Thesis woes...
I am thisclose to having my thesis entirely done and turned in.
Funny, in undergrad I knew that my whole committee didn't read my entire thesis, but it didn't really matter. My advisor didn't care if everyone had read it, if I had incorporated their opinions. I just defended it and turned it in and moved on. This time around, however, even though I don't have a defense, it feels more serious. My advisor provided me with very specific revisions, most of which I am grateful for (only some of which made me somewhat frustrated). Playing the waiting game with my committee has been harder than I thought. I had assumed this month would be insane - getting revisions back, turning them back around, getting more... And so far I've only gotten revisions from one professor. I've had to track down another committee member (unsuccessfully) who has had my draft for 6 weeks and definitely hasn't even started reading it. The neat "rounds" of editing/revisions/drafts that I had envisioned fell apart when I had to just submit a second draft to my committee before hearing from others members. Of course, people would probably say that this is to be expected. But I guess we all go into it optimistically - 'maybe MY professor will be awesome and actually work WITH me to make deadlines!' So far, I still need to hear from two people and I have to be entirely done and submitted in two weeks. So, I wait. And try to make myself do other productive things.
I'll admit I have a serious case of senioritis. I've always been one of those hard-working people who definitely does work every weekend and in the evenings and during vacations. I find it incredible when colleagues or friends tell me they blew off the entire weekend, or still aren't done with an assignment at the eleventh hour. But this semester, that has been me. After 3 years of hardcore grad school, I am ready to be DONE. "They" always say that graduate school is nothing like college, and they are right. It is 10x the amount of reading, 10x the amount of work outside of the classroom. You are building your career, so it is up to you to gain experience through grad assistantships, internships, volunteering, speaking at conferences, getting research grants AND doing well in school and networking. Plus, oh yeah! Most grad students have work or families outside of school at this point, and they're juggling their full-time academic life with a full-time home life.
I wanted so desperately to go back to school, and now I am so ready to just have a job and free time. Though, I admit, if I had the money... I'd definitely continue taking classes just for the LEARNING. I have loved everything that I have learned (I just don't enjoy the stress!) I would much rather plan my wedding and have doula clients as my "homework" than all of this other stuff. Which I'm doing anyway, on top of everything else.
After I graduate I will miss having free access to all of those articles, though... I love being able to just log-in and find research and evidence on my favorite subject matters - birth and breastfeeding! I wonder if I could work out a way to not be cut off by my university. And sadly, I don't have time to take advantage of them before I graduate in May. Perhaps I'll have more time to blog, though, after graduation.
In other news, even though I don't have a lot of time to blog, I still skim blogs and articles and tweet them a lot! So you can find me there or on the Facebook page for the time being :)
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