thing to do.

Class starts again on the 12th. I just have one class, research methods which is sure to be a bore. And I need to get a practicum for the summer sometime too. We will see how that works out.

Diet Pepsi Max...

... is going to get me through grad school.

New Goal!

So last night I went to Nashville with Jaclyn because some of her friends were in town. They came to run the marathon yesterday and so we talked a lot about that. So now Jaci and I have been inspired to run a half marathon. Its a pretty crazy goal, but I have always wanted to run a marathon, and I really want to get back in shape, so I am very excited. Our goal is to run in the 2nd Annual Music City Half Marathon in Nashville on October 4th. The girls that ran yesterday had been training since December, (and one of them did the full 26 miles) so we think it will be enough time. We also want to run in 5K's over the summer to help us get a little experience with the race scene. It will be fun to train with a specific goal, the running just to run thing isn't something that I ever stick to, but a 13 mile run staring me in the face will probably be decent motivation. So I am telling everyone I know so that I can't back down :)

Brrrrr....

It is only 64 degrees right now and the high for the day is only 70.... brrrr... :)

(yesterday was in the 80's)

Stats News

I know all this school crap is pretty boring news... but its all I got.

So I turned in my homework and took Stats test 4. I am friends with the person that grades our homework, so I weaseled my grade out of him. I got a perfect on that, which although it is technically out of 75 points, I got 78 points since the homework ended up with a few extra. Then I took the test. It was surprisingly easy, which made me more worried. I got a 139/150, which wasn't as good as I expected... but whatever, when you add up all the points I got I was about 3 points shy of an A.... no worries. Remember that test that was so long and hard the class average was a 50%.. yeah because of that mess, our class was an entire letter grade lower than years of the past and so she was going to curve our grades. She sent an email out that said the curve would be 20. That was fine for me bc it was going to put me into the A range without doing the last homework or the final. Some of my classmates were bummed though bc she had said we would get approx 50 points, so they were thinking that they would have to do the final and last hmwk. Well she sent out another email and said that she underestimated the curve. Turns out she is giving us 90 points. That is great for everyone else, but I don't really care since I already had the A. The thing that bothers me though, is I feel like she is just handing out A's, I could have gotten way worse grades on everything and still pulled off an A. At least I know that I understand stats and that I don't need an obscene 90 point curve to get an A. And in fact, I wouldn't have needed a curve at all, I would have just taken the final to ensure my A. And yes, I know school isn't all about grades, I do know that I am here to learn, and that is what I am doing. It just so happens that learning is attached to grades.

So I got an A.... its just a little bittersweet.

I can have my phone or my keys, but not simultaneously

So last night at about 6:15 pm I went with a friend for a quick shopping trip. Right as I stepped out of my bedroom, I realized that I had just locked my keys in my room. My apartment's office closes at 6pm, so I just missed them. If I wanted to get someone to get me a spare key at this point, it would have cost me a hefty fine. So I just went shopping and decided to try to figure it out later. When I got dropped off again the door to my apartment was locked too. So I knocked for a while, but I didn't see any of my roommates' cars in the parking lot so I concluded that none of them were there. My classmate Andrew had texted me earlier to say that him and Jacob (a 2nd year in my program) were going to Mellow Mushroom (a pizza place) and so I decided to call him. Jacob came and picked me up (my car keys were locked in my room too) and I hung out with them at Mellow Mushroom (I just wanted to add more parenthesis in this area). While at Mellow Mushroom I managed to spill a full glass of water all over Andrew... I felt bad, but it sure was funny. Despite this, Andrew let me stay at his place. I was forced to take the night off from homework since it was all locked in my room. So I got a crappy nights sleep on Andrew's couch which is way too short for me. And I got Andrew to drive me back to my apartment in the morning when the office was open. Luckily, they are really nice about giving you the spare without any grief. So I got back in and showered and headed off to work. I had to stop by school to drop off tests that I graded for my GA. Somewhere between school and work I lost my phone. I didn't know if it fell out when I opened my door at school or if it fell in my car somewhere. I couldn't find it anywhere, and I didn't have time to look for it when I got to work so I just went in, figuring I was going to be buying a new phone. At the end of the day I took Andrew's phone (he works at TCCW too) and I went out to my car to call myself. I found my phone way underneath the drivers seat, I have NO idea how it got under there, but at least I found it. So it has been a fairly eventful last 24 hours... and now I have to catch up on all the work that I couldn't do last night...

Sunglasses

What is it about me and sunglasses that does not get along? I lost yet another pair of sunglasses today. I think I left them in the classroom that I did a course evaluation for. Maybe the teacher will notice that I left them and put them in my box or something. At least they weren't expensive, in fact for me they were free since I used the gift card I got from Mom and Dad for Christmas to buy them. The thing is, is that I haven't even had them 2 weeks. The pair before these that I bought in MN I broke (literally snapped; there is no chance at repair) both ear pieces off. The ones before that I believe I lost in a river. I have melted a pair in my car, left a pair in a car rental, sat on some, left a pair in a bathroom stall at the state fair... the list goes on and on.

The worst part is.... it is CRAZY bright outside!

I know who I want to work for...

