Done ... Again

Finals are behind me. I wonder how many times I have said that? After all, I realize I am now in my ninth year of college. Hmmm.

This time, though, all that looms before me is an eight-hour comprehensive exam in May. Once I pass that, I begin the dissertation process.

I remember thinking a couple of different times during this program that I just wouldn’t make it. Sometimes I would sit down to write a 20+-page paper and contemplate becoming a drop out. (Just being honest.) Always, I continued on. My grades proved me wrong; I am capable.

For quite some time, a list of homework loomed before me. I completed project after project. I wrote paper after paper. Suddenly, I won’t have to think about homework.

I’ll miss parts of it. Not the tedious papers. But when you spend two and a half years with the same people, you begin to become close to them. Friends join in misery, after all.

My friend Mike agreed. In his most recent blog he noted, “While some assignments were daunting, some classes a waste of time, and some administrative changes a violation of rights; I know that all those experiences will soon be forgotten. Thoughts of the challenges associated with coursework will be replaced with the memories of evenings talking, laughing, giving and receiving encouragement, and celebrating with other members of the cohort. You’d be hard-pressed to find a member of the class who will not admit to learning more from the ‘students’ than the course itself.” (I use his comment without asking for his permission and after taking a law course that focused greatly on copyrights. Hmmm. Guess I’ll just use those press rights of saying that I quoted him and it will all be okay.)

I, too, will enjoy more time with my family, more opportunities to expend effort on less mind-straining activities. I guess I can go back to quilting, or fiddling, or possibly even spend more time with my ATV in the mud. Those new wheels and tires shouldn’t just be on there for the pretty factor. They need to be challenged. I think the boys will choose the last option, although they may find humor in my fiddling capabilities or lack thereof.

Yet, to think the work is done would be a moment of insanity. An eight-hour essay exam is something that will require much effort in the months preceding it. I must study as I never have before. The research that follows will be enjoyable, though the writing of a dissertation will be yet another challenge. I actually look forward to that part. (Remind me of this when I complain about it a year from now.)

In the meantime, I will celebrate this holiday season thrilled that I don’t have homework waiting to be done, and glad that I have made so many wonderful friends in the last two and a half years. They will be a blessing to me for many years to come.