Calling all PS thesis-tacklers, researchers, and students!

[Elegant]

gwendolyn - I am still working on it and mentally I am telling myself I have today and tomorrow to complete it...we''ll see! Yeah, paraphrasing is a major pain!!

 

[gwendolyn]

Date: 7/4/2008 10:17:34 AM
Author: Elegant
gwendolyn - I am still working on it and mentally I am telling myself I have today and tomorrow to complete it...we''ll see! Yeah, paraphrasing is a major pain!!

Sounds good! I know it''s hard working on the weekends, but it will feel so good once you have it done. Keep up the hard work!

 

[Elegant]

I''m pluggin'' through!

 

[RxTechRN2b]

Well, I''ve been hanging around PS for a couple years but just recently started posting again. I''d be glad to be a cheerleader! And I could use some cheerleading as well. I''ve got two semesters of clinicals left in nursing school, I started college when I turned 40 and was first separated from my now ex-husband. We were married 20 years and its still throwing me for a loop. I''m on break for the summer and this is when it really sets in that I''m alone now. But during clinical I''m so busy I don''t have much time to feel bad about my personal life. And I''m not really making an effort to get out there and meet people, either, because I know that until I graduate and take the NCLEX I won''t have the time to spend with that special person. Uh, at least I have my diamond obsession to keep me sane -- I sort of went off the deep end buying an entire collection of jewelry since the divorce (and was told by a jeweler that that is pretty common). I think he was just trying to make me feel better. Really, the only consolation I have is that since my diamonds are not connected to any man, I won''t ever have to stop wearing them. And since I picked them all myself, they reflect my style perfectly! I guess that''s all off topic, this just seemed a good place to share part of my story.

 

[katamari]

Congrats, Gwen!

Doesn''t it look nice to see the sentence, "By this time next week, I will be DONE!"? Yeah!

Elegant and Choro, I will also be working through the weekend. So, I will be cheering for you when I stop to take my procrastination breaks!

WishfulThinking, so glad the template helped! I really like those things. I also suggest finding a content analysis paper you really enjoy and looking to it for structural help while you are writing. I have a scholar whose style I like and almost mimic them to the tee (just in style, of course), but it makes writing much easier--and far less scarier.

And, welcome to our newest cheerleader, Terry. We will cheer you through your NCLEX, too! And, of course, drool over the wonderful pictures of the jewelry you get to celebrate when you finish. lol

Happy weekend, everyone!

 

[canuk-gal]

Date: 7/2/2008 7:22:57 PM
Author: katamari

I got addicted to PS because, as a researcher, I had to feel like my e-ring would be fabulous @ p<0.001 (academic humor; lame, but true).

HI:

LOL!

cheers--Sharon

 

[Elegant]

Yeah!!! I am CRANKING out the pages!

Thanks so much for being so supportive! I can''t believe how many pages I have typed in my lit review since joining this support group! Yeah! I am so freaking happy right now!

Once I get in the zone, I''m there for a while!

How is everyone else?

This morning I went to a town Fourth of July parade, came home and ate breakfast, typed, slept, ate, and typed some more. Will be leaving at about 8:30 pm to see the major fireworks show!

 

[gwendolyn]

Terry, welcome!

Only two semesters left to go, how wonderful! What sort of nursing do you do?

katamari, thank you so much! It is fantastic to write the sentence "by this time next week I will be done." I am thrilled! Taking a lunch break now and then getting back to doing the revisions--the sooner they are done, the sooner I can breathe again! Woohoo!

Elegant, that is FABULOUS!!!!! Way to go! That is great that you are getting so much done!! Congrats!

 

[Elegant]

Terry -

I have been with my bf for 15 years and recently have been questioning things in our relationship. I wondered about leaving him and how difficult it would be to be alone, BUT I think it is great that you got a few gifts for yourself (you earned each and every one I bet) and now you get to decompress and let yourself relax and just be. Being alone (I recently had a long distance relationship with my bf and would only see him every other weekend) is actually nice - it allows you to think uninterrupted and it is peaceful. But when you are with someone that long, it is difficult. But you have to do what is best for yourself and finish STRONG!

