And it goes on and on and on....

I have a good friend in graduate school.  I got in contact with her yesterday.  She told me that this guy in our department, who obviously thinks he is more brilliant than he really is, got a grant that she did not get unfortunately.  She found this out at a conference from another student in our department.  This other student I have mentioned in the past.  She has "white privilege" issues, and she is not a hard worker, although I think she knows what to say in order to convey that she is a hard worker to the right people (i.e. faculty).  So, she tell my really good friend that this guy in the department who people think is a joke in more ways that one got this prestigious grant.  But, "to add insult to injury" as my good friend so aptly put it, this sad excuse for a student stated, "Yeah, he got a grant and he isn't even doing original research like WE are."  I had to emphasize "we" because of a few reasons which I will state.

First of all, this is the girl who joked that she is stealing my thesis research for her dissertation research, so how original is that really?  

In addition, my friend's work is brilliant and original in every sense of the word.  She decided to use methods and approaches not normally used in the department.  

As if that statement wasn't bad enough, my good friend then told me that this girl's adviser stated, "You'll be next to receive the grant."  Excuse me?  And this is what has led me to my questioning of this whole process.  In a perfect world, poor work, laziness, and mediocrity would not get rewarded, but here I am, and a perfect world is not where we live in.  This is the world where if you look good on paper and you are what some call a "paper tiger", you can beat out the most hardworking individuals who really deserve the recognition and reward.  I would love to think that this individual will get hers in the end based on her piss poor abilities and her poor reasoning for attending graduate school, but unfortunately, I could see her get this prestigious grant.  It won't be because of who she is and her work, but because of her adviser.  

All of this is unfortunate and sucks!  It does go on and on and on.