How to break up with your professor

Remember how I said that I was SO OVER school? I still am. Today I had to resort to breaking up with this group I have been involved with for 7 months via email. The group members all respected my decision to end my involvement with the project (I am graduating in 4 weeks and pregnant, after all), but our professor didn't quite seem to grasp the concept when I told him after we'd done our presentation that I would like a grade now. As in NOW. Today. So I wrote this follow up email to underscore how completely done I am:

Hi [omitted],

I just wanted to follow up on the brief conversation we had about grading and my continued participation with the group. For me, today was not a "dress rehearsal for [Central American country]". This was the final time I will be presenting the plan and the culmination of my involvement with the project.

Right now, four weeks away from graduation, my priorities need to shift to the next phase in my life and career. For me, this project needs to end. The group will be absolutely fine preparing the presentation for a [Central American nationality] audience without me, and in fact that is what they are expecting to do. We have talked about what will change and, frankly, from here on out, I feel it is their show, not mine.

I appreciate the opportunity to work in this group; it's a great cause and I'm sure [my university] will have a strong continued involvement with [the organization]. The group has done an extremely good job in the face of many hurdles and I'm very proud of our final product. And, of course, thank you for your many hours of advising!

Best regards,
-[Gry]

I'm not sure I could have made it much clearer than that. Breaking up is hard to do, but DAMN, this needed to be done. I have been tired of this 3-credit class, that I have devoted *thousands* of hours to, since January. Since before that, really. Now that I am interviewing for a full-time position and my little dude has made a (rowdy) home in my belly, I need to say goodbye for good. Hopefully my extremely direct email will get that point across.

And because this week has been so incredibly full of school work that I still have not had time to photograph my knitting, I am going to have to leave you with solely a garden photo:


this is an arisaema, one of twenty different kinds planted in my garden. But this one is my favorite.