Schooling really does take a lot of energy from a person. Now it's time to focus on yourself and be good to yourself. The two semesters are going to fly by! Do you have any plans after nursing school? Do you have anything set up for work?

 

[Elegant]

Well, I didn''t quite make the "I''ll finish my lit review by the end of the week" deadline (I almost wanted to cite myself - that''s pretty sick).

But I am making good progress nonetheless - I tend to get a bit gungho!

I hope everyone is having a fruitful weekend!

 

[gwendolyn]

Date: 7/6/2008 1:43:18 AM
Author: Elegant
Well, I didn't quite make the 'I'll finish my lit review by the end of the week' deadline (I almost wanted to cite myself - that's pretty sick).

But I am making good progress nonetheless - I tend to get a bit gungho!


I hope everyone is having a fruitful weekend!

Excellent news! Hehe, I've thought about citing myself too--sometimes I tell my paper, "Just trust me! I know what I'm talking about!" How are you faring today, m'dear?

I'm workin', on a Sunday. Kinda sucks, but I'm trying to look at it that I'm just THAT much closer to being DONE!

(haha, I am such a dork, I just clapped for myself

)

 

[gwendolyn]

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you all had great weekends and are ready to get some work done this week!

(Man oh man, I feel like that seriously chipper aerobics instructor on TV who's all smiles on a Monday morning and you kinda want to trip her or something.

)

ANYWAY! I am absolutely pumped and THRILLED that it's Monday BECAUSE I AM ALMOST DONE!!! This is my last-ever Monday in this evil place--in less than 5 days, I will be finished and out of here and I am beyond excited about that. I'd worried that I'd be so stressed out these last days, but instead I am feeling better than I have in months. It's great! I can't wait for this week to be over!!!

I did pretty well yesterday with my work. Incorporated lots of changes (hopefully I did them well, since my supervisor is somewhere in Africa now) and had a decent flow going. Today I'm picking up again where I left off, about halfway through the whole thesis. Depending on how it goes today, I will either finish all the changes, or just about finish them all. Either way, tomorrow should be a day of tweaking things like page numbers and making sure the table of contents is accurate and looks good. WOOOOOOO!!!!!

Ok, sorry, I know someone is going to want to punch me in the nose for being this excited, but I am totally thrilled that Friday is almost here. My body has essentially been broken down since April from stress, so not only will (I believe) the stress become alleviated on Friday, but I *also* get to end 3.5+ years of the long-distance aspect of my relationship and move on to a regular relationship with J!!! Plus the happiness I will feel at getting to leave this gloomy place that rather disappointed me is exciting too. AND the plan is that a good friend, J and I will go out for celebratory cream tea at The Orchard again (anyone who saw my LIW thread on that knows what beautiful scenery and yummy eats are waiting for us there! Here it is if you are curious: click me!).


So, Friday is going to be a GREAT day.

 

[Delster]

Waaa, Firefox updated automatically last week some time and now I can''t get my IE view extension thingummy to work... which means I can''t write a big fancy colouredy sparkley CONGRATULATIONS and WELL DONE to Gwen when she so badly deserves it!

Gwen we are all so proud of you! Yay!!!

OK for me it''s back to the grind today after the whirlwind that was last week. Got to collect my thoughts and rearrange my workplan because it''s all been shot to pieces since NY and all the celebrations. Will be back later with a concrete plan of attack!

 

[Delster]

Date: 6/25/2008 9:32:09 PM
Author: choro72
Hello, I've known that this topic existed, but I've never joined in or read it (more to come on why). I am amazed by everyone, and for those who finished, congratulations!! For those who are finishing up, congratulations!! Either way, I bow to everyone.


I've read a little about Delster and Gwen, and let me start by saying I wish you the best. For all other thesis tacklers, sorry I haven't had the courage to read the entire post yet, but I wish you the best all the same.

