Jennifer Essler

I didn't do a single productive thing today, but I am still completely exhausted from the mental gymnastics of feeling guilty about it.

Thoughts and prayers to everyone who accidentally became important at work and now it’s ruining their life

@ebiyik_ @CSatUSC @USCViterbi Totally random, but was this applied for in 2025? My NSF REU site application is still "pending" but as it is March, I am not... hopeful. :(

Looking for multiple undergraduate interns to work on robotics research projects at USC this summer (@CSatUSC @USCViterbi). It is an NSF REU. US citizens & permanent residents are eligible. Info: cs.usc.edu/reu/ P.S.: We will extend the deadline by at least a week :)

the modern professor's feeling of warm relief and gratitude at encountering artisanal, human-crafted bad writing while grading papers

My classmate was raped on her way back home from university and got pregnant, but couldn’t get an abortion due to the laws. She had to drop out of university where she was studying medicine. Because of pregnancy and childbirth expenses, she couldn’t continue her studies, left college, started working at a coffee shop, lost the fun of her early twenties, and lost the chance to attend international medical conferences she once dreamt of… all just to give birth to a child she never wanted. People say, “What if the baby you abort grows up and cures cancer?” Okay — but what if the 19-year-old you deny an abortion to grows up and cures cancer? Now she can’t afford to get an education. Instead, she has to take care of a baby. What about her? An actual living human being??? “Abortion ends potential life”… So do property disputes, war, and genocide. You only seem to care about lives when women don’t give birth to them.

@JamesConran1 @daniel_mcdowell To be honest the issue isn’t necessarily flat time but time *with those students*. I have 3 hours a week with 40 students, and no easy why to assign other times in many scenarios.

@daniel_mcdowell Yeah it’s very limiting but some short undergrad essays (4-5 pages) realistically can be read and graded (including some feedback) in 20 mins so an extra 5 isn’t crazy - if 5 minutes would be informative.

I tell my students that one of the main reasons not to over-rely on AI for research/writing is b/c--at some point--you're going to have a face-to-face conversation with someone who matters, and if you don't actually know some things, that interaction will not go well for you.

a phd

UNPOPULAR OPINION; A lot of "mental health issues" disappear when bills are paid, rent is secure, and the fridge is full. Peace is expensive. And pretending money doesn't affect mental health is privilege.

“WhAt RaDiCaLiZeD yOu????” My eyeballs, my vision balls, my sight receptors

You have to read this. Firsthand affidavit from one of the women who was there and recording the video. She talks about how Alex Pretti was directing traffic when she arrived. She watched him be killed in front of her. She's afraid to go home, worried she'll be arrested.

@TMoldwin @miniapeur This was going to be my exact thought. They just become as their PI was with more phd students working with/for them.

@miniapeur Or it's because they have more underlings who work for them?

Nobody talks about it, but you see these super-bright PhD students putting out "only" 2-3 good papers over a period of 4-5 years. Then, when they get a research position, they generally start churning out 2-3 papers PER year. It’s not like defending your thesis changes anything overnight. But having a secure future and financial stability frees up (consciously or unconsciously) mental energy for more productive work.

Me asking my students to explain the paper the submitted that AI wrote for them.

Never in my entire life have I actually sent an email at 8:00 AM. If you receive an email from me at 8:00 AM you can rest absolutely assured that I schedule sent that mess at like 1:27 in the morning.

i’m going to be honest i am overwhelmed by how fucked up everything is

@DaniBeckman @timrudner Had the same thought myself.

@timrudner Looks like Canada only wants to benefit from the #BrainDrain if you are already well-established. Why can only associate professors or more senior people apply? Largely ignoring senior postdocs and assistant professors. They are the most threatened ones right now.

If you're a senior researcher (i.e., associate professor or more senior), and you'd consider moving to the University of Toronto to take up a Canada Impact+ Research Chair (1 million/year in funding), email me. Discretion guaranteed. ++Please share to help me spread the word!++

@anthro_andrew @evornithology Agreed. I feel a little joy when I find minor grammar, typo, etc errors in a paper now. 😅

@evornithology It just kinda... breaks my heart tbh? Like I would 100% take say a poor-grammar paper with a good point than an AI filled sesspit of a paper 😭

Steadily removing all writing assignments from my courses to avoid confronting AI-generated horseshit. This is the inevitable result of the embrace of AI by higher education. We will produce a generation of students that can't write or think for themselves.

@evornithology Same position, and ever sorry for it.

I can’t say what I really feel because I need to keep my job and provide for my family.

I am tired in a way that does the opposite of let me sleep. I am attaching a brief respite for any who sees this of my blissfully ignorant old lady dog, who has seen more of the world than most people. Now we get back to work.