Occupation: Grad Student

I started grad school yesterday.  I'm a real, live student again.  I'm not going to tell you how excited I am, because it's actually pretty embarrassing.  But when I had to get my TB test on Tuesday, I definitely filled out that my occupation was grad student on the form at the clinic.  I was pretty excited about it.


To capitalize on my enthusiasm, I just started my homework that's due on Monday.  I have to do this personality assessment and then write a 1-2 page reflection about my personality, how others may view it, and how it will impact teaching and my relationships with colleagues and parents, etc.  First of all, I always get really into stuff like this.  I don't know why, but I think personality tests are super interesting.  So I sit down with my little pen and my Sinatra Pandora radio station going and my coffee (which is getting colder by the second).  This one was a little different from other personality tests I've done; there are 4 columns with 10 rows each.  Each spot has a different average and you have to go across and in each row you rank the words from 1 (least like you) to 4 (most like you).  So, for example, the first row is direction, influencing, steady, cautious.  So you would assign numbers to those 4 words depending on how they describe you, then you plot your results on a little graph they give you and the highest column is your most dominant personality characteristic.  So on the DiSC, I was a tie between S and i.  I was feeling really good about my results until I get to the very end of the packet.  It has "quick tips" for each personality style.  Please allow me to share with you some of the "i" quick tips:  Realize that talking too loud and using wild gestures appears foolish; tone down your volume of speech and laughter; be on time--aim to be early; don't interrupt or add to others' stories.  I now think that this packet is a conspiracy and was actually assembled by either Luke or my mother, or a cooperative effort of both.  I also think that according to this packet I must frequently look like a fool.  Which is pretty sad.  But I also don't really think that that's true.  I'm less confident in that statement, though, than I was before this stupid homework assignment.  So the overall conclusion is that my reflection paper may be full of rage.  Maybe I should put my name on it as Ragel Elsener?


To completely change the subject, I would like to let everyone know that I now advocate the buddy system to the grocery store.  Before yesterday, I hadn't been the grocery store in about a month.  So I needed to get a lot of stuff.  Which I did.  But then I had to bring all of said items home.  Which was infinitely trickier than I had anticipated.  I now have blood blisters on my arm from my bags that refused to stay on my shoulder, but were really too heaving to carry in the crook of my arm.  So what I'm really trying to say is that it's really hard to be me and you couldn't handle it and you're pretty lucky you don't have to.