I don't expect anyone to read the entire following post, but the main thing is I'm looking for a support group that will last until next year.


=====================================================================


I have been a PhD student for 5 years, and I'm starting my 6th. I've had the Chancellor of this University for my adviser from 2004-2007. In 2007, she left the University for a better position and left me here because she wasn't interested in my topic anymore. My current adviser has kindly taken me in, and I could not be happier with him.


My current adviser is in a different field from what I've been doing for 3 years, so basically I had to start everything from scratch in 2007. I'm an international student, so my NRT goes up starting this September. My adviser has scrambled enough to cover me until June 2009, but after that I'm on my own. This leaves me only one choice: to finish next June.


I saw this thread a long time ago, but I've been so scared to open it. I start hyperventilating whenever I focus on finishing, my heart starts pounding when I start analyzing data, and I could not face reading any of the posts here because these are success stories. I'm deathly afraid that I'm not going to finish next year with no money, and I have to leave with a Master's Degree after 6 years in this crummy school (I HATE this place).


The reason I'm frightened is because I come from a very hard working family, and they will be disappointed to say the least if I don't finish. My dad got his PhD when he was 45 years old, simultaneously being the sole bread winner the entire time, my sister has a masters in Architectural Acoustics, my cousin has his own consulting company, another cousin is a successful accountant who used to work for Aurthur Anderson (NOT that department) with an MBA and a degree in Business Law, another cousin has a PhD, and my EVERY SINGLE ONE of my family and relatives have a 4 year university degree.


What I'm trying to say is, to my family there is absolutely no excuse for not finishing my degree. Of course I plan on finishing, and I'm trying my best. But the mere thought of having to finish is getting to me, and I'm just terrified that there is a possibility that I won't. I'm becoming more and more like my old self in 2004 when I was studying for my comps (let's just say my friends were very worried about me back then).


I hate this school so much, I hate the department, and I hate being here. They are not supportive of their students and run by the king of bureaucracy. The only good thing about this place are my friends and my current adviser. If I didn't need to worry about what my family think about me, and if I didn't feel so stupid about the wasting 4 years, I will leave this place in a heartbeat.


I'm already starting to plan our wedding around my graduation (the weekend after graduation), and FI is doing his best to help me graduate. After weeks of deliberation, I've finally decided to join this topic. I'm sure that there are PLENTY of people who are seeing more crap than what I'm seeing. I'm sorry for being so whiny, but I can't help being terrified. So...Is there anyone who is planning on finishing next year? Maybe I'll feel better with a support group for that.


Meanwhile, I will like to (finally) join the cheering group for everyone that are finishing up this year. I'll try and read all the pages tonight, and see if the pressure doesn't kill me.

Sorry for the long post...

Choro I don't have much in the way of practical concrete advice really but I wanted to reply to you particularly to tell you that you're not alone. I'm in almost exactly the same position minus the being happy with your current supervisor, and having to plan a wedding on top of all this stress!

I'm in my fourth year and after this October my supervisor has threatened to withdraw all supervision. Supervisor won't actually do that but supervisor is kind of big on the (usually empty) threats and low on the support. Lots of bluster about the horrible things that 'could' befall me but most of it is just hot air (because (a) the threats are always of things supervisor can't do without getting into terrible trouble, and (b) supervisor isn't actually nasty enough).

I've had zero funding come through in 18 months. Not my fault in any way, and not the funding body's fault. I am saying no more on that one other than that my FI is an angel and when I finish this PhD and get a proper job that actually pays on time (instead of 18 months after it's due!) I will spoil that man rotten.

I too have feelings of panic at the thought of the mountain of work that lies ahead. 60,000 words plus rewrites due by the end of September. Oy. On the days I am actively trying to work, there is a crying fit literally every day. I work very hard at being positive with my friends and family and here on PS, and really the only person who knows the full extent of it all is FI. Honestly I am amazed the poor man still wanted to propose to such a miserable wreck of a PhD casualty!!! Lately my brave face has begun to slip a little with my closest girlfriends and I've starting refusing to talk about the PhD with my family. I have to finish this thing soon or I'll end up ill.

