End of Semester Musings:

Well, my semester is finally, officially, over. I finished writing my paper yesterday, after pulling an all-day library knock-down-drag-out session that was an attempt to combat the worst writer's block I have ever had. Correction: the only writer's block I have ever had. I usually sit down and write papers start to finish at the rate of one hour per single-spaced page. But for some reason, this week, when confronted with the thickness of Piers Plowman and the pressure of that blinking cursor, my synapses completely failed me. Each page took about three hours. And the final product was less than stellar. Medievalist Friend B was telling me that she's heard Piers Plowman is notoriously difficult to write on. I think it's because it contradicts itself at every turn. You finally think you're starting to get a grasp on what it's really all about when Langland (or the narrator, or some allegorical figure) pulls the rug out from underneath you. So that when you're writing, it's impossible to keep from second-guessing yourself. You keep thinking, "Am I forgetting some important episode which would completely defeat my argument?" It completely kills your confidence, and that's it, you're shot. The sad part is that I really loved the seminar, and the professor, and wanted to write a killer paper for her. Oh well. We can't all be geniuses.

I've also officially finished my first teaching assignment as a grad student. I've learned some useful stuff; and namely, that I must be firmer and meaner than I am naturally inclined to be. Otherwise, I run the risk of being walked over. I've also learned that it is definitely not worth it to spend 40 minutes on every ten-page paper I have to grade. At that rate, I will never earn my degree.

So I'm finished with my semester; older, wiser, having written a few decent papers and one truly horrendous one, and, as usual, broke. It's time to go home and mooch off the parents for a few weeks. (They're doing a service to mankind by financially supporting a future Bastion of Arcane Knowledge.)