SIOP was amazing. I met lots of great people and learned a lot too. I also knew more people than I expected to, which is mostly because a lot of people came who are either currently at MSU or were there at one point. The thing is that the I/O world, while it is quite large, is really small one, so knowing the small group that I did before the conference helped immensely. I went to the Master's Consortium on Wednesday and attended a talk by a former MSU student who got his Bachelors at MSU and then went on to a different school for his MA. He works as an external consultant for Kenexa, which is one of the most amazing companies ever. It is the number two I/O employer (Bank of America is number one) and there are firms around the globe. It is an organization that provides companies with hiring and retention solutions. I could go on and on about it, but that would probably bore you, just know that I think this company is amazing! The question of the weekend was Ph.D vs MA. I got lots of advice and switched my mind about 30 times a day. I still haven't decided, but at least I know now what each option means and what I could expect from each. At least I have time to decide, and right now I am too busy to think about it anyway.
Another reason SIOP was great, was that for four days I didn't have to explain what I/O is to anyone! It was great. Also, the focus of the conference was obviously on I/O which is refreshing since I feel like my Master's program is primarily focused on HR, which is quite disappointing. I am still happy with the program I am in, I just wish I would have known how strong of a HR focus that it has.... I do not want to do HR.
Unfortunately, after that sample of freedom at SIOP, now I have to somehow get through the rest of the semester. It is going to be rough. I am basically done with all my classes. Since all we have is projects and tests left my teachers let us cancel the rest of our classes (except for pre-prac, lame!). Here is a quick list of what I need to get done (in the order which they need to be accomplished):
1) Stats assignement 4
2) Review peers' lit reviews
3) Stats test 4
4) Pre-practicum article presentation
5) Stats assignement 5*
6) Final version of Lit review (and 1-page case for why my study is worth it; due weeks ago)
7) Compensation project
8) Compensation final
9) Pre-practicum self-assessment paper
10) Job Analysis report
11) Job Analysis take home final
12) Stats take home final due*
13) Breathe
*Depending on my grades for assignment and test 4, I might not have to do these (cross your fingers)
It doesn't seem so bad just looking at the list, but each of those things take up a lot of time. This week alone my group and I have worked about 10 hours on our Compensation system. Pair that with going to class and 20 hours of work, and there is not much time left. But thats what I signed up for right? I plan to get a large chunk of my stats assignment done tomorrow... we'll see how that goes, stats always takes much longer than planned.
Then we have the I/O spring social on Saturday... which is great and all, but who really has time for that... oh right all the 2nd years and professors... great. We will all get together and grill out and eat and socialize, but I foresee most of the 1st years ducking out early for the reasons stated above.

Off to San Fran!

I am going to San Francisco tomorrow. My flight leaves at 6am, we are leaving Murfreesboro at 4:30. Ew. I am flying with Frontier and I have a layover in Denver. Hopefully I have better luck than last time we were in this scenario. I still have to pack but instead of doing that before class I decided to sit on the internet for a while. The nice thing about being lazy is that I still haven't put away my suitcase (or completely unpacked it for that matter) from spring break, so that is one less step that I have to do now! The ironic thing about going to California is that the weather in Murfreesboro is going to be better than San Francisco while I am gone. Speaking of weather, it is amazing here. The trees are getting leaves and flowers, and they are mowing the lawn right now. Its nice for now, but come July when it is 105 I might be complaining.
I am two classes from being done for the week, yay!

Presentation without References

I am giving a presentation tomorrow on "Work Performance and Review" apparently its a performance appraisal system. I actually don't know a whole lot about it, and neither does anyone in this world apparently. There is one book on it in existence, and our library doesn't have that book. One of the faculty here has the book, but he was gone with his wife (who is also faculty) for her dad's funeral, so I couldn't get the book. My teacher gave me the powerpoint printout from the slides that the group made last year and gave them to me and told me to go off of that. I was thinking great I have no idea what this PA is about and now I have to present on it going off these bullet points. So I was a little worried, but not worried enough to work ahead. So I went to wage and salary, I went to stats, I went to our SHRM meeting, and then I stuck around for a 2nd year's practicum presentation. Afterward a friend of mine said "Let's go out to get food and drinks" and I said "I can't I have to do this presentation on work performance and review and I don't know anything about it and I don't have the book for it." He gave me a funny look and said, "Wait I think I presented on that last year." I showed him the ppt slides and he said "Yup, that's mine" So I ended up going to Applebees and he explained the process to me and I have managed to develop a decent presentation on it without even having any real resources. Crazy how some things work out.

I have been considering going to a Ph.D program after Master's. I might be insane. Tonight I am leaning towards yes (the three other people I was with at Applebees are all going Ph.D), tomorrow might be no (tomorrow has been dedicated to thesis). I am hoping SIOP will help me decide. I am going to a Master's Consortium that hopefully will get me more familiar with my options as an Master's level I/O practitioner and help me figure it out.

I think I am allergic to my deodorant, but I don't have time to go to a store, so I just keep using it. But last night I had a dream that I bought 3 new tubes, but when I got home I realized that I bought the same kinda that I am allergic to. Weird.