My uni department is also low on support and encouragement and I have no friends there. It's very much an 'each man is an island' kind of a mentality. I mourn the kind of comraderie and jolly-one-another-along atmosphere that the lab work and team projects of a science/engineering PhD engenders. Humanities PhDs are LONELY, LONELY, LONELY. Days and days go by where I don't talk to anyone face to face other than FI. Ugh!

Anyway as I said, no concrete advice (other than the one from the first page of this thread about 'divide and conquer' - that's sterling advice!) but I just wanted to share my story and let you know you're not alone. And absolutely please do come back and keep telling us how you're doing, and join in the cheering. If you read back you'll see most of my posts are of the 'nothing done today, I feel real bad' variety, but I find that cheering everyone else on actually helps motivate me to do a little more, keep trying, and to remember that tomorrow's a fresh day and if I wish real hard I just might TURN INTO GWENDOLYN!!!

 

[choro72]

Elegant, wooo, it must feel good to be typing out pages!

Gwen, sorry for confusing you about the "background" that I need to do. Basically, I need to write the basic groundwork of my thesis. The heart of my thesis depends on this programming that I need to get done, but I also need to write down the basic principles, ideas, and history of the topic. Since this part doesn''t depend on my programming, whenever my experiment (programming) comes to a halt I start writing the "background" part, just to get it out of the way. It consists of the history of Gamma Ray astronomy, past projects, current missions, our scientific goals, our long term goals, what I''ve done so far...things like that. I just call it background.

Anyway, I''ll have firecrackers and cakes ready for you on Friday!!

 

[choro72]

Delster, I''m so glad that I found someone that understands!!!! I have an idea on how helpful your FI is...I''m telling my FI that other than my family, when my time comes I need to dedicate my degree to him as well

How do you deal with your supervisor? You are handling the threats much better than I did. When I was going through hell with my previous supervisor, I was so scared and stressed out that I couldn''t focus on my work at all. I guess the difference was that mine was actually a Chancellor so she could do whatever the heck she wanted. After this is all done, I''m thinking of letting folks know and see if I can get her into trouble

If I read your message properly, do you have problems with your paychecks? I''ve had a few summers when my adviser didn''t know how to get the paperwork through, (and she was the chancellor for crying out loud!!!!), and I had to dip into my savings for two months. Thank goodness that I have savings...

I''ve stopped talking to my family about my degree too. They always ask me when I''m going to be done, and I just say never. I get depressed when my friends from previous schools contact me to catch up. They all have real jobs, real paychecks, and I seriously wonder if what I''m doing is really worth it. I hate that I''m almost 28 but I only buy chicken that''s under 90 cents/lbs, and I can''t afford to buy a tonneau cover for my car.

I would love to join this group for cheering, and I will love to cry with you too. Better than crying alone in my office staring at my laptop...
Thank you so much for responding to me. I hope that we can finish soon and get the heck out of here.

 

[gwendolyn]

Hahah, Delster, you are too cute, darlin'! It's ok, save the big big celebrations for when that bad boy is all bound and turned in! I'm going to post pictures too, I think, because I'm a dork like that and am just SO EXCITED!!!

Oh, and you don't want to turn into me, you loony--you're fabulous just as you are!

choro, OH! That makes perfect sense! I'm sure if I knew a bit more about the research world I would've already known that that's what you were talking about but I've basically just had this crash course degree where some areas of my knowledge are still severely lacking. It sounds absolutely fascinating, especially the history of Gamma Ray astronomy and long term goals (makes me curious what they are!). Do you find that you've become over-saturated with it, since you've been working on it for a while, or do you go through waves of it where you get excited about your topic again?

How's everyone else doing? AmberG, pjean, Elegant, iwanna, katamari, WishfulThinking? Where's everyone gone?

