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Classes? We don't need no STINKIN classes!

Qualifications? Misrepresenting statistics.  Misrepresenting statistics? That's not much of a crime.  During a public health crisis.  Kinky... sign here.1

Ok, that joke might be hitting just a little to close to home, but I was watching Blazing Saddles this weekend and wanted to work it in somehow.  Anyway, 5 months in and I'm finally getting back in the lab.  Brushing off rusty skills, being incredibly paranoid about what stuff I might have forgotten to do, and overall feeling like that gif of a dog in a lab coat hoping no one notices.  But that's ok right?  I've got time to get back into practice without a bunch of distraction and get back into the swing of things right?  Wait, what do you mean it's time to register for my fall courses?  Oh right, those things.  

At this point in my academic career, I have a mixed relationship with coursework.  On the one hand, courses are a good way to learn new material, and also new skills.  I do still get a little excited reading course descriptions and, kinda like the proverbial kid in a candy store I think, "Oh, I wanna learn about that, and that, and this, and this other things, and THAT LOOKS SO COOL!"  That feeling is absolutely still there, but underneath that is a certain amount of jadedness.  How much of this is actually going to be useful to me?  Is it worth the time and effort I'll have to put into the course?  How does this contribute to my degree and my future?  Is it really a good use of my time?  Add to that the fact that I really hate tests and grades.  They're stressful, and suck a lot of the fun out of learning new material.  And classes take up a lot of time, both in and out of the classroom.  Time that I could be using to work on a lit review, designing experiments, or in the lab actually collecting data.  

So right now, I'm feeling that weird mix of excitement and dread that I think a lot of folks feel about a new class, especially one where you don't know much about what you're getting into, but I'm also dealing with a strange combination of interest and apathy.  Because at the end of the day, all of my coursework is a means to an end, and that end is building a base of knowledge and skills with which to carry out my research.  At this point in my career, the value of coursework as a means to that end is starting to drop off, sharply. But the department says I have to take at least two more classes to meet program requirements, so two more classes I will take.  And I'll dig enough energy to at least pretend to care from... well somewhere.  And who knows?  At least one of these courses does look interesting.  Maybe I really will find it as engaging and exciting as it looks.  

For now, be well stay safe,
and always look at the data (especially when reviewing the lit)
Faxe MacAran
Twitter: @TheMacAran

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