The march toward graduation

I know I have not posted anything lately regarding school, my life (school is my life) or anything inbetween. I decided that I will now. It is Saturday morning. O dark 30.:) It's 6:30 am. I am still in the phase of waking up early due to my substitute teaching job and early classes. One more semester bites the dust and I have one more to finish before throwing that cap in the air! Some days, I cannot believe that *it* has arrived. Here are some updates on what I have been doing....

School news
I took 3 classes this semester and worked 30-40 hours a week, and accomplished 15 hours of volunteer work, not to mention my ethnographic field work early in the semester. I earned all A's this semester, news that makes me pleased with my progress.
3 classes registered for in the Spring, Human Origins, Tourism Impact Analysis, and Native American Religions. The former will be alot of work while the later two should be easy.

I attended the American Anthropological Association national conference in New Orleans in November!! The trip took a huge financial sacrifice but it was worth every penny. I showed a poster and it was early in the morning in the "hodgepodge" section (not really but it felt like it was in an odd place). I did not have as many visitor's as I would have liked BUT the ones I did have asked alot of questions. Of course, I could make a whole post about my full experience and I just may do that soon.

I wrote my first ethnography and frankly, I am going to rewrite it soon. I need to for the publication. The quantitative data will obviously not change but I need to re-work the qualitative portion of it. I also am entering it into a student paper contest for the Society of Economic Anthropologists. I think my supervisor will help me on that.

Well,I will try and write some more detailed posts soon,seeing as though I have 2 weeks off and no job!!

the anthrogeek10

thoughts about the future

Hey all...

Just sitting here working on the "international" section of the IRB (International Review Board) and my mind drifted elsewhere as always when working on the dull IRB certification. This certification protects human subjects from my nasty questions. :D Seriously, I need to write a proposal to the IRB after finishing the tests (of which there are many) and get this study ready to rock for the fall. I could use a few suggestions for the title of the study! I need input. I have three ideas.

First--this is an extension of my crazy fishing paper (on my blog). Here however I will be interviwing contemporary visitors to the Oakland Nature Preserve and maybe the lake itself. Maybe the alligators will leave me a lone if I jump in! LOL

Ok, here are the ideas I have crafted thus far:

1. Lake Apopka Tourism: The Slow Road Back From Environmental Destruction to Eco-Tourism Growth

2. Lake Apopka Tourism: Oakland Nature Preserve Brings Back Nature Lovers

3. Community Initiatives In Oakland, Florida Bring Lake Apopka Tourism Back to Life

I checked out (via home delivery because of my broken car) Grant Writing for Dummies...we shall see. I have no clue how to write a proposal. I am on my own with very little guidence.
Another item of buisness I have been in serious convo mode with myself about are graduate school programs.
I have narrowed them down to three. Preference from 1-3
1. University of Michigan (pie-in-the-sky school)
2. University of Wisconsin
3. University of Central Florida (where I am now)

Wisconsin has a prof who specializes in converts to Islam but U of Michigan is in the top 5 in the country. :P

Ok, hodgepodge of stuff...but I felt the urge so I wrote.
Comment as you will. Insh'Allah

When will I graduate???

Apparently no one at my university knows. It's a big mystery. I went to part time for a reason--to work more due to personal issues I had late last semester. I had to drop two required classes. One is offered in the fall but the other one is not up.I wrote the prof who teaches it. She is a paleontologist. Rumor has it she resigned and she told me in her email that she is teaching it in the Fall. I think she is not telling the truth.Maybe she is not teaching it but someone will. I think that is possible. She told me to keep looking out for the class. Humm...

This uncertainty is really bothering me. I am the type to plan and have a genderal idea of what I am doing.This is a required class and no other school in the vicinity up to 2 hours teaches this.

good posts coming soon!

I have some really great ideas for future posts and I hope all of my readers will stay tuned for them after this semester is done.

On a good update note, the professor who teaches Human Origins (the only "missing" class I need to graduate aside from the one I registered for) emailed me and said she is teaching the class it just is not posted yet. Ok, cool beans. I need that one and History of Anthropological Thought. I have that one in my "cart" already.