ETA: Just wanted to share something dumb with y'all. For the longest time, I thought the word was actually "disrotation," not "dissertation." I always wondered how they came up with such a word, because there was no rotating anything as far as I could tell.

 

[gwendolyn]

...ugh, today was awful. Horrible, terrible, miserable. I literally have stared at my computer for 10 hours and got almost NOTHING done. I am still not finished. I am on the last page. THE LAST PAGE. And I just can''t make the change I need to. I am supposed to insert something with "critical thinking" in it. Um, sorry, none of that left!

 

[Elegant]

YAY!!! You are on the last page! That is awesome!

You need to give yourself a break - it is hard to think when you've been sitting there for hours. Get up, watch some non-critical thinking tv or take a walk outside, go out to dinner, or something and separate yourself from "the beast."

You have progressed much more than I have. I have hardly touched my paper - I really get demotivated with the darn thing. Plus my eyes have been getting tired and I just feel drained! I just started a new section in my lit review and everytime I do, my brain resists and I just stop. I have also been looking for work. Monday I printed out job paperwork and dropped a lot of that paper work off to the school districts in strange towns that I have never been to. Today my eyes are tired and it is hard to type when they are tired.

I pretty much feel like a failure because I can't get my lazy procrastinating butt in gear. I am ashamed of myself and just wish I was different. I do this every single time I write papers...every single time. I wait, wait, and wait some more. Ugh. I want to cry. It sucks. I suck. Now I sound like a pitty party...frick!

Disrotation, huh? That's pretty funny! I like that!

Good job gwendolyn! You should be VERY proud of yourself! Very proud!

 

[gwendolyn]

Thanks, Elegant, you''re very sweet.

Today is not a miserable day like yesterday was. I''ve done my paperwork, my table of contents (which took an hour! bloody long paper), added something to the intro and am just about done with the last page (have been writing some stuff finally, yay! just have to wrap it up). After that, I just have to go through and check that my reference list is up to date and then I am ready to PRINT.

How''s everyone else doing? Why do I feel like this thread has tumbleweed blowing through it at the mo''?

 

[Delster]

Choro I'm glad to have been of some help! Sometimes it's just good to know you're not alone. I rang another one of supervisor's students yesterday just for a chat and thank goodness they seem to be experiencing the same thing as I am. Supervisor kind of has favourites and we two are not in the 'club'

Anyway as for dealing with the dramatics, I pretty much just ignore the whole shebang. I stick to my standard line of 'OK/that's awful, but now can we talk about my chapter?' I'm not sure there's anything else I can do. For a lot of reasons I don't want to go into on a public forum, I dilly-dallyed about asking for a switch and at this point it's too late in the game. We'll muddle along best we can!

About the paycheck, I get annual payments out of which I have to pay my fees and then I have to survive on the remainder for a year. The earliest I have ever received a payment is about three months after it was due. The current one is ten months late. I received the last one eight months before that. So it's eighteen months since I've seen any money. Good job I was a great saver back when I was working or I'd be completely destitute by now! But definitely no luxuries for me for the last few years (other than one pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes that I set the money aside for way back when, and I got them at almost $300 off in NY, so they cost about a third of what they'd cost in Ireland!). We'll hang in there together, eh?

Gwen, I think it should be called a disrotation. Sounds painful. Hence sounds appropriate!

Don't beat yourself up about your critical thinking passage, it will come, I promise. Clear your head and give yourself some space and it'll just fall in your lap. I have every faith in you!!! Look how close you are, yay!!!

I can't wait to see pictures of the final bound item. I think maybe that should become a thesis-tacklers' thread rite of passage - a photo of the finished article at the end

It'd be excellent motivation for the rest of us too

Elegant I've been there too. I know this will sound futile, but please, try and be gentle with yourself. It's a long road and academic research is so bound up with your sense of personal identity, it's all too easy to interpret a slow day (or week, or year) as meaning you are worthless. You need to guard your self-esteem like a rottweiler. Watch that internal dialogue and focus on building yourself up instead of tearing yourself down. When I find it particularly bad I do something a bit wacky that seems to help: I keep a journal and I write a positive message to myself every night. Things like 'I will be strong!' and 'I can do this!' and 'I am thesis wonder-woman!'

