Helping Bradley With an Assignment
So, Bradley is writing a paper on blogs, so I am updating mine right now as a way to help him with his paper (as a way to cop out of writing my own).
There comes a point before any paper is done that I procrastinate and wait until the very last minute to finish it up. I don't know why I do this. My papers have a potential for being very good pieces of research, but they always come out less than perfect because I don't spend enough time working on them. I would eventually like to finish a doctorate in history, something I definitely will not succeed at if my writing habits do not improve. I have written some in-depth pieces of writing on several different subjects, but they are not nearly as good as I would like them to be, and not nearly as good as I am capable of.
I'm in the middle of working on a paper right now for my History of Women in America class. It's going to be a pretty good piece of work, but I just can't manage to dig my heels in and get to work on this one. I'm extremely interested in the topic, but I think I am burned out on being overscheduled right now. It would be so much easier if it were like my first time through college, where I only had a piddly part time job, and could devote 10-12 hours in a day to research and writing. The quality of my writing has dropped dramatically since I started my "grown-up" job.
I also owe Cathy 5 book summaries and 30 pages of research writing. The thought of finishing all this work makes my brain hurt. If I had tenure, this is the point when I would be asking for a research sabbatical in which I would study the relevance of constant viewing of the History Channel. And you know what? I could probably get a university to pay me to do that, if I were tenured. But alas. The long road to my PhD and ultimately to job security is long and paved with the work of countless sleepless nights.
So, last week, I went to Sam's Club and Wal-Mart with Bradley and Jennie. They had to pick up some supplies for the Writing Center. They had $20, but everything came to like $25, so I donated the difference to the Writing Center supply fund or whatever. Now, instead of repayment, I am holding out for an "endowed chair" in my name: The Marian E. Wright Writing Center Matthew McGaffigan Endowed Chair. We'll see how that comes along.
OK. Back to the paper now.
There comes a point before any paper is done that I procrastinate and wait until the very last minute to finish it up. I don't know why I do this. My papers have a potential for being very good pieces of research, but they always come out less than perfect because I don't spend enough time working on them. I would eventually like to finish a doctorate in history, something I definitely will not succeed at if my writing habits do not improve. I have written some in-depth pieces of writing on several different subjects, but they are not nearly as good as I would like them to be, and not nearly as good as I am capable of.
I'm in the middle of working on a paper right now for my History of Women in America class. It's going to be a pretty good piece of work, but I just can't manage to dig my heels in and get to work on this one. I'm extremely interested in the topic, but I think I am burned out on being overscheduled right now. It would be so much easier if it were like my first time through college, where I only had a piddly part time job, and could devote 10-12 hours in a day to research and writing. The quality of my writing has dropped dramatically since I started my "grown-up" job.
I also owe Cathy 5 book summaries and 30 pages of research writing. The thought of finishing all this work makes my brain hurt. If I had tenure, this is the point when I would be asking for a research sabbatical in which I would study the relevance of constant viewing of the History Channel. And you know what? I could probably get a university to pay me to do that, if I were tenured. But alas. The long road to my PhD and ultimately to job security is long and paved with the work of countless sleepless nights.
So, last week, I went to Sam's Club and Wal-Mart with Bradley and Jennie. They had to pick up some supplies for the Writing Center. They had $20, but everything came to like $25, so I donated the difference to the Writing Center supply fund or whatever. Now, instead of repayment, I am holding out for an "endowed chair" in my name: The Marian E. Wright Writing Center Matthew McGaffigan Endowed Chair. We'll see how that comes along.
OK. Back to the paper now.
posted by Matty at 5:12 PM
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