I really just don't know what to say...I feel so bad. I promise you the hamster was well loved and looked after before that happened.




Surely we are not the only people in this forum to have little sneaky stories to confess....? :-)

I know what you mean about feeling like you're falling behind in your work, because I am in a similar situation. For the first couple of weeks I felt like I was just waiting around for something to happen, or for someone to guide me in the right direction, but I have realised now that this is quite normal to begin with.
What I have been doing instead is using this opportunity to fill in the gaps in my subject knowledge, and going to various lectures that are organised by the department. Some of the lectures have been to do with polishing up on certain skills that might be useful for my future research, writing, networking, etc.
My advice is to go to as many lectures and conferences as you can while you have all this free time. It will help you so much in the future, as later you might be wishing you had gone to these at the start of your course. Also, you will get to meet loads more people which might be quite useful later on.
If that fails, you could always try going to the pub to polish up on those drinking skills.
;-)

Just remembered something awful.

A few years ago my pet hamster committed suicide.

I think it might have had something to do with introducing him to the new female hamster from the other side of the cage. He went absolutely nuts, running around frantically.
Then I put her back into her own cage, and he must have thought that he had lost her forever, because I found him hanged from between the bars the following morning.

Just awful. (Sorry Hammy)


Does anyone else have a confession to share? Say it here and make your peace (and give the rest of us something to laugh about :-) ).

Thank you so much for your advice. I made contact with my tutor last night and he got back to me within 30mins to arrange a meeting for the very next day! (today).
I have had the meeting now, and I suppoose it went ok - not sure.
Does anyone else get really nervous when you meet up with your sup? I guess it will disappear with time, the more I become familiar with my subject, but it can be so distracting because you never really say what you planned to. Does anyone know what I mean?
The meeting started off quite bad for me because I went bright red for some stupid reason, then I went back to normal for a bit, then I got all stupidly nervous again, then had a random moment of blurting out some great ideas, then nervous again....and so on. What a freak.

:$

But then again, it was my very first meeting with a tutor at postgrad level, so I suppose it can kind of be expected at this early stage...
How do others manage? So often I see really overly confident people who can ramble on and on about their research, etc, etc
Sometimes I wish that I could be that confident in my ideas.

Anyway, on a good note, I did manage to take away a lot of positive things from the meeting, and I now know what I'm doing! I've even been set my first deadline too which I'm quite excited about. Got something to focus on now.

Sorry if much of this doesn't make a lot of sense. Been quite a long and tiring day.

I have just started a research masters in Literature, but my supervisor is on leave for the first term of my course. This means that I am left completely on my own, and to be honest I'm really not too sure what to do.
I am only a week into my course to date, so I'm not in any real danger of getting terribly behind (I think), but what do I do? I haven't received any communication from my supervisor yet, and to be honest I don't really expect the supervisor to make the first contact - I do believe that I should do it first, but is that the normal way/etiquette of things? Do I wait for my supervisor to contact me, or do you think it wise for me to make contact first?
Also, what is normally expected of a research student in the first term? Do I just get on with answering the main and sub questions in my proposal, or are there other things I'm supposed to be doing?
During the last week, I've been reading some primary and secondary reading to do with my topic so that I have at least done something, and I have taken my self to 'research methods' lectures and other lectures organised by the department, but is this enough? I'm quite keen to get on with things in more depth now.

Has anyone else experienced this at the start of their course, or is this (slow pace) normal to begin with?

I got four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie...mmm.....pie

My uni has installed antibacterial hand gel dispensers everywhere (not too sure if others have done the same). Still, didn't stop me from catching it off some pesky little kids at the swimming pool though did it? The pool was full of primary school children having swimming lessons - I must have caught it off one of them, coz the next day it hit me quite bad. I'm just coming to the end of it now - what a relief!
I wish I was one of the lucky ones who sailed through it. It felt like the worst flu I have ever had (well, since I was a kid anyway). But then again, I'm a bit of a wimp when I get ill. I'm just grateful I didn't get it as bad as the person in ibiza!
Glad it's coming to the end now coz it's bloomin' boring just sitting in bed all day getting bed sores!
When I fully recover I think I'm gonna do something mad like a bungee jump - yeah..erm...to the library. Crazy.

I sometimes have this childish giggly moment when I'm sitting there and typing a bit of silly toilet humour on the screen. It's like when you put salt into someone's tea instead of sugar. Perhaps I'm eating too many maltesers...

Hi magictime, please don't take what i said personally. My comment stemmed from a mixture of playing devil's advocate to see what others think about this issue, and also from the fact that my boyfriend also says that he never looks at or finds other women attractive, and like Eska, I find that really hard to believe. It really annoys me that he can't just be open with me, so, like I said, my comment was really just to see what others on here think, because at least I know that people are more likely to be honest about their feelings on here.
:-(

Does anyone know how to spell a fart sound? A bit childish, I know, but it is one of those little things that bothers me from time to time. Tee Hee!
:-)

I feel sorry for his wife - or anyone's wife for that matter! It really annoys me that men think that it is ok to look at or feel attracted to other women when they already have a partner.
If you're still looking - you shouldn't be in a relationship.



(I wonder what trouble THAT comment will make) 8-)

Hi Leaf,
I think you should give it a go. You will regret it if you don't try, and what have you got to lose?
I'm considering doing the same thing in about a years time. I think they ARE open to applications from graduates from other universities, but I think you have to prove that you've got a broader knowledge of your subject beyond what you've studied in your dissertation/modules etc. You would probably have to have an absolutely wicked proposal, so I would suggest you get some advice from the uni's you are applying to, and possibly from teachers you already know from your uni (if there are any that you get on really well with).
Do you have your eye on any supervisors in particular? Or is it more a case of you just want to study your subject further at a reputable university? (For me, it's a bit of both). :-)

That's really freaky. The reason I asked you what subject you're teaching, was because if it was literature I was going to suggest exactly the same exercise. From experience (of being in the classroom as a Lit. student), this simple exercise always worked the best. It really helps students to feel a bit more relaxed and gets them talking, even if it is only to their neighbour to start with.
Anyway, good luck with your first seminar! Hope it goes well :-)

:$ meow

Ohh.. :-( That's not fair. I wanted to join in the growling :-(