Well, OK, I haven't actually written the wonder-woman one yet but that might be tonight's entry!

So for me, I never did finish my 'chick lit' book. I tried to read it on the plane but I got distracted by something very sparkly on my left hand

So that's on the cards for today. I arrived up yesterday to my wee office to discover FI had removed all the little messages on my notice board and replaced them with 'future wife' and a smiley face

He'd also taken down my calendar with all my missed deadlines all over it because he thought it was making me depressed and sending me backwards. So yesterday I did up a one page set of goals and I plan to tick them off as I go. No invididual deadlines for the goals, just lots of ticks!

Divide and conquer!

 

[WishfulThinking]

Welcome, Terry!

I am glad to hear that everyone is still alive and kickin'', even if we''re not totally up to the schedules that our [marginally unreasonable at times?] advisors and overly self-critical selves have put forth... I know I''m not.

Elegant- YAY that you''re getting your lit review done! To hell with deadlines! [Um, yeah... I wish?] You''re making excellent progress, and that is most important.

Gwen- You''re almost done!! I will save the big emote fest for when you post pictures of your glorious final product, but I am cheering for you all the way.

Deslter- So sorry to hear about the trouble with your funding and the late payments. What a huge drag. Your FI sounds like a real doll, though- so supportive and sweet! It must be so hard to muddle through with an unsupportive advisor, although I can relate to that a bit, and I''m sure I''ll relate even more when I switch from my current awesome advisor to one who isn''t so keen on me.

Choro- Your area of study sounds SO interesting to me! I''m "science challenged" and probably wouldn''t understand any of it, though.

I am also going to be working on a "background" section that I usually just call "history and evolution" of my topic. It''s sort of boring, but very concrete and straightforward. No real analysis... just an account of events. I know you''re having a hard time, and it really makes me sad to hear you so disappointed and unsure of yourself. YOU ARE GREAT. If you were a dummy you wouldn''t even be where you are to begin with. You have made it so far already and faced so many obstacles. You can totally do this! We will practice positive thinking together.


On my end it''s been rough. Still. I told you I needed some positive thinking...
It''s not the thesis itself that is overly troubling. I made an outline and sort of put some research together for background/history and for the lit review. Those things are relatively straightforward and totally unoriginal, which is boring, but manageable and less scary than original work. Typical undergrad hangups, I suppose. I am really used to writing research papers and citing other people, so I guess I''m good at that uncreative stuff already. Then again, even saying that makes me doubt my ability to produce anything analytical and original.

Right now my BIGGEST concern is that my thesis is miscategorized. That scares me more than anything potentially could. It''s in the Gender Studies dept. right now, which is awesome because I adore the department and the people in it, even if I don''t love my permanent advisor that much. The topic area really straddles both Gender Studies and my other major, which is Political Science. Unfortunately, I have to pick a department to work in, and I thought Gender Studies, being very interdisciplinary, might be a better match for it. I still basically think this. I also had a hell of a hard time finding anyone supportive in Politics who would advise me, due basically to people going on sabbatical and the insane overturn of that department at my college. So I found an advisor in Gender Studies, even if I am not so keen on her. Gender Studies it is.

However, I don''t know if she will "buy" my thesis as being appropriate for the department. When it comes down to it, it''s basically a political theory thesis. It touches on Gender Studies issues, but it''s THEORY... and not Feminist/Queer/Gender Studies or even Race theory. Pretty pure political theory and sort of political philosophy. I don''t know if she''ll accept my topic for approval. Nevermind that the only place I''ve studied Foucault is in the Gender Studies department, and since I''m drawing mainly on him, it SHOULD be fine. But she is weird, and Politics is weird, and all in all I am sort of worried about it exploding on me. It doesn''t help that my CURRENT advisor is actually a cross-referenced prof who teaches in both departments, but is a PhD student in political theory.