Paper two is finished. I will make that one a blog post with pics and all. I compared two ethnographies. One was about Bulgarian tourism and one on Hawaii.

Hope to be back once my 20 page paper is done!

Tonight I made a channa curry with veggies and put it in a pie crust pocket. It was awesome!!

Grade for paper 1

Here is the grade/s and the professor's analysis of my paper. I am in a bad mood!! lol Now I am putting this out there for the world to view. :) She is a really really tough grader btw.

Tiffany George “Tourism and Commoditization: A Comparison of Two Ethnographies”
B+/A-
Generally through comparison of the two ethnographies. Good idea to examine the effects of commoditization on race and gender. Discussion of race is relevant and to the point. The addition of a brief explanation of gender is necessary but not sufficient, as the definition is not complete or correct: gender is not just about relationships that men and women have and the sexual division labor. Gender is an idea/ideal, about “masculinity” and “femininity,” in contrast to “real” men and women. Both components – the ideals of masculinity vs. femininity, as well as how this affects men and women -- comprise the study of gender. It was good to do a point by point comparison, but this could have been shortened. Minor writing problems. Title is weak (say something more interesting after the colon). The paper would have benefited from one more revision/edit. Good job on your first grad paper.

more to come!

Well folks. I have taken a good part of my rough draft to my graduate professor to look over and for her to point out any areas where I need work. She was kind and helpful. This woman is a genius. I am so lucky to have crossed her path. Just to begin, I will mention that she did point out a few things in my paper that needed reworking but she did it quite diplomatically. I took it well--not too many tears I will add. lol J/K. I will post it after it has been handed in to see what my readers say about it.

One discussion we had surrounded my interests in converts to Islam (Western females primarily)and she asked me if I will have a discourse on Nation of Islam and I said IMMEDIATELY, "Oh no..that is not 'real' Islam...". The mentor and teacher that she is stopped me in my humble tracks and said, although I do not quote this word for word is, What you need to know is that an ideology/spiritual belief of a group is real to THEM and thus, it is valid and deserves looking at for an anthropologist. I was stopped in my tracks and learned a very valuble lesson there; a lesson I will not forget....

peace folks....
anthrogeek10

Reflections on the past semester

I have made it through another semester quite successfully if I do say so myself. I earned decent grades. Not up to my usual standards but passable nevertheless.
Language and Culture,B
Culture, Power and Development, A-
Archaeology of Complex Societies, A-
I really did the best I could under the circumstances and will not beat myself up for it.

I am now down to a part time course load and fulltime work. Its ok. I had a rough past semester and I may graduate late but I will graduate soon enough. I was going to take a year off between my undergrad and my graduate level course work so this is not a huge problem.

I will be taking Anthropology of Tourism and Indians of the SE United States. The former is the graduate level one. A major paper is required. Should be interesting. I mean that in all sincerity. The professor has a repute of being top in her field.

New Years is upon us once again. I do not really do resolutions but I do reflect on what I need to change in myself, which is more than I care to mention here. :)

Have a wonderful New Years Day and be safe....
anthrogeek10

changes once again

The grand plan has changed. Life is not anything if it is dull right? I know not many people read my blog but thats ok. I will mention I am going down to part time school starting in the fall. I will be taking a graduate course-Anthropology of Tourism and an online undergraduate course on Native Americans.

My decision has been made in light of recent issues with my soon to be ex husband. Yes, I have called it quits. I hope to dissolve this marriage quickly but funds are at a minimum now. I will work full time and attend class part time. I know the graduate class will be quite different in that there will be alot of writing compared to past courses.

The new plan is to graduate Dec 2010

anthrogeek10

I am ....

...the new VP of the Central Florida Anthropological Society...

I really do accomplish things being on the board. This is not just something to put on my resume. :)

Feeling better about my school...so relaxed now regarding my studies. Spring is my time to finish. On to explore grad school opportunities and be free from academia for a while (one year).

anthrogeek10

Changes in the plan

I have made the difficult decision to not continue with my Middle Eastern Studies minor. I have a couple of reasons for it.

