Say my name, bitch
People have always had problems remembering my name, which is fine and all seeing as how I am just as terrible with names as they appear to be, but when someone called me the wrong name today I was pissed. It isn’t that they forgot my name, it is who forgot my name.
Last Tuesday I got an email from a former professor saying that his colleague needed a graded ASAP as the one she had lined up was “Un-American” and could not grade for her. I guess by that they mean she had problems with her visa, but I have no idea. Anyway, I decide that even though I am already talking a pretty hefty schedule, this person needed help (and I need money) so I said I would grade for her. Let me tell you, that was one of the biggest mistakes I’ve made so far this semester. When I went to meet with her she seemed totally normal, well, at least until she told me what she expected.
She wants all of the homework for her math class graded not by accuracy, but by process. Great and all, but there is no key, so she wants me to go through and do each problem myself, count how many steps it took me to do each problem, add up the total and then that’s what I would be basing the grades off of (my total divided by their total x 10, as she only wants it out of 10 points. Also, I am to take a full point off if they do not use graph paper). Ok, this seems doable, but she didn’t want it to end there. She handed me the homework and each packet was huge. Each student had a minimum of 12 sheets of paper used for the 13 sections that she assigned. Ok, so that’s a lot of paper, and there are 20-something students in the class, so this should only take me a couple of days (when combined with the 10 chapters I have to read for History and Political Science and the two papers that I have to write) as I have to first do the entire math assignment before I can start grading. I grab the papers and start heading out when she tells me that she wants it by 8 a.m. the next day. Ummm… this bugs me for several reasons. 1) It’s already 4 and I have a shit load of work to do in preparation for my tests the next day. 2) Her class isn’t until 11, but she wants me to drop off the papers at 8 a.m. (even though I don’t have to be on campus until 10) because she doesn’t want to have to walk back to her office in between classes. 3) That’s a lot of homework problems that she would like me to do before grading for her. I mean, the kids got several days and I get a couple of hours… on top of going through each and every one of their problems step by step.
Now, if I was in “dire need” of a grader I don’t think I would be extremely demanding about what I want. I wouldn’t make the grader come in at 7:30 just so I didn’t have to walk back to my office, and I definitely wouldn’t make it as complex as possible. You know what else I wouldn’t do? Forget her name. I went in to drop off the papers and saw she was with a student, so I waited outside her door (out of sight) so as to not disturb them. After a minute or so I hear “Amanda!” coming from her office. I know she’s in there with a guy, so perhaps she could be talking to me? She calls out the name once more and I peak my head around the corner and look at her quizzically. She then informs me that she has no reason to talk to me if I am just dropping off the assignments and that I can be on my way. Ummm… okay. Oh, and also, there will be another assignment for me to pick up, but she may go home after her classes, so she’ll just leave it outside the door for me. Whatever.
I’m just pissy in general, really. In the past week I’ve burned myself (on accident), been pooped on by a bird (while at school), and stepped on broken glass, which is still lodged into my toe. I’m taking two 4 unit classes that were designed to be taught in 6 months, that my professors have condensed into 6 weeks for summer session. The problem is that they still want us to do the reading and coursework for the regular session, so I have several chapters to read nightly along with constant tests and papers. The professor I am grading for knows my schedule. I kind of figured she would be a little considerate of my schedule when it comes to grading, but clearly I am wrong. Seriously though, I am thinking her previous grader may have made up the whole ‘problems with her visa’ thing just to get out of grading for this woman.
Bleh. I am off to have a chat with my counselor to see what the hell I am going to do about classes if I end up going back to Sacramento . It messes up my transferring plan as each school has their own requirements. God I hope I can still transfer to Sac State … I just want to be done with all of this.
Also, Matt is in Sacramento for 6 weeks doing an internship for a marketing company that he wants to work for. I am super excited for him, but at the same time not. I’m trying to be loving and supportive while secretly stewing over the fact that his project manager happens to be a girl he and I used to fight about all the time (he was an idiot and let me know he was attracted to her, and then would lie about hanging out with her. This is HELL) and hoping that perhaps she drops off the face of the earth. I tried having the “talk” with Matt last night to see what our plan was (we’ve been together for 3 ½ years and lived together for two) and basically he wants to live together, but doesn’t want to discuss anything else. Dude, I’m not asking you to propose to me this moment, I just want to know it’s in the cards. AND I don’t even want to get married at this time, which he knows, as I would want a two year engagement. Whatever. His whole answer was vague and that was obnoxious. So, I’m currently living alone, which I hate, and working my ass off for school and grading. This is the best summer ever! I’m over it. I really think once it cools off (it’s been 90+ here, and I don’t have AC) I will be in a much better mood. I hate the heat, though to be fair, at this moment I hate everything.
