A couple of random thoughts

I know, it's been quite a while since my last post.  Yup, I've been busy, but probably it's more because I just wasn't in the right mood to post anything.  Besides, my life has been pretty much SSDD everyday.  And now with Ontario hit by the second wave, and a lot of things are back on lockdown, it's just like a recurring nightmare, if you know what I mean (ha, the Neil Diamond song keeps playing in my head now).

Anyhow, I do have a couple of things to share.  One is more of a rant.  The other more of an ongoing unresolved (yet) issue.

At the university level, there are few things that are concrete black and white, right and wrong.  Yeah, I guess a balance sheet must balance, there's one correct answer to for the NPV (if you know all the data), and an adjusted R-square means exactly this and so on.  But for things like the humanities, that's really not so much the case.  At least in my humble opinion.

I am taking this 3rd year course in history.  The prof seems a personable, friendly kind of guy.  That's actually why despite the crazy amount of work, I stay in the course.  Well, it's history, yeah?  History is subject to interpretation, and there are various perspectives on almost anywhere historical.  For example, was Alexander great?  Who started the cold war?  Was FDR a good president?  Was Napoleon a great general, etc etc.  You know what I am saying.

Well, this prof is of a particular school of thought regarding the subject in question.  And it seems that whenever someone posts comments that are not consistent with that school of thought, the prof always jumps in and basically corrects the person.  That's tunnel vision, in my opinion.  In less polite terms, that's bullshit.  It's not as though there is only one single perspective on the subject that is universally accepted.  As long as a student can find support for her/his position, how can you say she/he was wrong!  That really turned me off.  To the point where I have actually given up on the course.  I don't even care if I get a good grade on it anymore, as long as I don't get a sucky grade.

Am I too picky?  Do you think I'm too staunch on the issue?  I think not.  But I would love to hear your views.  Seriously.

And the other thing, the ongoing unresolved issue.  As you know, I've been toying with whether I should pursue a graduate degree after this one, or continue on with yet another undergrad degree.  Both options have their pros and cons, and I won't bore you again with the details here.  Lately I am leaning towards the MA again.  Why?  Yes, it's less variety, because an MA is well, more focused.  It would be an MA in sociology, by the way.  What really got me very tempted is how the coordinator of the program responds to my emails.  I mean, holy shit, the man is so nice.  He is a prof at the school, and is the coordinator of the MA program.  Every email I sent to him, he replied within a day, sometimes hours.  And the responses were always personalized (not just name, but how he answered the questions).  And so very friendly and encouraging.  I just feel so welcomed, you know?  You may find this weird, that the overriding reason for me is how nice and decent the coordinator is.  But I have this thing about dealing with people.  I don't like assholes.  I mean, I seriously don't like them.  To the point where if I consider X an asshole, I want nothing to do with X, and will not hesitate to let X know what I think of her/him.  Those of you who know me well can no doubt come up with some people who would be an X in my mind.

So right now I am leaning towards the MA.  Yeah, yeah, this seems to go back and forth for me.  I guess I like both options, that's why.  Talk about Buridan's ass.  But I think I will do the MA.  I will likely send in my app later this month or early next.  There's really not much to do other than to fill in the forms, I guess.  Hmm, on that note, I should check what else they want.  Maybe some kind of statement of intent.  Well, those things I wing in five minutes.  No worries.

Will keep you posted!  Meanwhile, stay safe, stay healthy, and stay sane!