Working closely with her is great, since she is very knowledgeable about my topic and very helpful, but it might not be helping my chances of getting the Gender Studies department to accept me.

Not to go on and on and on, but there is the additional problem that my second reader [I am supposed to have three primary faculty members: chair, 2nd reader, and 3rd reader] is TWO different profs, each involved for the one semester that they will be at my college. UGH. And BOTH of them are crosslisted between Political Science and Gender Studies. One of them is my current summer advisor. She thinks the thesis is fine for either department. The other thinks it should be a Politics thesis, and unfortunately she is working with me in the fall, while the other prof is working with me in the spring. I might have to battle with people about this. The confusion is compounded by the fact that Gender Studies, being a newer department, has never had a thesis submitted before, and the chair [who is the chair of my thesis as well] doesn''t seem dedicated to producing one. While Politics does produce theses, it is very uncommon, and the department is sort of scary and hostile to work with.

I hate this. I feel confused and kind of lost and annoyed because if I was a student in another discipline this would be SO much easier. For some reason the social sciences at my school have issues with theses. The sciences crank them out like you wouldn''t believe.

Anyways, I''ve probably lost and/or bored you all with that, so I will wrap up here.
That was actually sort of therapeutic.

I''m off to organize the stuff I need to turn in by the 15th to complete the formal summer portion of my study! I''ll be working on it all summer, but I only get credit for the first part.

Good luck, everyone!

 

[gwendolyn]

I am about to head out for a walk, but I just wanted to pop in to tell you guys that I am TOTALLY DONE WRITING! All I have left is to print and bind tomorrow! WOOOOOOO!!!!

Ok, I hope you are all feeling good and getting stuff done. Will be back to do a more useful post later. Just wanted to share my excitement!

 

[WishfulThinking]

YAYAYAYAYAY!

Pictures or it never happened.
[Congrats!]

 

[dockman3]

Gwen- Congratulations!!! That''s awesome! I bet it feels good.....


Ok. I know I haven''t been on this thread in about a week, but I need a serious smack down to get back to work. By adviser has been essentially out of town for the better part of 3 weeks now. He was gone for a week then back for two days, then gone for a week, back for one day, then gone again and he''ll be back on Monday now. I haven''t really talked to him in three weeks, just to say hi and this a quick summary of what I"m doing. But since he''s gone, I''ve got no one telling me I need to get work done, and because of that, I haven''t! I feel like I haven''t done a thing and I really need to since he''ll be back on Monday and will want to know what I''ve been up to for three weeks. How do you motivate yourself when your adviser is out of town, its the summer, and the weather is gorgeous? Its soooo hard. Anyway, that''s my little rant for now. I''m going to try to get some work done. Thanks, and I''ll try to check in to this thread more often!

 

[Delster]

Date: 7/10/2008 10:33:04 AM
Author: dockman3
Gwen- Congratulations!!! That's awesome! I bet it feels good.....


Ok. I know I haven't been on this thread in about a week, but I need a serious smack down to get back to work. By adviser has been essentially out of town for the better part of 3 weeks now. He was gone for a week then back for two days, then gone for a week, back for one day, then gone again and he'll be back on Monday now. I haven't really talked to him in three weeks, just to say hi and this a quick summary of what I'm doing. But since he's gone, I've got no one telling me I need to get work done, and because of that, I haven't! I feel like I haven't done a thing and I really need to since he'll be back on Monday and will want to know what I've been up to for three weeks. How do you motivate yourself when your adviser is out of town, its the summer, and the weather is gorgeous? Its soooo hard. Anyway, that's my little rant for now. I'm going to try to get some work done. Thanks, and I'll try to check in to this thread more often!

Ha! When you find out, fill me in, yeah? My supervisor's been gone for a YEAR. At least I'm not battling the gorgeous weather. It's been raining cats and dogs in Ireland all week

Gwen, darling, how goes the printing??? Oh my God I am SO PROUD OF YOU!!!!

