Monday, November 28, 2011

Conflicting Commitments

The deadline for TA applications was the week before Thanksgiving, and at roughly the last minute, I realized I should TA next quarter. Specifically, I miss teaching. And my schedule would allow it. So I put in my application, putting an upper level course as my first choice. I wanted to TA for Physics 120 (Intermediate E&M) because the professor cares about teaching, I can handle the material, and I haven't TAed an upper level course before. I really like the intro classes for biologists and engineers, but part of a faculty interview at many schools is teaching an upper-division course, so I wanted to have some experience.

After I submitted the application I realize I had one big conflict: March meeting. In the past, March meeting occurs in March, which would be after the term is over. This year it is the last week of February. So it occurs at week 6 or something like that. I particularly wanted to go this year because of a tutorial and focus session on the "Physics of Cancer" - I don't yet know when the session is, so perhaps I can just go for the first few days.


Now I learned I got the spot in Physics 120, and I am debating what to do about March meeting. I haven't yet heard if my abstract was accepted, but the registration deadline is January 6th. If my abstract isn't accepted, I won't go - problem solved. But I don't know how far ahead of time I will hear about my abstract, so I should talk to the course instructor now. But without knowing the schedule of the sessions, I don't know how long I would be away for. It would be very problematic for me to miss an entire week, but maybe 2 or 3 days would be ok.

I know that waiting until the last minute will only make it worse, so I shouldn't wait too long. So, APS board members, let me know what is going on!

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