Another year (almost) down
Even worse than the end of the semester is the end of the spring semester. I don't know if it's the April weather or the fact that I've only had a two-week break from them for the last 9 months, but I find myself contemplating student homicide by finals week. After a particularly trying morning troubleshooting printer problems and answering basic questions about research assignments that I know were due days before, I spent the afternoon sitting at my desk thinking, "I hate you all."
In hindsight, I should have taken a cue from my favorite coworker, who, weary of research paper-induced hysteria, set yesterday's Facebook status as "Everybody calm the fuck down!" Next spring I think I'll get up on the table and shout that when things become unbearable.
Since tomorrow is the last day of the semester, I shouldn't have to do it this year. Because our administrators are masochists, semester grades are due at 5, which means no one can realistically hold class much past Wednesday. Tomorrow will be faculty panic day, but they usually require at least slightly less hand-holding, and if they're rude to me I can withhold the copier bypass key.
Next week is semester break (for the students and faculty, that is; we staff are expected to be in our seats as usual), and then comes 16 weeks of summer classes at 25% enrollment. In an interesting twist, because of odd student worker schedules, the fact that there are zero classes scheduled for Fridays, and I think my boss is a little afraid of me when I'm crabby like I was today, I'm going to be working 4 (longer) days instead of 5. I'm not a hundred percent sure that's even allowed (our dictator predates the concept of flextime by about 50 years), but my boss proposed it as an option this morning and I immediately created the student worker schedule around it. Huzzah for 3-day weekends!
If nothing else, the extra day off will give me time to recuperate from dealing with the mental exhaustion brought on by students like the freshman who came to me this afternoon and asked, "Are you one of the student workers who's graduating this semester?"
I would have been more flattered if he weren't so stupid. Still, I won't have to see him for 4 months, so I smiled graciously and said, "No, I'm a grown-up--I'm here all the time."
In hindsight, I should have taken a cue from my favorite coworker, who, weary of research paper-induced hysteria, set yesterday's Facebook status as "Everybody calm the fuck down!" Next spring I think I'll get up on the table and shout that when things become unbearable.
Since tomorrow is the last day of the semester, I shouldn't have to do it this year. Because our administrators are masochists, semester grades are due at 5, which means no one can realistically hold class much past Wednesday. Tomorrow will be faculty panic day, but they usually require at least slightly less hand-holding, and if they're rude to me I can withhold the copier bypass key.
Next week is semester break (for the students and faculty, that is; we staff are expected to be in our seats as usual), and then comes 16 weeks of summer classes at 25% enrollment. In an interesting twist, because of odd student worker schedules, the fact that there are zero classes scheduled for Fridays, and I think my boss is a little afraid of me when I'm crabby like I was today, I'm going to be working 4 (longer) days instead of 5. I'm not a hundred percent sure that's even allowed (our dictator predates the concept of flextime by about 50 years), but my boss proposed it as an option this morning and I immediately created the student worker schedule around it. Huzzah for 3-day weekends!
If nothing else, the extra day off will give me time to recuperate from dealing with the mental exhaustion brought on by students like the freshman who came to me this afternoon and asked, "Are you one of the student workers who's graduating this semester?"
I would have been more flattered if he weren't so stupid. Still, I won't have to see him for 4 months, so I smiled graciously and said, "No, I'm a grown-up--I'm here all the time."
posted by Madame Defarge at 4:49 PM
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