5:58 pm......

.......was what the clock said yesterday when I submitted my rough draft of my thesis for proofreading.  6pm, you remember, was the deadline.  I don't play around....I had 2 minutes to spare.  :)  Here's hoping it went well and that I don't have TOO much to fix.

Command Central: The Secret Real Life of a Grad Student

My full time job actually has nothing to do with health education, or science, or any of those related topics.  I'm actually a full-time fiddler/violinist and while I do some recording studio work and in town concerts, most of my work is out on "the road" playing for various events literally all over the United States.  So this weekend, the final days before my thesis is due, I'm not at home or the library working my tail off, I'm in the town of Sylacauga, just outside Birmingham, Alabama playing violin as part of the worship team at a Christian retreat for parents and teens and married couples.  (I also happen to be good friends with the "speaker guy" for the weekend so I'm actually doing all the little dramas for the weekend as well.)  I've been on the road with this same group of folks for about 5 years now so really, it feels more like a family trip than work.  But I digress.

Obviously, as my thesis isn't finished, I've got lots of work to do in between the "sessions" where we lead worship and act....and I'm not the only one.  Our guitar player is also a recording studio engineer with a due date looming on some audio editing work for a CD that is going to be released soon.  Our drummer is a video camera man and film-maker who owns his own film production company.  He was hired to make several promotional videos for a company...and they are requesting that he finish ASAP.  And of course....there's the "article due for proof-reading" due date looming on my calendar for this Monday.  So the three of us decided that we needed to take advantage of every free second to get our work done (there's accountability in numbers to actually do your work!) and we found an empty conference room in the corporate office of the grounds where the event is being held....and took over.

It's command central really.  (We joked that we have enough computer equipment and information to set up a sting operation.)  Adam has set up a veritable mobile recording studio and is listening to half second clips of songs with his bat-like ears searching for any little sound that isn't supposed to be there and fixing any mistakes.  Mat has all his video editing software running full speed ahead with cables and hard drives galore.  And in the middle of it all is me.  The grad student.  Typing away...inspired by the creativity around me to push through and finish strong.  Its actually, dare I say, fun to sit with good friends and work towards my goal while they work towards theirs.  :)  And I'm really enjoying this last push into my research and trying to savor the moments because no matter how ready-to-be-done I feel, it's kind of weird to think that I may never go to school again, and I want this experience to end on a good note...knowing that I enjoyed it and got out of it everything that I could.  So anyway. Thought you might enjoy knowing how I spent my last weekend of thesis writing.  I've attached a picture for your amusement of us working away.  (I'm the girl in the striped sweater...obviously!)

Graduation???

So I may be putting the cart before the horse here and assuming we're all going to graduate....but I was just curious to know how many of you are planning on actually walking in the graduation ceremony on May 8th?  I'm looking forward to it...I feel like I've put in all this effort over the past few years and I'm excited to get to go claim it on the W stage!  Anyway.  The only down side to taking classes online is that I feel that you lack the camaraderie that you'd get in any normal graduate or even undergraduate program.  Even though we'll be done by that point, I think it would be fun to meet you all!  Hope I get to see you there!  (Meaning....I hope you all are coming, and I hope we all graduate!  haha!)

Random Bright Spot

So as I scramble to finish my thesis, I'm trying to get a few more interviews in to expand my data set.  Yesterday I called the local chapter of a major disaster relief organization and "plead my case" to the administrative assistant that answered the phone.  She was very kind but said she just wasn't sure who could answer my questions...could she put me on hold?  (Of course!  I'd be HAPPY to hold!)  About 2 minutes of piped jazz music later she came back on the line and said in a shocked voice that the CEO just happened to be visiting their office that day and had said he'd be happy to help out the grad student on the phone!  So he granted me an interview which was very cool if not entirely informative (as CEO he's more on the business side of things than in the actual trenches of a disaster, but nonetheless, he was amazingly accommodating and did give me some excellent information as well as some other contacts of people that might be able to give more insight into some of the more specific parts of my questions.)  Anyway.  It was just very encouraging to find someone in a high position who was still excited about helping out a student, and of course to have more information for my thesis.

Still biting my nails until we get results from COMPS.  Hoping that will be soon.

Interviews

I really have no idea how I'm going to get this monster of a paper written on time. but I will. Right now, I'm in the middle of finishing up interviewing folks on disaster relief plans and health education so I can finish writing my paper. I can't wait to get all my results in and see what people have to say. It's always interesting to find out the opinions of others.

Check-Mark

I made this list tonight to make myself feel like I'd accomplished something. :)



I think submitting comps tonight was one of the greatest feelings ever! Now....the waiting game begins to find out if I passed them. Anyone know when we find out?

Comps

Comps comps comps are upon us! I'm sitting on my front porch right now working on getting mine rolling! Looking forward to turning them in on Thursday so I can put a big fat check mark next to "Comps" on my graduation checklist. :) One step closer to that cap and gown! Good luck to everyone else who is also working on comps this week!