Well, here we are at the end of yet another year, and it is quite exciting as I take a look at the 2012 year in review and look forward to 2013! Sure there have been some high highs and low lows, but still I stand with love in my heart and an eagerness to continue learning and growing...and a quest for more adventures/events/experiences.
So let's see...2012 has brought repayment of a debt from years past, which also signifies keeping that past experience in the past where it belongs; an additional faculty role at work, which supplements my current teaching/supervising role and is good for professional development; reunion of my immediate family and togetherness even in the midst of some extraordinary hardships that have confronted the family, but still we stand strong; rebuilding relationships with loved ones and beginning new ones as well; a new car for my hubby and me; an offer to join a conference committee at the prestigious Northwestern University to which I certainly accepted and will begin in 2013; offered to lead a field placement in Brazil (details to be announced); did more of my love of travel, both domestically and internationally; and of course, drum roll please...adding those 3 little big letters after my name, PhD, with an extravagant celebration on the water!!! This road to PhD has been epic, but not always peaches and cream, and the next step is to publish my dissertation, which is currently in the works as well as some articles I'm writing to have published.
These are just some of the highlights in 2012 and I definitely think that 2013 will be even bigger. For the New Year's celebration this year (tonight), my hubby and I originally planned to go away for a vacation, but cancelled and decided on a mini stay-cation instead. We reserved a hotel room out of town and a restaurant for dinner to ring in the New Year. I'm so excited!! 2012 has been a blessing truly.
XOXOXO, Dr. Anne!!
Monday, December 31, 2012
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Next Exit coming up
Well, I have not written since the day before our wedding aniversary. SO much has transpired since. I had a HUGE party on the water (literally)-it was a private boat part at Navy Pier with some of my family and friends helping me celebrate. The party might have been a little premature, but well worth it and super fun. We all had a blast!! They even toasted (twice at that) without me in the circle to recieve the honor of the toast LOL. Who does that?! My family & friends, that's who. Our food and desserts were delicious...and abundant. There was cake to take home later, but for some Chicago law, we could not take home any of the food, unfortunately. We danced all night, partied hard, laughed harder, and had photos to capture the moments. I so want to do that again. Perhaps, a family cruise :).
There were some issues on this latter end of the road trip-On The Road To PhD, but I suppose it is inevitable. That was also part of the party being a little premature in August because I had already planned it in February since I expected to be finished in August. I accelerated my program so that I could complete it sooner, but some unfortunate things emerged. Certainly, I expected some drawbacks, but GEESH. Mostly, the IRB process and un-thorough guidance with a methodology consultant were the culprits, which I expressed concern about. Then, some limitations of my research emerged and I needed to extend it in order to answer my research questions and obtain deeper, more solid data. That part, I fought a little because I did not want to go through this process again, but as I thought about it (and knew subconsciously), I needed to extend the research, which would extend my time in the program, but would also strengthen my dissertation and future work in the field. SO, of course, I continued the research and had to wait on IRB approval again before doing so.
With that said, it is done! I am taking the next EXIT on the road! I had my dissertaton defense on December 6, 2012, just one day after what would have been my (paternal) grandmother's 82nd birthday! I NAILED IT-the defense. I almost ran out of time (15 minutes) though to discuss my over 200 pages of written work. My committee asked questions about my research, existing literature on the topic, my recommendations, thoughts, and so forth. We discussed this topic (contributing factors to sex trafficcking in the U.S. I explored the systemic side of the industry) and I had to defend my work. I'm not done yet though because I now have to wait for them to decide my fate :) and give me a final decision. Either I passed, or I need to make some more revisions, or did not pass. We're hoping for the first choice obviously where no new revisions are needed...
XOXOXO
There were some issues on this latter end of the road trip-On The Road To PhD, but I suppose it is inevitable. That was also part of the party being a little premature in August because I had already planned it in February since I expected to be finished in August. I accelerated my program so that I could complete it sooner, but some unfortunate things emerged. Certainly, I expected some drawbacks, but GEESH. Mostly, the IRB process and un-thorough guidance with a methodology consultant were the culprits, which I expressed concern about. Then, some limitations of my research emerged and I needed to extend it in order to answer my research questions and obtain deeper, more solid data. That part, I fought a little because I did not want to go through this process again, but as I thought about it (and knew subconsciously), I needed to extend the research, which would extend my time in the program, but would also strengthen my dissertation and future work in the field. SO, of course, I continued the research and had to wait on IRB approval again before doing so.
With that said, it is done! I am taking the next EXIT on the road! I had my dissertaton defense on December 6, 2012, just one day after what would have been my (paternal) grandmother's 82nd birthday! I NAILED IT-the defense. I almost ran out of time (15 minutes) though to discuss my over 200 pages of written work. My committee asked questions about my research, existing literature on the topic, my recommendations, thoughts, and so forth. We discussed this topic (contributing factors to sex trafficcking in the U.S. I explored the systemic side of the industry) and I had to defend my work. I'm not done yet though because I now have to wait for them to decide my fate :) and give me a final decision. Either I passed, or I need to make some more revisions, or did not pass. We're hoping for the first choice obviously where no new revisions are needed...
XOXOXO
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