irritations that come with being a research assistant

Perhaps I shouldn't be so picky, but it's really difficult to go from being the director of a university program back to grad student. While I can't deny that I am grateful that I am able to attend full-time and not work, some days I get the feeling that I'm little more than a glorified student worker. Never mind the fact that when I came back to school I had no idea how to change the toner cartridge in the printer -- I would have done it, but my office manager always took care of it even when I started to do it myself.

I think people assume that I've never had a full-time job, or at the very least never been responsible for bringing in a new class of students, orienting 800 new students to university life, drafting articulation agreements with community colleges, advising undergraduates, developing and implementing a marketing plan and new recruitment system. Well, I don't want to lay out my entire resume here, but suffice it to say, I'm not a novice when it comes to understanding the processes and procedures in higher education.

Seriously, there are four grad students working in a 13' x 13' windowless office and all we want to do is rearrange the desks to provide a more pleasant working enviroment and we have to submit a "floor plan" to the department chair. Holy crap! Don't people have better things to do with their time? It's not like we are asking to move walls, just four desks and two bookcases. To top that all off, I have to go begging for paperclips, paper for the printer, and file folders. There is something seriously wrong if these basic necessities can't be provided. I think I gave more latitude to the undergrads that worked for me.

That said, thank goodness my advisor understands the politics and is a frustrated as I am. And what in the hell am I going to fix for dinner tonight?