Graduation Day

Last night was graduation and it was great.  My whole family was here along with aunt betty, and the Latu/Berg family.  The ceremony was fairly short - only one speech and a few awards. It sure was nice to walk across the stage and get my fake award (it's only fake until they send me the real one!).  I can't believe it really is all over.  I can't believe that it has been three years already.  I can't believe that I really have a Master's degree now.  I think the hardest part was doing all of this without my dad who is the one that always wanted me to go back to school.  He's been gone for over 4 years now, but this is the first big event of my life without him and it was emotional for me.  But I do believe that he was there in some capacity and I know he is proud of me.  I am grateful to have family and friends that drive through rain and traffic for hours to sit in uncomfortable stadium seats for waaaay too long only to cheer for 30 seconds as they call my name.  And I am grateful for family and friends that support and encourage me long distance.  I felt all your love and well wishes.  I could not have been happier last night.  

confessions.....

They say confession is good for the soul, so there are a few secrets that I feel I need to share..... 1- I have a new addiction to the Madonna/Justin Timberlake song '4 Minutes'.  I know - JT? - but it is awesome.  2- sometimes I cheat at online scrabble. 3- I may have quoted lyrics from a Poison song in one of my comp exams (who said metal bands had no value?) 4- I am addicted to Iced Chai... it's my new diet coke (don't judge me). 5- I am brushing up on all the words to Ice Ice Baby just for fun. 6- I really want to be skinny, but I really don't want to stop eating. 7- I am almost as excited to have figured out how to add music to my blog as I am to graduate! 8- I watch a lot of TV and that doesn't make me less of a person. 9- I realized that, in being the one in charge of planning my high school reunion, I really do like being boss lady.  :-)

So there you have it.  A few of my confessions.  I do, in fact, feel much better.  Life is great right now because I am in that place where I don't have to worry about school anymore and I don't feel the need to worry about a job yet - not until after graduation.  So I feel light and airy.  I think I will go watch TV (and probably eat something).

Officially done now

The bad news is that the oral defense last night was brutal.  I was shaking, sweating, and stumbling over just about everything.  I felt like I answered nothing correctly and seriously thought I might not pass.  But, the good news is that I did pass!!  So now I am officially done with graduate school and officially have a Master's Degree in Political Science.  WooooooHoooooo!  It does feel so good.  Now I just need to find a job...................... stay tuned.

Racing Day.....

I spent the weekend with my sis and new nephews, so we watched a lot of Backyardigans.  Gotta say, I really love that show.  Race Around the World was one of the episodes and the song goes something like, "It's racing day, it's racing day, it's not picture tracing day.  It's racing day, it's racing day, it's not sausage casing day.  It's..... etc. etc."  So this morning I woke up singing to myself "It's racing day, it's racing day, it's not exam failing day.  It's racing day, it's racing day, it's not self-effacing day.  It's racing day, it's racing day, it's not procrastination day."  Needless to say, today is my oral defense for the comp exams where the professors ask me detailed questions about what I did and did not include in my papers.  This is the final step to graduation.  I will update tomorrow on how it turns out.  But, for now, "It's racing day, it's racing day, it's not waste time on the computer day."  ;-)

It's OVER!...... so happy.

I finished my exams!!  And I am getting better from the strep and the amoxicillin.  Life is pretty good today.  Now I just need a shower and some sleep.  ;-)  The next step for the MA is to have an oral defense of these exams where they get to ask questions, clarifications, rip me apart, whatever.  I have a chance to explain, articulate, and add things I may have missed.  I think I will really need to do well in the defense in order to make up for the sub-par papers I just wrote.  So I guess it's not over just yet... the oral defense is Tuesday, 29th at 3:30.  But for today, I feel relieved.  Thanks for everyone's support.  It meant so much to me.

Exam update

Due to officially having strep throat and then a not so fun reaction to the antibiotics, I have blown past the 3pm deadline.  Technically, I have until 9am tomorrow morning to be within the exam rules, so all three professors said I could email my papers to them since I don't have a key to the department office anymore.  They even graciously offered to give me until the end of Saturday.  I have emailed one paper already and hope to finish the second by morning.  Then I will need the extra time for only the third, which makes me feel not so much like I'm cheating.  

I also found out that this isn't necessarily an all-or-nothing thing.  I can pass or fail the individual subjects separately from each other.  That means I only need to retake an exam for the subjects I don't pass rather than doing all three over again.  I certainly don't intend to fail any, but it is a nice comfort to me in this moment.  

I am off to the store to get some dinner and toilet paper.  I am down to 1/2 roll and with these side effects of amoxicillin, that is not gonna do it..... eeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwww............

Here We Go......

*UPDATE* It is now Thursday, 1pm.  I am freaking out a little.  But I am also hungry, so I have showered and am venturing out to obtain lunch.  I will probably break until after GH and then head up to the library for the night (although, not another all-nighter).  As for the progress, I have outlined two of the three and made notecards for the parts of the books I want to use.  I think I will try to actually write these two before even starting on the outline of the third.... I need to feel a sense of accomplishment so that I believe I can actually do this in the time left. So, how quickly can I write 18-20 pages?  Well, that is a good question.  Stay tuned.............

Okay, the moment we've all been waiting for is finally here.  Well, at least the moment I've been waiting for.  I start my comp exams today.  I picked up 3 questions (from 3 fields of study and, consequently, 3 different professors over the past 3 years) and I have 3 days to write about 30 pages.  If I actually pass, I think 3 will be become my new lucky number!  

I don't want to rewrite the questions here, but one has to do with globalization/neoliberalism, one is on Palestinian/Jewish/Arab nationalism, and the last is about International law/human rights issues.  I am starting today with outlines and books that I want to use and then tomorrow start writing.  I turn them all in Friday at 3pm.  I hope to be very, very happy at 3:01pm.  

I'll update tomorrow on my progress.