Update
author |
Steve Losh <steve@stevelosh.com> |
date |
Mon, 28 Aug 2023 11:02:42 -0400 |
parents |
c9ed3d057c32 |
children |
b6a2dcc7df71 |
[TOC]
# August 2023
## 2023-08-21
First day of orientation as a PhD student. Here we go again, back to school one
final time.
Figured out the campus wifi despite the Linux jankery. Had to:
1. Register as a special device, the laptop registration link redirected to
nothing useful.
2. Use `nm-connection-editor` from `gnome-network-manager` to edit the
connection and manually set up the WPA2+PEAP+user/pass for the connection.
Finally fixed the dulwich errors from hg-git. Since I'm using Debian's hg now
instead of building from source, I needed to install dulwich somewhere that the
system python can find it. I almost installed `python3-pip` to do that, but
then realized I could just install `python3-dulwich` and be done. Cool.
## 2023-08-22
Day 2. Lots of getting talked at, meeting with advisors, etc. Still trying to
get all the moving parts settled down — hopefully it'll be a lot clearer once
classes and rotations start (though I'm sure it'll be busy in a different way).
First time trying the Ann Arbor bus system, the bus was 20 minutes late. This
bodes well.
## 2023-08-23
Got a presentation about things to do/see/eat in Ann Arbor. Lots of things to
try.
Advice from existing student panel:
* Keep in touch and make connections with folks in your cohort/community who are
going through the same stuff as you.
* Rotate with anyone your want, don't let anyone tell you not to.
* Don't forget to have a life. Don't spend every weekend in the lab.
* Don't compare yourself to each other. Lots of variety in the incoming people.
* Ask for help.
What to ask/think about when looking for a lab:
* Do you have funding to support me?
* Do you have plans to stay at the university?
* Talk to current and previous students (and where those ended up).
* Talk to multiple students (people have different experiences).
* Work ethic.
* Mentoring style.
* What are your expectations of me?
* Priorities toward students (high/low?).
* How did they handle difficult situations in the lab?
* Find a good PI, because they're the one that will be there the entire time
(students/etc can and will leave).
* Tell them what you want to do (e.g. go to conferences), and based on their
responses you'll know whether they're a good fit.
* Switching labs is possible (not ideal though).
* Listen when people tell you a place sucks.
* Alumni are great because they don't have the power dynamic to worry about and
can actually be honest.
* You can change rotations if you really need to, even if it's the second week
in.
* Ask how many slots there are vs how many rotations they're taking to judge how
competitive joining the lab will be.
## 2023-08-24
Did the Python pre-test so I don't have to take the introductory programming
class.
Did more online training.
More talks. Lots of meeting people after.
## 2023-08-25
Lost power last night because of the storms and DTE says I won't get it back til
tomorrow. This is… not great.
Doing more trainings and paperwork at a school building so I can plug in my
laptop.