Three Weeks...er...two and a half, I guess.

That's how my summer has been going it seems. I've got some time to get work done, and then, suddenly, it's gone. I came into mixed methods on Monday and said, "Three weeks left", meaning "until my wedding". My classmate heard my declaration, and immediately thought, "until class is finished". And we're both right, which means that I have only a few weeks to iron out all the wedding and reception details, finish my mixed methods work, write my dissertation literature review, and finish the final "Focus on BG" report for the TV station.

I know I'm up for the challenge. I just need to get at it. The summer has been hectic, but good As August approaches, I'm starting to look back on the past few months and see what I've gotten accomplished. It's been a lot. I'd list the things (or at least some of them), but I've got work to do.

I realized this the other day: when I pass my dissertation proposal defense, I'll no longer be the Masked Doctoral Student, I'll be the Masked Doctoral Candidate. Ooh, just like a promotion, except without any pay increase or new privileges.

Putting Pen to Paper

Well, gentle readers, I did it yesterday. I finally did it. I finally put pen to paper (or, in the age of the personal computer, fingers to keys) and began to write my dissertation. To be accurate, I began my dissertation proposal/prospectus. I had spent days, hours, weeks, coming up with reason after reason to do something else. I had a paper to write. I had a class to finish (or two). I had an NCA submission to work on. I had a job to look for. I had wedding things to do. I had a cat to feed. I had a workout I needed to get in. I had...I had...I had...and the list was (and would continue to be) endless.

I don't know exactly why people fail to complete their dissertations. It happens a LOT, more than non-academics realize. I think over the next year I'm going to discover, one way or another, some of the pressures, commitments, responsibilities, priorities, and reasons why people don't finish heir dissertations. My thought right now is that dissertations don't get finished because people are tired. They are tired of their research, their field, their subject, their school, being a student, ad nauseum. Sometimes I feel tired.

But today, today I don't feel tired. I feel like a guy who, just yesterday, started one of the coolest, most original, and valuable pieces of research he's ever done. I want to go to the office, put on a pot of coffee, Ben Folds, and type until my fingers ache!

M.D.S. AWAY!

Irons (in the fire)

I made a list yesterday of all the semi-completed projects that I have somewhere (in my office, at home by the computer, on-line, in my head). I have a lot of irons in the fire, I think. Speaking of that, I finished stuffing the wedding invitations yesterday. There's one project out of the way. That's not to say that there aren't three more waiting to take it's place. Thankfully, it looks like Dr. Earley's mixed methods class is going to be very helpful and informative toward writing my dissertation proposal. The rest of my irons are not nearly so bulky or important as that big one. Well, maybe finding a job, but really those are going to go hand-in-hand for me this year (I hope). I have to say I'm a little nervous about the job hunt. It feels like something that as a young (soon to be) married man, wanting to provide and make good on the promise that I have valued skills and talents in this field, that finding a job is intimately tied to my own sense of self-worth and confidence. So, time to stop blogging and get my ass on monster and crtnet.

200-level course

I received work this week that, starting in the fall, I am teaching my first 200-level course. (ooohhh...ahhhh). It's called, 'presentational speaking in organizations'. I'm really looking forward to preparing for a new, challenging class. It should mean new assignments, activities, materials, and mostly non-Freshmen students.

I finish up my Free Speech class this week, and am sitting pretty as far as work goes for that class. I've finished both my final assignments for that class and am looking forward to moving on to mixed methods (which should be a fine primer for writing up my dissertation proposal).

Oh, yes, and I installed the air conditioner yesterday. Sleeping was soooooo sweeeet last night. Now I'm off to attempt to organize my syllabus for my IPC 205 course. Yippy!

-M.D.S.

The Week Ahead

These summer sessions fly right by, don't they? This is my final week of SPSS; next week is my final week of Free Speech. This means I still have to finish my SPSS final project this week and my 10-page paper by next Thursday. (We take the good with the bad, methinks.)

I'm traveling to Columbus this Friday (a long drive that I hope will be well worth it). I'm meeting with Roxanne Swogger of the Ohio Office of Victim's Services and hopefully getting a peek at their operation there. I hope that will turn out to be the venue for my dissertation research. (I'll certainly be keeping my fingers crossed on the way there and, hopefully, elated on the way home.)

Other things keep on keepin' on. I will hopefully be talking with Dr. Burke this week about my assistantship, Gina and I got a lot of wedding things done this weekend (met with the DJ, looked at wedding bands (for fingers, not for the ears), and I asked Kyle to be my best man. Now, if I can only figure out what to get the guy...

-M.D.S.

Two Months

From today, I will be married in two months. Gulp. We have a lot of things to do between now and then. I have a lot of things to do between now and then.

And now for something completely different: I have successfully defended my preliminary exams (yea). I am now officially (drum roll please): a guy who has passed his preliminary exam defense (yea). Now all I have to do is one final paper: the dissertation. Piece of cake, I hear. Oh, and finish my final three classes, and write my proposal, defend that, secure a context for my research, conduct my research, analyze the data, evaluate the results, and complete the dissertation, defend that, find a job...oh, and we're picking out our wedding invitations tonight. It seems I'm always one with a full plate. Thankfully, it's always filled with things I love.

M.D.S. Away!

Beyond Memorial Day

Long Weekend=Short Week

It's Tuesday and I'm at work for the first time this week. Thank you federal holidays. That being said, it's going to be one heck of a week. I have a LOT of work in front of me in these next four days.

I, of course, have both my SPSS class with it's daily homework. I have my Free Speech course which has a final topic one-page summary due Thursday. Also, next Tuesday Victor and I present on a book I haven't cracked the cover of, yet (ok, that may be a slight exaggeration). I have a number of meetings, too, with Dr. Dixon, Victor and I end the week with one of the biggest meetings of my career.

I have my preliminary exam oral defense this Friday. It is the first of three such oral defenses on my way to "Dr." After this (if things go well), I get permission to start working on my dissertation proposal/prospectus. Looking ahead, I hope to have draft versions of that done in September or early October. That proposal/prospectus is the second document I will orally defend. Successful defense of that will allow me to start the data collection/research phase of my dissertation (the subject of my third oral defense).

It all started a long time ago...this road that is leading me closer and closer to that PhD. Friday is another milestone. Those of you who pray, I'll take prayers. Those of you who wish well, I'll take well-wishes. Those of you who sacrifice small animals to appease some sort of serpent-god, I like chicken.

-M.D.S. Away!