The summer is fast approaching! Although, many of my friends and fellow grad students are preparing to go on to an industry (or research lab) summer internship, where they can gain professional experience, as well as earn some extra money, my summer plans are quite straightforward: I will be alternating between preparing for my Qualifying exams and working on my research projects. It will not be until after the quals that I will have time to enjoy Bloomington’s weather, as well as visit nearby cities and go to some baseball games.
Tag Archives: summer
Closing out the first year
One more test. That’s it. One more exam and I can conclude my first year as a doctoral student at IU. This has been far the most challenging semester of my graduate experience. My doctoral classes have literally forced me to think outside of the box and challenge myself to take charge of my learning. Throughout this year, I do believe I have a greater understanding of the higher education as a field of study and what is required to be a successful contributor through research and practice. Statistics has been the most challenging class of my entire collegiate career. (haha..) There have been days when I have questioned if challenging myself to grasp quantitative analysis is really worth the stretching of my brain. As as a lover of qualitative research, I chose statistics this semester as a way for me to expand my ability to be effective in future research. I think that I have achieved a wonderful appreciation for the impact of quantitative analysis in my field. What I will be taking away from this statistics experience, is a new challenge to take harder classes. I do not want to continue just to take classes and conduct research in the areas I am most comfortable with. Rather, I look forward to taking boundaries away from the preconceived notions of where I have thought my research topics should be. Reflecting over the past 18 credits of this year, I made the right choice in coming to IU. Professionally, I can acknowledge the qualities that I bring to my job and what I am able to offer the students I work with. Academically, I can’t wait to start an independent research project this summer!! And, I do believe that it will be quantitative. The next few years will continue to be more challenging, but I find comfort in my support system at IU. There are endless opportunities to succeed at this university, I am very blessed to be here.
On procrastination…
The semester is ending in two weeks. [Insert surprised exclamation of choice here such as "Egad!", "Wha?" or "Whoa!"] Point being that I have a final paper, a manuscript revision, data analyses, and TA duties looming in the next few weeks. Some of you might be thinking, “Pssshh! That’s nothing!” And I am almost inclined to agree with you.
I say almost because I have a serious obstacle in my path. Something that makes the hill-ish pile of work ahead appear to be more akin to a mountain. Not quite Mt. Everest, but definitely up there. So what is this obstacle? It’s a game that some of you might know as Bejewelled Blitz. It’s a fairly popular game on Facebook. According to their Facebook page, there are currently 11,463,184 monthly active users. Sadly, I am one of them. Every Tuesday, when the weekly scores have been cleared, my need to establish an ever higher high score manifests itself. Scratch that. It’s a compulsion at this point. I have to play, and keep playing, till I have a high score that I can be satisfied with. Sigh.
So the next few weeks are going to be tough. Not only do I have a lot of work to do, but I also have to find a way to beat the game quickly enough each week that I will actually have the time to get the work done! So yeah. Egad! However, after five years in graduate school, I have a few tricks up my sleeve such as restricting my access to the internet, going to my favorite spot to work, and imagining how great the summer will be after all the work is completed. But in the meantime I still have some time, right? Enough to play just one game? 