Mahy is studying all the time:)
Day 5 & 6
1 month ago
Not much to say :(((
How to finish my masters
It made me
mature. 
"It was...really inexplicable and certainly unsummarizable."
How I did it: Well, sort of like everyone else I know these days (I'm not sure what that means as far as my social life goes), I took the GRE and my subject GRE in the early fall (of 2006), applied in December and January, was constantly terrified/happy/sad/nervous/sulky/plagued by bizarre highly symbolic nightmares about evil Russian dolls, homicidal zombie corpse-things trying to choke me in my bathroom and being chased by red tornadoes until the Spring, was elated/ depressed/elated/annoyed/terrified, accepted what seemed to be the best offer, was congratulated by all my friends/all my parents friends/many people I didn't and still don't really even know, then moved away and got my hindquarters handed to me in that first year.
Me: "You mean I'm not god's gift to the universe?"
Grad School: "Nope."
Me:"Oh! Well, I enjoyed that illusion while it lasted."
Then...I, uh, sort of decided to survive it, come hell or high water, MA and then Ph.D. or bust...and I've made it so far. Though I cannot say that it's always been gravy, it has been incredibly, unimaginably rewarding. And terrifying.
PS: I'm in liberal arts.
Lessons & tips: Hang on. Even when you feel ashamed, embarrassed, frustrated or just plain stupid. I think that that's the way to finish (at least the MA, also the PhD, so far).
You (yes, you) have to answer for yourself, as far as your concerns go about the whole thing being worth it. Translated into truisms: To thine own self be true, and in grad school time really is money, so don't be lazy.
Resources: Anti-recommendation: Attn lit students: The Princeton Review GRE Literature did not help me. Start reading your Nortons (at least the author profiles and a representative work or three for each) WAY ahead of time. Oh, and take a wide variety of lit classes while you can.
Ph.D. Comics got me through some tough times. Although I don't really follow it so much anymore, Jorge Cham is a pro at addressing those nagging anxieties. If you or someone you know would like an entire host of these anxieties, you're in luck! Grad school is just the place to pick a few up. If that doesn't work, friends have also suggested parenthood.
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Entries
Mahy is studying all the time:)
Day 4
1 month ago
Yesterday I didn’t go to the gym, I almost haven’t spent any time with Ahmed all day, coz I kept working all the time. I wrote like 80% of the paper. Still adding the results. And I want to review the part about “Previous Work”. And here is the thing, the dead line of the conference has been postponed to June 1st, So I still have some time to review that paper as I wanted. I also downloaded the IEEE format for the papaer, And i think that organizing the paper will really take some time. Thank GOD for the extra time :)
Mahy is studying all the time:)
Day 3
1 month ago
I couldn’t do much yesterday. It was My cousin Omar’s little girl’s birthday. We had to go out early, get her a gift, then go to the party. So I really didn’t have enough time, but I made a TO DO list of the things I need to finish in order to send the paper today ISA. I hope I’ll make it all ISA
Mahy is studying all the time:)
Day 2
1 month ago
Yesterday, I kept on writing the paper. I still am. And I’m still working on the Matlab results for DBSCAN. I think I’ll keep working on both, the paper and the results, for today and tomorrow too iSA, till I send the paper Saturday night.
I also went to the gym finally, it’s been 5 days since I last went.
Mahy is studying all the time:)
DAY 1
1 month ago
Ok, Yesterday was my first day Back. I spent hours on the net of course, as It’s been a while since I last logged in. SO I emptied my inboxes, Checked my Facebook. And we had Lunch, Me And Ahmed, And I watched Grey’s Anatomy. The I had 3 hours of studying.
I’m working on the paper. I’ve started to revise it, continue the missing parts, and In parallel I’m working on Matlab to collect the results so that It would be included in the paper.
Mahy is studying all the time:)
Back
1 month ago
I’m back to working on the master’s. I need to set up a date for finishing so I can stick to it. I want to finish in July, which means I have like 2 months. I’ll try to finish in those 2 months.
I want to send a paper to a conference, the deadline is Saturday. So I have 4 days including today. I’ll do my best to send it. Then I’ll start writing the thesis, along with the unfinished work yet.
So today, Day1, I’ll start working on the paper.
Initial Progress
4 months ago
I’m working towards my Masters in Philosophy and have put about 1.5 semesters in to it so far. Here’s what I have left:
Take 4 more philosophy classes, plus logic (and I think I’m gonna try to squeeze more Greek in there too)
Write my Qualifying Paper
Oral Exam consisting of a defense of five separate theses
I’m working on the initial research for my qualifying paper, which will also be one of my five theses (gotta love department-approved double dipping). My topic is still somewhat nebulous, but I know that it will involve Immanuel Kant’s Transcendental Aesthetic. Right now I’m looking at working William James’ Will to Believe essay in there somehow.
I’ll add more entries as I progress.
Untitled
4 months ago
woohoo! im done! my diploma came in the mail a few days ago & the ceremony is in May. i am officially a “master of science in computer engineering”
... of course, now i’m going for my Ph.D. so i’m still in school & it doesn’t really feeeeel like i’ve finished anything… but the classes i took/am taking in grad school are by far the most interesting ive ever taken. it’s like all undergrad work was just building up to this…
still plodding along...
6 months ago
I feel like I’m getting there… slowly slowly! My supervisor is encouraging about how much progress I have made in the past 6 months. But now she’s moving interstate and will have to supervise via distance. A bit frightening for me. And strangely I might buy her house!!!
