I know, that's not a completely awkward and terrible statement, AT ALL. I wouldn't normally thinkg research is fun, I mean who does? But, when it's in the context of MUSIC that makes the subject a little more bearable. On the subject of parking, well if you've ever been to a University in the United States in the last 5-10 years, you probably understand.
I have this lovely Research in Music Education class at the lovely 4:25-7:05pm time of day. Before we jump right into that, let's address two things. First, that is a RIDICULOUSLY odd time (not time of day, check the minutes on the start and end times). This University (Kent State) starts all of their classes at ridiculously odd times like that (i.e. String Techniques, one of the classes I TA for is 9:55-10:45am). Second, Research class, right? So, immediately one thinks, "Crap. This means, lots of time hangin' around the music library in the basement (why yes, our music library IS in the basement!) reading lots of primary sources, writing papers... ugh. What AM I getting myself into?" Except it's quite the opposite. We (all FOUR, 4, of us in the class) don't have to write a single paper, or do any research in the library. All that's required is reading a chapter each week out of the 2 books required for the class, and answering about 15-20 questions per book. Sounds like a lot of reading and questions, but I'll take that any day over writing papers and doing research. Any day.
But on to the class itself (this probably pertains to most graduate classes in general). First, I like small classes, mostly. I'm a fan of them. They lend themselves to more discussion, which is sweet. There's four of us in the class, plus the professor, so we had a lot of good discussion last night, my first night of class. Second, when you're a graduate student, it is FINALLY assumed that you are smart. I thought that once you got out of high school and into college, and FINALLY when you got to your senior year of college, it would be discovered that you ARE actually smart and would be treated as such. Sadly, I was mistaken the majority of the time in my undergraduate college career. But, when you are a graduate student it is assumed you are smart, and therefore you are allowed to have discussions and debates and ask questions in class without looking like "that guy/girl". You know what I'm talking about... there was always that one student that asked for clarification, and then would discuss the point with the professor, or debate it with the professor and/or other students. And, of course, everyone groaned or looked angry, because they just wanted to get on with the class. And why yes, as you probably guessed, I was THAT GUY/GIRL. Luckily, things change in graduate school... last night was so awesome. I generally was afraid to answer in class, because I didn't want to sound stupid, but I did in fact sound intelligent. I even brought up a few things that interested the professor (not intended, but always a win when it happens). Apparently, it's some sort of a freak accident or rare occurrence when a music student, even at the graduate level, brings up a topic that doesn't have to do with music. For example, last night we were talking about the 4 types of historical research and each of us was assigned a type and told to come up with a title. I was assigned "Large-Group Social-Science Historical Research", which deals with, you guessed it, a large group, and their impact on society (for clarification, small group - i.e. one school, large group - i.e. schools in America). My topic was "Migration Patterns and Settling Points of Native Americans". This has nothing to do with music, only my insterest in the Ute Trail in Rocky Mountain Naitonal Park, and apparently that was rare and odd. And my professor made a big deal about it.
So, enough about my likes of graduate classes and how easy my Research class will be...
On to the woes of Kent State parking. What's up with the apparent LACK of parking around here? It's a HUGE commuter campus, you would think they would provide enough parking. Lies, all lies. I was considering going to Starbucks earlier, and the TINY parking lot was full, and people were swarming, so I left that mess, and drove around a couple of blocks trying to see what was available close by. Let's talk about how half the streets have apparent "NO PARKING" signs, and the rest of the surrounding parking lots make you pay. To drive to the DuBois Bookstore and go in, you have to PAY to go in the parking lot. There's another nearby parking lot, but it's also pay. The rest of the surrounding streets, if they don't say "NO PARKING" are marked "2 hour parking". How much would that suck to live in a house and not be able to park in front of it, or have people over and not have a place for them to park in front of your house (unless of course, they're staying for 2 hours or less)? Bummer. What a silly idea. I'm almost over the fact the fact that they still don't have enough parking for commuters, and that I couldn't get a parking pass. It's still upsetting though, when you come from BGSU, who has more than enough parking for its students, and it's actually a smaller school than Kent State. Lastly, on the subject of parking (which is not a woe, but a yay!), I don't think their parking attendants are patrolling Nazis like BGSU's parking Nazis. I should have gotten 3 tickets this week, and guarantee that if I had been at BGSU, I would have gotten all 3 of them. I have now parked at the metered spots outside the music building twice this week, for over an hour each time, and have not received a ticket. I have also parked in the R4 lot next to the music building once for an hour, and didn't get a ticket then either. Score to Kent State's parking services for not checking.
Well, that's all I've got for now. I do have a new blog you should check out to see what I'm up to during the day. It's called 390: Pictures of Life.
Fun Fact: Black squirrels at Kent are harder to catch than the average BGSU squirrel. Possibly because people feed them less.
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