la la la HYSTERIA

[bedlamsbard]

Yeah, I just flipped from being reasonably upbeat and happy about Getting Things Done to hysterical and crying in about five seconds. I still don't have a third reader for my thesis, y'all. I didn't ask anyone the first two months of school because I was waiting to hear back from the honors program if I could take someone from my major department, but they never answered my e-mail. Option A has also not answered my e-mail to her, and Option B just said no, and y'all, I just lost it. We're two months in and my first chapter is due in a month and I don't have a third reader, and if I don't have a third reader than I can't write a thesis and if I can't write a thesis I can't graduate with honors and I am so fucked. We are two months into the semester and I am so, so stupid, I should have started asking people at the beginning of September, but nooooo, because now all the professors are committed to many many things and have I mentioned that I am SCREWED?

*breathes into paper bag*

Okay, options:
1) E-mail Option A again, politely, and say, "Hi, I e-mailed you last week, I didn't get a reply so I'm not sure the e-mail went through (fall break, you know), this is what I said, is this something you'd be interested in?"
2) E-mail Option C (who will probably say no because he's the chair of the history department and probably busy)
3) Start asking Classics professors, dropping the classics portion of the thesis so that it's just in MEMS and not in MEMS and classics. I mean, the classics profs are probably all busy too, but at least I know these profs and am not asking blind. This would probably require changing some of the content of the thesis, but fortunately I haven't actually started writing it yet.
4) Go and cry at the honors program, which would probably end in me actually crying in front of Dr. L. Probably not the best option. (Although Dr. L. would also make a great third reader. Too bad he's in MEMS. AS IS EVERYONE REMOTELY CONNECTED WITH THE PERIOD I'M WRITING ABOUT.)
5) If I really think this is going to end in disaster, I can drop the thesis and do a MEMS capstone instead, but I'd rather not do that.

(This is one of the main reasons my panic attack symptoms have made a recurrence, by the way.)

Good things:

1) Before Dr. V. e-mailed me back and said, "Sorry, I'm busy, but have you tried someone in the history department?", I managed to get several more e-mails out so I can actually get 'round to declaring for my minors. I was about to start in on more grad school e-mails before the hysterical tears kicked in.
2) Bought bobby pins and batteries. Then sort of blew the plan of not eating at the food court by spending a bunch of Wavebucks at (wow, the grammar there is messed up) at MacMart, but hey, now I have more food! And that's smarter than spending actual money.
3) This morning I had some kind of dream that was (if I remember correctly) some kind of BSG/Fringe/possibly BTVS mash-up, which makes me smile thinking about it. (It had the Fringe "you have been replaced by your duplicate from an alternate universe!" thing going on with Boomer!Sharon and Athena!Sharon, which I guess is sort of BSG canon, and there was Helo and Sharon being adorable. Not sure where the BtVS worked in. *hands*)

Imma put BSG on, eat some more cheetos, and do my Latin homework.

Comments

[snacky]

I didn't ask anyone the first two months of school because I was waiting to hear back from the honors program if I could take someone from my major department, but they never answered my e-mail.

WTF, that's just wrong.

Go and cry at the honors program, which would probably end in me actually crying in front of Dr. L. Probably not the best option.

Actually, while I'm not saying crying is the best option, I think going down there and talking to someone and explaining how you got into this mess because NO ONE EVER ANSWERED YOUR QUESTION is not a bad idea at all. And refusing to leave until they help you find a third reader. If tears help, well, there you go.

This advice has been brought to you by a former academic department admin.

[bedlamsbard]

We-ell, the timeline on the question sort of goes like this: last semester, e-mail assistant director of the honors program asking the question, no reply; beginning of this semester, ask Dean of honors program (Dr. L) same question, he says we can talk about it later; first month or so, get caught up in getting the prospectus in; about a month ago, my thesis advisor (Dr. O) e-mails Dr. L asking the same question and Dr. L says, "No, the third reader has to come from outside the department"; about a week later, I e-mailed Dr. L asking again and explaining why I wanted to take someone from inside the program and never got a reply; a week ago I e-mailed Option A (outside the program) and never got a reply; today I e-mailed Option B (outside the program) and he said no.

So I'm not entirely certain that I'm justified in showing up and saying, "This is partially y'all's fault," because of that e-mail from Dr. L to Dr. O (not to me), and because it took me so long to ask Dr. L. I mean, even if he said yes, that doesn't mean that anyone in the program would also say yes, and I guess it's partially my fault for not following up or asking earlier, but...

[delfinnium]

when this sort of shit happens because people aren't on top of things and it's an unclear requirement for your degree?

I'd go batshit crazy. nad probably be pestering the secretary for THINGS.

And I think that going up and asking Dr L STRONGLY WORDED questions about what you are going to do because some people didn't respond.

(What is WRONG with your university that such things aren't spelt out frankly and easily and *flails*) just gah.

Emailing OptionA again is a good idea. Emails get lost sometimes.

[bedlamsbard]

Well...it's not exactly unclear, since it says on the website that the third reader cannot come from either major field. It's just that my primary major is an interdisciplinary major, so everyone even remotely associated with the period my thesis covers is in the program. And I don't know a lot of professors outside of my majors, because I haven't taken a non-major class in several years. And almost all the professors for my minors are also associated with my major program (since my minors are history and English). And a lot of the profs whom I took before I declared my majors are no longer at my university (or are associated with my major, because this is how it goes for me). Like, I think there was a legitimate reason for me to want to ask someone from inside the program aside from not knowing anyone outside of it, and that's because my thesis is basically comp lit, so I don't see how getting a Germanic studies or a history prof would be any different from asking someone from a different department -- like, if I was writing an English thesis (which I basically am), it would be fine. And Dr. L said it might be an option! BUT NOW I HAVE NO IDEA. And also, I am panicking.

So maybe I was compltely out of line! But on the other hand, Honors never got back to me. But maybe I should have e-mailed someone besides just Dr. L? On the other hand, he knows me! So you'd think he'd know I'm not just a crazy person trying to get past the rules. *headdesk* *panic*

[delfinnium]

*patpatpat*!

These kind of interdepartmental things always drive me NUTS.

Well you can talk to DrL and see how it goes? Tell him it's urgent since you have only a month left, and you desperately need that 3rd Reader and if he has any suggestions?

[bedlamsbard]

(I suspect that I only started panicking about now instead of earlier because I, uh, finally started working on the thesis. *cough*)

I guess I should e-mail my thesis advisor and see if he has any suggestions -- I'm kind of hesitant to say, "Well, I e-mailed honors and they never got back to me," because it sounds like an excuse, but on the other hand, well, I e-mailed honors and they never got back to me. And I guess I could have sent more e-mails, but I didn't want to seem like I was nagging, because I already felt that way when I sent my e-mail as a follow-up to Dr. O's. (My problem is that I'm neither really proactive nor really aggressive, which...is not entirely helpful. I am not even passive-aggressive, I am just passive, which is how I end up in situations like these two months in.)

Ugh. Thanks, hon, this is really helpful.