Yesterday, All of My Troubles Seemed So Far Away...

Not really, I just like the song. Yesterday was the deadline for the MA students to turn in their thesis. Four of them managed to get it done. One, I had completely forgotten about, because that angel finished it last semester. She worked like a trooper with plans on finishing up, but the university has a policy of both theses from the two different departments having to be turned in at the same time. Students on the old program had to have two majors. 

The three who were running for the finish line yesterday, worked diligently, albeit at the last moments. One had the audacity to write me that "I just have not been able to motivate myself to write my thesis after returning from the U.S., but I guess I had better get a move on it." This was just three weeks ago. My knee-jerk response was to reply "I just have not been able to get myself motivated to read and make suggestions for your thesis. However, I did not. I knew he would turn one in whether or not I threatened to sign off on it; therefore, eventually, it is my name and reputation contiguously with his, putting them both on the line.

One of the others e-mailed me at the hour of doom to say that he had a dream that he forgot to include a citation for a quotation. When he checked he had, and missed two others besides giving instant cause for a failure if caught. He was getting his thesis bound at the 11th hour, but managed to turn it in on time.

Now, I can return to the world of creative writing stories for those students' papers have been neglected for the last two weeks. Just enough time to catch up before reading the doctoral dissertation for the committee I was volunteered to be on and before we pull the curtain on the end of the semester, there are always the BA student theses to finish up. There is something to be said for being a physical education or art teacher.

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Bleary Eyes and Sundays Really Get Me Down

As all US Americans are probably aware, April 15th is T-Day, the day when federal income tax returns are due. Chuckle, chuckle, I have not had to file a return for 8 years, since I have no US income of note. 

But I bet no one knew the other big event deadline that also falls on April 15th this year. The ELTE Masters theses are due in their final version, bound, and ready to be read or red with a reader's pen. Yes, this last part does not make sense to me as it won't to other US Americans. Why bind the thesis if it is going to be marked up. Mark it up, let the student revise it, and then bind it for posterity. Nope! Not here. 

With this in mind, what I have been doing for the last four days is reading theses for the students that I am advising. During some moment of insanity or numerical amnesia, I had lost count of how many times I had said "Yes" when asked "Will you be my adviser?"

It was not until students who I don't think I have ever set eyes on before, approached me in the hall to tell me some tidbit about their thesis. While my face is loudly projecting "Who are you and why are you telling me this?" the student would stop in mid-sentence to say "You do remember you are my thesis adviser, don't you?" Saving Grace is more than a movie title, I had to say "Of course I do. It is just then I had a drop in my blood sugar, so drifted for a moment. I am back now." 

It escalated on my concern barometer when I am in the grocery store, at the park, or in the dentist's chair and people start discussing their thesis topic and research. There is larger cast of advisees than there were Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz. Just call me Glenda.


One of the reasons I am so popular is because I do give of my time. I want them to be the best of the best. If their name as well as mine will be on this, we both need to be proud of this fact. The fortunate thing about advising Hungarians is that they never finish in the semester you or they expect they will. Last semester, by all counts, I had a list of twelve Masters students to advise along with 3 BA students. The end result was Masters 4  / BA 1. Fearful of an overflow problem like a flooding river of students floating into this semester, the levy held: it only let a few seep through - 3 Masters / 2 BA.


However, did any of the MA people follow my rule of every time they write 5 pages to send it to me. I want to nip any problems in the bud early on. Get that pruning done early and you have a shapely tree. If you wait too long and it grows out of control, you could kill the thing trying to get it into its proper form. Well, the answer is no, they did not follow the rules. Two of the MA people sent me their entire thesis, one this last week. So, I had to kill a tree, heavily prune another, but the one who followed the rules somewhat, only had minor pruning that needed to be done.

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Oh My Throbbing Head

I have been reading students' theses for the MA program. These are for the students that I advise. My criteria for taking them on is that they send every five pages that they write, so I can find errors in clarity, sentence structure, grammar, spelling, and so on and so on ad nauseam. My theory and what I share with them repeatedly is if there is something wrong, I can catch it early on and save time and energy for both of us later. This semester, I was supposed to have seven MA people writing and four BA students. 

The MA thesis has to be turned in April 16th. How many students have I heard from? Three! However, only two have sent me anything. What they did send was their whole thesis. So, I am juggling reading those, reading my Creative Writing class assignments, and then there are the essays for my Race and Ethnicity II class. 

Though I have taught "Academic Writing" to 99% of the R and E class, those who chose to grace me with their paper, turned in something I would be humiliated to turn in in junior high school, let alone university. These are students who are supposed to be going on a journalism internship next semester. Well, I am the Chairperson of the Writing Program, so I have final say. Until then...

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Life Has Been a Bit Hectic

Life has been a bit hectic lately with our B and B guests. May has been exceptionally busy with guests leaving from and going into the same room on the same day. I am not complaining since all of them have been outstanding human beings that have enriched our lives in some way regardless of how long or short their visit has been. This is one joy of running a B and B. The other side of the coin is that I have not had time for things that I wanted to do, like write, label my photos, visit museums, and so on.

The other interruption thus far is the administration of State exams. This is the equivalent to the Masters Thesis defense in the States. This would not be such a problem if it were organized, but I have learned that is not a concept here. I was told to arrive at 9:00 sharp. At 9:15, I was the only faculty member ready to start. We started at 9:30. One faculty member read and graded a thesis, but refused to be the examiner since she was not an authority on American culture, so it was deferred to me, who had not read the thesis. There were only two exams today, but on the 14th of June, there are eight. Ugh!

As I left the campus, I had to stop at the Fulbright office to drop off a package for an American professor that was leaving something for them. A half hour later, I get a call from them asking me if I would consider being a reviewer for the Hungarians who have applied to go the States. I said I would; however, we are leaving on Saturday for Germany. They need them done by next Thursday, the day we return. Being soft, I offered to go in on Friday and read as many as I could then. On my way to a different bus than I usually take, I passed by this building, which has intrigued me. It is the home of an old, dead Hungarian painter that has been neglected for too long. It is a shame and a waste.

Before going home, I stopped at the used English book store to pick up some books that arrived and had to go by Keleti train station. I love the building and had my camera with me.

Tomorrow is the day we go to Immigration for what should be the last time, getting our five year Residency. I have a student lined up to go with us to the local office to get our photo I.D. card giving us almost all of the rights of a Hungarian citizen.

We will be going to Dresden and Berlin, so you can read about them here.

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