1). money. I do not want more student loans. This is a biggie.

2). Arabic is not something I want to continue formally. I am being diplomatic here! I love the language but the best most efficiant way for me to learn this is to live in an arabic speaking country for an extended period. My life right now is also not condusive to hours and hours of arabic drills.

This decision is not final but in my mind it is. I did not attempt my arabic homework that is due today! I will meet with a trusted professor today to hear her out. I will keep my few readers posted.

Oh- do not see this as an end to my success. I see this as going in a different direction. I am at peace with it and have learned not to beat myself up over it (if this is in fact the decision I will make). Anyhow, I am and always have been interested in Western female converts to Islam and identity. Arabic not required.


Salaam to all!
anthrogeek10

On a side note: if I blow off ME Studies, I will be graduating in the spring of 2010. Yippie

First day of classes

The laziness is over....time to get to work. lol

I drove here super early to work out at the gym. I don't have the syllabi for the classes yet so I am playing the waiting game. I have the computer and a few books to keep me occupied. I am rarely bored in the traditional sense. I go though periods of stillness and quiet without an actual goal in mind. I love those times.

I am reading (1/2over) The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. My sisters both said that book changed their life. I could use a life change so I picked it up. Literally. I had bought it and it was in one of my bookshelves.

Arabic is making me nervous but Culture, Power and Development seems like it will be the bomb.

anthrogeek10

school begins soon

I am on call today. I get paid a nominal wage for doing my own thing. If I do get called in, I get paid the nominal wage and the full day pay. Cool. Well, so far, I am at home and I have all this time on my hands. I don't have alot of money on my hands or I would go used furniture store shopping. I need a wooden coffee table. I would not mind refurnishing on either.
I ordered my books for school so that is behind me. I am waiting for them in the mail. I need to buy a parking pass. I wonder how expensive they will be this year. I think I will buy the one semester one. I am broke! :) I need school supplies which includes a refill of the ink I need for my favorite pen that is so smooth even 4 hours of note taking means nothing in terms of fatigue for my poor hands. I must admit-this semester is going to be challenging. I did drop one class. I am taking 13 hours (that includes 4 hours of arabic). I think that is enough. I am feel insecure about school this time. I do not know why.

anthrogeek10

classes

I saw my advisor today. She was kind enough to spend over 45 minutes with me. She suggested I drop one of my classes. I dropped Ethnography of American Indians. I am going to extend my time until I graduate to May 2011. This sucks. She told me that because of my past GPA (prior UCF), I will not be able to get into a "top" graduate school. She really told me how it is straight up. My UCF GPA is about as high as it can be at this time. The overall one is the one she was speaking of.

We discussed getting into public service straight out of school and see if the US government will pay for me to do grad school while I am working. I think that is the way it will be. I really am not keen on living in Washington D.C due to the weather and high expense. I guess I would live in Baltimore or something. This is not the design for my life that I imagined. I want to live in a warmer climate. I guess I could take a position abroad but grad school may be further away.

I am very frustrated with myself and my past choices. I want to just crawl in a hole.
anthrogeek10

classes in the fall

Fall semester is fast approaching. I am 3 semesters away from the degree I have been working hard for. Here is my tentative list of classes.

ANT 3145 - ARCHAEOLOGY COMPLEX SOCIETIES
ANT 3312 - ETHNOLOGY OF N.AMERN INDIANS
ANT 3640 - LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
ANT 4702 - CULTURE, POWER AND DEVELOPMENT
ARA 1120C - ELE ARABIC LANGUAGE & CIV I

I am seeing my advisor tomorrow to finalize this. I hope she does not want me to change anything. I like my schedule. I have 2 Middle Eastern Studies classes in the spring and 3 anthropology courses.

I am trying to aquire funding for 3 classes at Harvard in the summer. If I can get the funding and manage to sign up for the classes, I will not be honors in the major at UCF. Well, actually, I may be able to now that I think of it. I can research in the spring and write the thesis in the summer while I am at Harvard. This is all sounding so overwhelming. I am completely thinking outloud here. :)
My honors thesis requires 2 semesters and it is worth 2 electives. I really want to go to Harvard.

anthrogeek10

Harvard? For me??