 

[dockman3]

Oh man, a YEAR!!! That''s a long time. I don''t think I could do that. I''d go nuts. Ok, I''m really goign to work now. I promise!

 

[gwendolyn]

(Sorry about the lack of letter ''eye''s--my laptop 1s broken so 1 have to use the number one 1nstead!)

Thank you so much, everyone, for all your encouragement and celebrat1ons!!!!!! Just wanted to report that 1t 1s fully DONE!!!!! YAY!!!

(haha 1 am such a dork to clap for myself but am just so HAPPY!!!!!)

1 made up a photo story about 1t here so 1 wouldn''t spam up th1s lovely support thread, hehe: Thread!

1 w1ll be st1ck1ng around to cheer the rest of you on, but wanted to share my happ1ness w1th you. Thank you for all your support!!

 

[katamari]

First off, hooray to Gwen! What an accomplishment! We need to all look to her for inspiration.

Elegant and Choro, glad to hear that the summer is also being productive for you.

WishfulThinking: What about a Soc reader? We

theory AND Foucault! At my school we have a bigger department, but there are plenty faculty in Soc that specialize in gender and sexuality social movements (which is very much political). You could always go to Philosophy, too. Are you trying to get a BA or a BS? Philosophy wouldn''t work for a BS, but if you can find a more informed reader, it might be worth it. Plus, from observations of my friends'' experiences, the process might be more difficult with people outside of your area on your committee, but the defense will be much easier.

Like Dockman and Delster, I have had a case of "when the advisor is away, the advisee will do anything but write". But, I did get an okay from my advisor for my outline for the first paper I hope to submit this summer. I have been writing that this week and am almost done with the newest revised draft. I am also double checking the models for the second paper and will be outlining it this weekend! I figure this is good progress, but next week I am going to have even better progress. Promise!

 

[Elegant]

Congrats gwendolyn! You should be VERY proud of yourself.

Thanks to all of you who have been encouraging and supportive of me. I''ve been trying but I spoke to my dissertation and I think I am going to have to extend my dissertation deadline until Spring 2009. I so wanted to finish by the end of this year, but I have too much to juggle right now and I am feeling so overwhelmed. I am going to try to finish by December, but reality check for me is probably Spring 09. That''s the problem, I set my own deadlines and can finish this thing in several years f I chose to, but I don''t want to do that. Unfortunately timing was off and looking for another job was priority. This stinks. Grrr...And I think my bf has sleep apnea, so I can''t sleep at all and that''s why I have been feeling so drained and my eyes have been feeling tired - I haven''t gotten any good amount of sleep. I have to take three hour naps in the afternoon because my body is trying to catch up on sleep...thanks bf! Agh.

I''ll still try to push, but...

Delster, you are right, I do need to keep a more positive internal dialogue - that is something that has always been hard for me. I second guess myself all of the time. I''ll have to attempt the journal. Thank you! You know, I like the divide and conquer. I will have to do that! Thanks for the suggestions!

WishfulThinking - Yeah, to heck with deadlines! I was making excellent progress, but I just ended up stopping. I do think I will try the check off list that Delster suggested though, seems easy enough and I need structure, not a deadline!

dockman3 - What is your plan of action? I have had a problem with motivation since forever. The deadline date was always my motivation, and 50-100 page papers that I had a month to do were basically done in 1.5 weeks because I had to feel the fire under my behind to feel motivated to get working on it. Do you have a deadline? I have no deadline and it is a self-made deadline, which essentially means nothing to me. Every semester that goes by I pay up money...maybe when I get tired of handing over money for me not doing any work, maybe then I''ll get more motivated? Where are you going to start? Plan of action...that''s what is needed! In December it will be one year that I have spent on my dissertation...now I have to extend it to next year...not fun...

katamari - Good job!!! I am so happy to hear that you ave been working so hard on your paper!

Wow, I am jealous! Keep it up!