“With me, a change of trouble is as good as a vacation.” — David Lloyd George
I've been pretty quiet for the last few weeks, because I was immersed in writing the first and second chapters of my dissertation, the introduction and the review of the literature. I was also taking the Proposal Preparation course at the same time. All this together took an awful lot of time, and the bottom line was that when I would get the chance to write it would either be for my lit review or it would be a blog entry. Sorry, dear readers, but I had to look out for number one.
The reason I didn't have a minute to spare is that the way things with in this program, we have ten weeks to write both chapters. This is a tough row to hoe. I've mentioned the first chapter, I was able to finish that in about the first half of the term. The second chapter I finished last night. Now they both go to my committee, which will probably cover them in red pen and send them back for revision. I'm especially expecting this for my literature review, because I know it's too short, and I know there are areas where it could use more elaboration. And if I see them, my committee will definitely see them. There will also probably be points that I didn't cover where they want to see some review. So when their responses come in, once again I will have a lot to do.
In the meantime, however, I can go back to getting the work and family parts of my life back into balance. It's as good as a vacation!
As an important additional note, I'd like to thank Dr. Mac, who was unflaggingly encouraging, especially when I was getting pretty frazzled about finishing even the sort of draft that I did ultimately turn in. There are programs out there where the faculty try to run students through the gauntlet so that only the strongest survive. This program definitely isn't one of them, and I appreciate it!
Next up, an update on those summer courses.