Carlton Jr.

So, I realized that while the title of my blog is 'Adventures of a Graduate Student', I don't always adequately cover my Adventures, or the fact that I'm a graduate student. In an effort to give you a true glimpse into my daily life, I'm going to talk a little bit more about my classes.

More specifically, my statistics class.

Now, I can't really talk about what we're learning, because I really don't care at the moment and the PostDoc (PD) teaching the class is still kinda working on this whole 'teaching' thing. Though she's really nice. Alias and I, who had identical schedules last year down to lab hours (we worked in the same place) are in this class together. It's actually the biggest class I've been in so far, with twenty-some people, and the longest.

Because of one person, who is very nice but by some freakish twist of reality looks, sounds, and acts like the lovechild of Carlton from Fresh Prince and Steve Urkel from Family Matters. I swear I speak the truth.

Here is a typical class:

PD: "All right, so here is our data distribution. This is similar to what I plan to give you on the test, and it is very straightforward."

Carlton: "Pardon. Can you tell us how you might be arranging the exam?"

PD: "Well, I am planning on having problems on the first one, and a few concepts to illustrate the higher points. It is just like we are going through your notes."

Alias: "So wait, our exams are going to be open note?"

PD: "No, not open note. But I am going to let you bring a cheat sheet. It would be far too hard open note."

Carlton: "Pardon. So would the exam be easier if it wasn't open note?"

PD: "No, it is not that it is easier or harder. You just need to know--"

Carlton: "Are you going to have trick questions?"

PD: "Well, I can't really say that, because what you view to be a trick question might not be my definition. But I am not going to try to mess you up."

Carlton: "Pardon. Are there going to be things on there that might make the question difficult to understand?"

Now, this dialogue is paraphrased, because at the time I was torn between writing it down for my blog and jamming my pencil through my eardrum so I wouldn't have to take the pain anymore. If you made it all the way through, I'm impressed. Take the time it took you to read those few lines, imagine it extending to 120 minutss. Welcome to my Tuesday/Thursday afternoons.