Your TA, after office hours

Buried underneath stacks of books the size of War and Peace, knots of convoluted problem sets and theorems about why E, in fact, does not equal mc2, lies the dilapidated social life of your TA.

That is, unless it's Friday.

Fridays, graduate students guzzle cheap booze and pig out on free wings - compliments of the Graduate Student Government - in the name of cutting it loose and taking a break from their rigorous academic schedules.

Laura Moore, the 38-year-old GSG president, said "Grad Pub" was created five years ago to "make it easy for grad students to take it easy and relax." Moore said the GSG is committed to improving graduate students' social lives, which seem to disappear as they get further into their studies.

"Do I have a social life? Hah! I'm going to give that a resounding, 'No,'" physics graduate student Jeremy Clark, 24, said casually as he took another sip of his beer. He and 12 other graduate students from the physics department crowded around a table with a drink in their hands and a look of relief on their faces.

Clark and his friends said they spend about 25 hours each week on homework and another few hours preparing for the upper-level physics classes they help teach.

But Friday evening, Clark said, is a time to let loose.

"We usually make a night out of it," said Clark, speaking of his physics friends. "We get slammed on cheap drinks, go out to dinner and then go party."

So do graduate students in the classics department. Brendan Magee, 26, and Jenn Rothman, 23, are both classics graduate students who claim they worry about running into their undergraduate students when they go out. But at Friday Grad Pub, there are no excuses to stay in and no risk of awkward encounters with undergrads - a relief to all the teaching assistants at the pub.

"We deserve a reward on Fridays," Rothman said, dismayed that opportunities for an active night life have significantly slimmed as she's gotten older. "There were fewer responsibilities [in college]; it was a different kind of atmosphere. If your friends were going out, you'd go out with them. Now it's like, 'It's 11, hmm, I think I'll go to bed.'"

Many claim the responsibilities of graduate school have ushered them into adulthood.

"I think we still have the time [to party], but priorities shift," said urban studies and planning graduate student Mike Lancaster, 29. "We realized, well, s---, we need to get our act together and make a meaningful difference."

But some graduate students live their academic life to the extreme.

Scott Heerman, a history graduate student who graduated from college last year, said he chooses not to frequent the Grad Pubs or, for that matter, most social activities.

"Most of my friends are sitting on my desk here," Heerman said, pointing to a stack of books in the corner of his desk, located in the upper floor of Francis Scott Key Hall. Heerman claims he is too busy to waste time at night clubs and bars.

Heerman is not alone. Many graduate students who are older, married and maybe even parents point to their age and responsibilities when explaining their early bedtimes.

Still, others refuse to settle into the sometimes lonely life of academia.

Physics graduate student Kyle Gustafson is married but still makes it out to the Grad Pub about once a month. Gustafson acknowledges that while he still has a desire for an active social life and close friendships, his marriage takes priority when he's pressed for time and busy with school.

"I don't think my desire to socialize changes because I am married, but my ability to socialize is less"" said Gustafson. "I think it's because I have time commitments with my life, and I have a desire to be with her. And I think it's more important that I spend time on my marriage, although my friendships are important."

Grad pub ends at 7 p.m., which makes it easy for attendees to get back to their families or go out and party, whichever fits their lifestyle.

Materials science graduate student Susan Buckhout-White, 27, is married and busy but said she makes sure she leaves time to be social.

"I feel the stress of publishing articles, presenting at conferences and the teaching I'm doing," Buckhout-White said. "There's a lot put on grad students, and yes, it's difficult to socialize. But if you make it a priority, it's not a problem."

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