Swim Test

Yay! I passed. Whew. And with 17 seconds to spare! We had to swim 400m in 10 minutes and I made it in 9:43. It's a good thing too because last year a girl failed because she came in at 10 mins and 10 seconds! What a sh*tty situation for her. Anyway, I am so relieved. The 25m underwater was no problem, nor was treading water or the dive skills :) Somehow I pinched a nerve in my left pointer finger though and now have no feeling in the tip--it makes typing a bit difficult. Oh well, now that the swim test is over, I can get on with the other important things I need to do--like this bloody paper.

I'm at Starbucks and feeling a bit like I'm in a fishbowl in Waikiki. I'm sitting by the window and I've already had two sets of high school boys come up to the window knocking, laughing, and then running away. Oh well, it's better than being in my apartment, where I get no work done. Why am I having so much trouble with this?

Today I went in to talk with one of my professors because I got an 87 on a test and I was bummed out because I wanted an A. He said I can still get an A in the course, but I need to do better on the next exam. Anyway, he was asking me what I want to be when I grow up--I'm not kidding, that's what he asked me. I kind of smiled because I am beginning to discover that this is a common question in grad school. Somehow I thought when I decided I was going to get my PhD, those questions would stop. But apparently, I still need to figure it out. I was hoping I would have some time (like the next five to seven years) to get it all straight, but I guess I am supposed to know now... The choices are: academia or government. Those are the two paths you get with a PhD in Zoology. But I don't want those...my choice is TV. I want a TV show. But how do you tell people that? I want to get a PhD and then travel around the world on the Discovery Channel's dime telling people about amazing, unappreciated animals and raising awareness about conservation. Somehow, people in academia don't take you seriously if that is what you say... so I said government. We'll see. Why do I have to decide now? I thought a PhD was supposed to buy me some time...

Here is a dress for me: