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!

Portfolio

Yesterday as I was blogging about my thesis and comps, I realized that our portfolio is also due soon...the requirements state a month before graduation, so I'm assuming a little before April 8th?

I spent the better part of yesterday working on my portfolio and was just wondering if anyone else had started theirs yet. I'm happy to report that I got lots done on mine and that it's coming along well. Its kind of fun to look back at all the old projects that we've completed in our course of study and could also be a great review for comps as well.

Springing Forward and March Madness

I couldn't understand why yesterday in church they were already announcing the special service times for our Good Friday and Easter services. Then I realized that it's because Easter is a mere 2 weeks away. And when I got an email last night from a friend of mine that it was time to go set up my bracket for the online college basketball March Madness bracket contest that we've done for the past 5 years now, I couldn't believe it. We turned the clocks ahead this weekend. What does all this mean? That our theses are due in like a month and a half. I don't know about you all, but I've got a LONG way to go before that due date. And comps. Somewhere in all this we're supposed to be studying for comps as well.

I don't think there is an official "law of the universe" out there that states that "the further behind you fall, the furtherer behind you're going to fall" but that law exists in my world. I get a day behind, and then somehow it seems easier to get 2 days behind, then 4, then so on. Then pretty soon you're used to the internal stress of knowing that homework HAS to get done TODAY that you don't get it done today, or tomorrow for that matter. I've never struggled in school, ever. Not as a kid, not in high school, not in college...even grad school has been pretty easy for me. Until this semester. Maybe I have "senioritis" you know, that infectious disease that hits high school and college seniors who are ready to graduate and get out of Dodge?

But I WILL succeed, get my work finished, pass my thesis (AND comps), and walk across that stage on May 8th to get my Masters' Degree...if it kills me. And this will be my last blog post about how difficult it has been for me to concentrate this semester. I promise. So lets strap in and get it done, fellow thesis writers. The light at the end of that tunnel is shining brighter (and for an extra hour each day now thanks to daylight savings time!).

Finding the Balance

So I'm feeling quite honest today and thought I'd write about some of the things I'm struggling with this semester. I think that the biggest challenge in writing a thesis is finding the balance between personal life and work life and school life. I know that whenever I give time to one category, I feel slightly guilty because I know that there are two other categories of life vying for my time that are missing out. Especially since writing a thesis is such a unique assignment...not like taking normal classes. Is anyone else feeling the pressure of school vs. the rest of your life?

I'm having to re-work some of my methodology which I'm actually a bit relieved about. I think the updated methodology will widen my research field a bit and make my project stronger in the end. I know from reading your blogs that at least one other of you are having to do this as well...guess it just comes with being a Masters student, and not a Master! I'm feeling a little frustrated because I'm always so hard on myself to succeed and right now I don't feel like my thesis project is perfect and chugging along at the rate of success it should be. But, I'm having to remain positive and know that it will get researched, written and perfected over the next few months and that this is the last semester of graduate school that I have to do. (My husband has forbidden me, for the time being at least, to even entertain the possibility of getting my Doctorate. He thinks (and he's totally correct) that we both need a break from me being in school!)

So now I'm off to update my methodology in hopes of creating a stronger and better thesis.

Research Studies

Just thought I'd share something research-related that I've participated in over the past year that I've found really interesting. I'm not sure where all of you live geographically, so this might not be a possibility for all of you, but here in Nashville, Vanderbilt University & Medical Centers has a Research department where they study everything from Diabetes and heart disease to study methods and skills of college students and everything in between. Sometimes the studies are really intense and require hospital stays and serious procedures (these are usually only for people that have specific diseases or conditions) and sometimes they only require sitting down at your home computer and answering questions on a website for 10 minutes. (I'm doing one on Wednesday that required 45 minutes of computer questions at home ahead of time, and then an hour in the lab at Vandy answering questions in a face to face interview that is studying how people react to major life events.) As a graduate student conducting research, I think its really fascinating to see how other research is conducted, and to participate in the furtherance of the general body of knowledge. Plus, the researchers are always really appreciative to have found participants. Usually they have some sort of incentive as well, either monetary or sometimes in gift card format (I've seen Walmart and iTunes gift cards offered for the shorter ones.)

Anyway. Depending on where you live geographically, a university or medical center near you may or may not have research programs available that would apply to you. Just thought I'd mention it though. I've only participated in two studies, but they have both been rewarding experiences and as health education students, I feel like its a neat way to contribute to related fields. Food for thought.

Home again, Home again.

Hello from Nashville!

So my new husband and I survived both Tropical Depression Neshia and Cyclone Oli and are now home from French Polynesia to our house in Nashville...where of course its snowing. :) Guess we can't get normal weather anywhere.

So now that I'm back, I'm scrambling to get IRB forms complete and keep chugging along on the thesis. Hope everyone else is doing well too!

Bonjour from French Polynesia!

Yes, that's right...I'm not only a grad student...I'm a newlywed as well! My husband and I got married on January 23rd so I've been working on my review of literature whilst planning a wedding, and now, from the island of Moorea in the South Pacific where internet time costs about 5 US dollars an hour. I don't recommend writing one's thesis from one's honeymoon! Haha!

Interesting enough though, my thesis topic is disaster relief and and we're having a bit of a natural disaster as I write this! Cyclone Oli is holding court over all the South Pacific Islands and we're waiting to see if it heads straight to Moorea, which is just off the coast of Tahiti, (it's already hit Bora Bora) or if it veers south as the weather websites seem to all predict which means it would miss us and we'd just get some rain and wind from the tail end of it. Right now, they've evacuated us all (it's the low season so only about 10 or 15 couples are here right now) from our swanky over-the-water-honeymoon-bungalows and into regular bungalows that are the furthest inland on the resort. I tried watching some of the weather reports, but of course everything in French Polynesia is in French so I didn't understand it. I was excited though to see that they are running PSA slideshow things on the local TV showing to avoid flooded areas, to boil water to prevent sickness, etc. The health educator in me was thrilled. And, I'll admit, while I want to stay safe, the grad student in me is sort of hoping that some catastrophe occurs so that I can get some first hand accounts for my disaster relief thesis. Maybe that's a bad thing....but with thesis deadlines approaching...it's how I think now! I'm sure you all can understand. Hopefully I'll leave the island of Moorea behind this weekend as planned...unscathed, but with some good first-hand research. I'll keep you all posted on Cyclone Oli!

Good luch to you asll as you work on your Reviews of LIterature and Proposals. I can't wait to read about everyone's progress this semester! It will be good therapy as I know I'll get frustrated and it will be good to know I'm not going it alone!

Au revoir!