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!)
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