I'm Giving Up Giving Up
Yes, it has been awhile since I've written. 2011 is shaping up quite nicely, I must say. For someone who didn't do too much in 2010, I am sure making up for it in 2011. The first six months of this year are filled to the brim! Today, though, let me just fill you in on the academic side of life...
There has been sweet, wonderful progress on the Ph.D. front. I know, everyone is so sick of hearing me talk about the syntheses....the syntheses....the syntheses....that I have been working on for two years. I had gotten to the point that I was even too embarrassed to even bring it up anymore. Last summer I had even pretty much decided to quit. I had convinced myself that I wasn't all that smart, and last summer all I really wanted to do was be outside biking, running, reading...anything/anywhere that allowed me to just breathe and not have to think too much.
But part of what was holding me back in progressing with the Ph.D. was an unresponsive advisor. I spent two years emailing her to set up meetings without acknowledgement. I even drove to ISU to meet with another member of my committee and the graduate director and was given my advisor's home address to mail my specialization synthesis to her. Still no response. I will skip over the very long story and tell you that she is now out of the picture and the graduate director is now my new exam/dissertation advisor, and suddenly the process is moving along very quickly! Last week I took the first part of my doctoral exams, the pedagogy exam. I will hear within two weeks whether I passed. The specialization exam consists of a 15-20 page paper due Feb. 28. And I am still waiting for approval of my third synthesis to get the last component scheduled. My goal is to have the exams completed before spring break (March 7th).
Everything is falling into place all of a sudden. If it all keeps rolling along like this, I will spend the summer finishing my dissertation, defend it in the fall, and graduate in December. It's no longer about giving up.
There has been sweet, wonderful progress on the Ph.D. front. I know, everyone is so sick of hearing me talk about the syntheses....the syntheses....the syntheses....that I have been working on for two years. I had gotten to the point that I was even too embarrassed to even bring it up anymore. Last summer I had even pretty much decided to quit. I had convinced myself that I wasn't all that smart, and last summer all I really wanted to do was be outside biking, running, reading...anything/anywhere that allowed me to just breathe and not have to think too much.
But part of what was holding me back in progressing with the Ph.D. was an unresponsive advisor. I spent two years emailing her to set up meetings without acknowledgement. I even drove to ISU to meet with another member of my committee and the graduate director and was given my advisor's home address to mail my specialization synthesis to her. Still no response. I will skip over the very long story and tell you that she is now out of the picture and the graduate director is now my new exam/dissertation advisor, and suddenly the process is moving along very quickly! Last week I took the first part of my doctoral exams, the pedagogy exam. I will hear within two weeks whether I passed. The specialization exam consists of a 15-20 page paper due Feb. 28. And I am still waiting for approval of my third synthesis to get the last component scheduled. My goal is to have the exams completed before spring break (March 7th).
Everything is falling into place all of a sudden. If it all keeps rolling along like this, I will spend the summer finishing my dissertation, defend it in the fall, and graduate in December. It's no longer about giving up.
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