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!