Get a PhD

I have been procrastinating on this goal for nearly a year. I have made very little progress, and yet I keep paying the school money. It’s time to make this a higher priority and get this goal completed.

If I worked very diligently at this goal, I would have a good chance of finishing by the end of January. That would be a wonderful way to start 2009 – with this goal completed and my life my own again.

So – do I hear cheers for January 2009 as my completion date?

It was a tough 6 weeks, not because of the comp but because work was intense and I didn’t budget my time efficiently. But I worked very hard the last 2 weeks and turned in my comps. I didn’t hear anything for over a week, and I was figuriing that I would have to rewrite a couple of questions. Then – email that said I passed! It was like a dream… I passed!!! Yeah.

I have 6 weeks to finish my comps and be finished with this phase of my degree. I am looking forward to getting thru this part… Time to get writing.

I had a conference call I needed to attend and for some unknown reason the phone I used yesterday didn’t wrok. That caused me a lot of stress. There was another call this morning and I got through and participated.

Now I have a much better understanding of the next step in my journey! It’s not as bad as I had been making it out to be. :) I will start my comps the last week of April. That gives me 10 days to get the house in order for the next big push.

I will be SO glad when this is over!

Many years ago, I was in a M.A. program where I completed all the coursework and then never completed my comps to get my degree. I kicked myself for years over not completing that degree after spending all the time and money working on it. And yet, I am now in a similar position with this Ph.D. I need to ask myself why I am willing to throw away all that work. What am I afraid of? Do I really think that I haven’t learned anything after taking my courses? Am I really afraid that I can’t write well enough to finish my degree? No. Am I just lazy? I don’t think so. OK, then what is keeping me from finishing my degree?

I’ll regret not completing this…

My last entry was January and I didn’t finish the course. Now I HAVE to finish it during the next few weeks. Why oh why do I put things off as long as possible? I’ve done all the work up to this point and now I have hit a wall. I need some motivation to get me through the last part of this degree.

and this time I can’t mess around. I wasted last quarter and now I HAVE to finish my course this quarter. No more ignoring school work to socialize. I need to get my comps completed so I can move on and complete this goal. I am so close and I need to dig deep down and find the motivation to get this goal completed. I have spent too much money, and too much time, to stop working towards this now.

And I am really having trouble getting motivated. This is week 2, and while I have kept up on my work, I am not getting the articles organized that I’ll need. Come on Susan! You’ve invested a lot of time and money working towards this goal. Don’t give up now…

I attended the last one and now it’s on to comps. My checklist is halfway complete! I need to focus on getting organized for comps and working on my dissertation.

The first part of this journey is over as I have completed my 12 required courses! Time to celebrate and enjoy life for a while before I start Phase 2 – comps and my dissertation. I think it is appropriate that I finished in time for Independece Day. :)

It’s a happy day in the house – I can watch t.v. and not feel guilty. Even the cats are happy as I now can play with them instead of chasing them away when I am on the computer.

Let’s hear it for progress!