I spoke of this issue before but I will say it again....

I WANT TO GO TO HARVARD UNIVERSITY!! I REALLY do. They have a neat program called
Harvard Extension School. I am not sure of the objectives but I think it is to give anyone a chance at the prestigious school. I would go for the Masters program in Middle Eastern Studies.

Even before I get accepted I need to register for 3 classes (and take them of course!). I would have to move to Boston for a summer. I would need to find a way to pay for them at 1950.00 a class. wow. :-) What a steal. How do I do that? sigh. They do not have much financial aid for classes that are not taken in a degree program. I want this. Bad ass want this. :-) Here is the link for the program.

They have a whole 16 week class on jihad! :-) I am such a Middle Eastern Studies junkie.

http://www.extension.harvard.edu/2009-10/about/

schedule

Summer 09
Introduction to Archaeology online-nice easy class to knock out.

Here is my schedule for fall 09. I think this is basically a set deal.

ANT 3145 - ARCHAEOLOGY COMPLEX SOCIETIES
ANT 3312 - ETHNOLOGY OF N.AMERN INDIANS (online)
ANT 4702 - CULTURE, POWER AND DEVELOPMENT
ARA 1120C - ELE ARABIC LANGUAGE & CIV I
ANT 3640-Language and Culture


Spring 10-subject to change I tell ya! LOL Looks like I will have fun in the spring! I say that will all sincerity. :-) Oh...I may need to drop Human Origins to do research for my senior thesis. We shall see. I will of course need to move that class to another semester.

Actually, the spring one is up in the air at this point.

ANT 4034 - HISTORY ANTHRO THOUGHT
ANT 4586 - HUMAN ORIGINS
ARA 1121C - ELE ARABIC LANGUAGE & CIV II
REL 2300 - WORLD RELIGIONS

School update

Its not really an update but a feeling about this whole situation with school. I feel like I bloody hell want to quit! I really feel like I should just quit. I am do down on myself these days.
anthrogeek in limbo

School schedule

I have my official school schedule down for the next two semesters. I am still deciding (I will need help from my advisor making the decision) about being Honors in the Major. I will need more funding to make this happen. For sure. That would mean adding a class to my already full load for two semesters to do research and a thesis. I will have to see....

Well, here is my schedule from Summer 09-Spring 2010

Summer 09-Introduction to Archaeology

Fall 09-
Archaeology of Complex Societies
Ethnography of American Indians
Arabic (totally baby arabic! lol)
Culture, Power and Development
Language and Culture.

Spring 2010-
History of Anthropological Thought
Human Origins
Arabic (second baby arabic...lol)
World Religions.
Research my thesis topic (converts to Islam and identity)


Summer 10
I hope to squeeze some course in the summer OR write my thesis (if thats my choosing) this time

Fall 2010 St this point, this is so NOT set but this is tentative)

Politics of the Middle East
Arabic (3rd baby arabic...lol)
Islamic Thought and Culture
Modern Middle East (maybe summer IF online)This is the encore class. I dropped it this semester.
Moses, Jesus and Mohammed


Taking this minor is a good thing but has really set me back more than I needed to be. I feel a bit down on myself now....I need to give myself a break...

anthrogeek10

Oh...grad date is ideally Dec 2010 yippie.

update

I may not have many readers but this is just for me. I have been having a rough semester for a variety of reasons and I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown today about what I have to do this week for school. My course, Islam and its Empires is interesting when the topic of Islam is on the table but the empire part is somewhat dull. lol I am not into wars and expansion all that much. I am into culture, language and modernity. :-) Anyhow, I had to read a book and do a book review on the book by Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam, Holy War and Holy Terror. I find parts ethnocentric. maybe I will post my review later on.

School update

Ok, I dropped The Modern Middle East. Working and all that entails in addition to my other 3 classes are enough. I beat myself up about it at first but I have since moved on!

anthrogeek10