What a semester! Everyone is exhausted. With everything that has happened at NIU, both the university as a whole and the regular bumps within the department and the division, I can finally see not only the end of the semester, but the end of the first half of this PhD adventure. I have my oral exam scheduled for Friday (which in itself took a good amount of time. The exam started at the beginning of February). Once that is completed, course work and the comprehensive exams are done, and I will be ABD (All But Dissertation).
I have turned down the offer to teach next year in order to get the dissertation done. My goal is to be working by the fall of 2009, so George and I will be on the market in the fall. I am hoping to have a good amount of the research done by then so I am ready to at least present the idea in a sound way. However, this next month will be busy. I still have finals to administer and grade (and I give essay finals, so this is going to take some time), I have to get ready for my oral exam on Friday, George and I are getting married in June back east, and I am teaching a new prep this summer. Once that is done, I am moving to South Bend in August. After that, life will slow down enough for me to work on the dissertation full-time, and I am looking forward to it.
On the up side – spring has sprung! While it is raining today, the flowers will be in full bloom when it is done 🙂 – both literally and metaphorically!
Georgette's musings 