President's Collections

[annwfyn]

For those who do not know, President's Collections are an Oxford thing. I am told that for undergraduates they feature an exam. For postgraduates they feature a meeting with the president of your college, and the senior tutor in which they dig out your file, get reports on you from your supervisor, discuss your progress, any problems and your future.

Mine just went surprisingly well. The president and the senior tutor were very sweet, as they always are, and went out of their way to tell me that if I wanted to come back and do my DPhil at some point in the future, I should remember that that is an option. They remembered me from last year, checked how I was doing health wise and were generally lovely. I am actually incredibly fond of Wolfson College. It has a lovely group of people.

Mild worry appeared when they confessed that they actually have no idea when my actual deadline for my thesis (referred to by my senior tutor as my 'little thing' - damn him!) is. They think my department should know. My department think my college should know. The new plan is that I go and ask the exam schools.

I am growing worried.

I am currently in the college library, feeling somewhat excessively hot due to the polo neck jumper I am wearing today. Rather foolishly, I spent last night role playing. I was playing a mad malkavian who cuts herself up a lot, and so I painted a great deal of scars across my arms and chest. I woke up this morning and discovered that not only were the scars still showing (having only been splashed with water last night) but they looked more real, and wouldn't come off.

To avoid my tutors having me sectioned I am currently covered from neck to ankle.

And it's kinda hot in here...

I'm a ditz at times.

Comments

[portilis.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

Hope you cool down a little soon!

How have they managed not to know when your deadline is?

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

I think that no one has actually bothered to set a date.

Basically, originally I was meant to be submitting a dissertation/thesis/piece of original research last summer. I went into hospital to have my breasts chopped up, came out, and developed a post-operative infection which completely wiped me out, and lead to me being bedridden and on explosive & brain melting antibiotics that left me mostly unable to do anything. I wound up being sick and out of it for six weeks, moving on towards seven weeks instead of the two-three weeks that the doctors had originally suggested.

Anyway, I went to the college and asked for an extension. I got an extension, but as far as anyone can remember the only thing that was suggested was 'end of second term' and no date.

Neither my college or my department seem to have set a date, but they are convinced someone should have done.

Hilarity ensues.

[melsner.livejournal.com]

I was playing a mad malkavian who cuts herself up a lot, and so I painted a great deal of scars across my arms and chest.

When I was in high school, I was helping with locker decorations for Homecoming. I was kidding around and used rubber glue to stick a "googly eye thing" to my forehead. I left it up there for a couple of hours. I didn't realize that rubber cement sort of eats through skin.

I also fondly recall when I was in college and got myself sent to the ER because I accidently overdosed on Advil while on stage and "in the moment."

Um, we may be competing for who is most retarded.

[castorlion.livejournal.com]

Advil?

[ksirafai.livejournal.com]

Advil. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advil)

:)

[melsner.livejournal.com]

Advil.

[melsner.livejournal.com]

Ibu Profen is the generic name. Aspirin? Didn't hurt me, was just kind of not bright.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

You're winning.

But only because I nearly gave myself heat exhaustion fending off public exposure as a retard. :p

[melsner.livejournal.com]

Wait, is the winner the one who's most retarded or slightly less retarded?

[melsner.livejournal.com]

Hold on a sec... are you saying that I'm winning because I've never avoided public exposure as a retard? ;)

[castorlion.livejournal.com]

Wait a sec, this means you're going around with "Blind" carved into your wrist in jagged letters?

*giggling*

I love you so very much. :-)

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

And 'fool' across the other bit.

It looked artistic and mad last night, OK! It just looks stupid today.

[chrisvenus]

No, we jsut have two different types of collections to confuse people like you. Undergraduates often have cocllections at the beginning of every term which is an exam. They also usually have President's/Warden's/Tutors collection termly or yeraly (I had tutor's collections termly and warden's collections just the once). This is as you described above where they give you an academic review. It was during one of these that my tutors made me cry. :) I''m so proud of this for some reason. :)

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Bah. Bloody undergraduates. They only exist to confuse me on matters such as this. :p

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

And what did your tutor say to make you cry?

One of my tutors made me cry last year. Basically, she was an old school 'I shall tear your essay apart, every week' kind of tutor, without ever really giving much praise, and because Oxford doesn't give marks for the weekly essays I wound up convinced that I was doing really badly, was a screw up and would fail, and should just give up and get a job.

I broke down in the middle of one particularly thorough dissection of my views on Byzantine silverwear. Bless her, she wound up hugging me, explaining what she was doing, and every tutorial we had after that would say things like 'this is definitely better than you last one' and add in at least one token compliment and then look at me anxiously before ripping into me.

Weirdly - or maybe not - my highest end of year mark last year was in Byzantine Art and Architecture, which was the subsidiary course I took with her.

[leahdarbyshire.livejournal.com]

hey honey, happy birthday!...and I remember those things as Provost's Collections! Definitely used to put the fear of God into me, but were always fine once you actually got in there. Can still remember queuing up terrified outside. Well done on yours babe.