Wrapping up that whole thesis thing

Having left any readers hanging at the point of my thesis being almost but not quite done, it seems appropriate to finish that thread off so far as it is actually finished . . .

Current status: thesis submitted to the library; awaiting library confirmation that they're done with it and have it in the database.

The drama before: Once upon a time there was a Deadline. A Deadline which, if met, would signify the end of tuition payment for me, at least for this particular degree (leaving open the possibility of still more education at some unknown time in the future). There were People helping me to meet the Deadline, but alas, the Deadline came and some key players were AWOL, leaving the Deadline unmet. BUT WAIT! The story wasn't over yet . . . the People helping talked to the AWOL folks once they got back and got them to pretend the Deadline had been met. Hooray for the nice People! The tuition I thought I might have needed to pay has been canceled, just in time for the money to be used to get new contacts for my husband, who had his last pair flushed down the drain by our two-year-old.

Thesis/Grad school saga in review, for what it's worth: It all started back around the beginning of 2004 (or late 2003) when the official plan said "kids" but there weren't any to be had. Graduation was coming up for my regular degree; what next? My husband suggested grad school, as we would still be living in our college town for at least another year, guaranteed. I hemmed and hawed and finally decided, quote, "that I'd feel bad about it later if I didn't at least apply when I had the chance." So, I got to work on the application, soliciting letters from some teachers with favorable opinions of me and figuring out where to take the GRE. The GRE was quite different from the ACT, in that the ACT was a major take-it-over-again-until-it's-worth-a-scholarship event, whereas the GRE turned out to be a rather rushed just-take-it-and-hope-it-works event. After a pointless bus ride to the U of U and other such adventures, I finally got it taken, and apparently it was enough, since I was admitted to grad school (thank you nice teachers for your nice letters).

So there it was, my acceptance letter to grad school. I planned to start right after graduation, as in RIGHT after, no summer vacation for me! And then, of course, we finally got a baby on the way. Go figure. Definitely a good thing, but interesting timing to say the least. The first term of grad school was a breeze, since there weren't any program classes available and I just took a religion class to say I was in school. The next term, on the other hand . . . let's just say that morning sickness and 8 a.m. classes are not a nice combination. Miraculously, I not only passed, but even got an A, and I found out later that it was a really good thing that I'd taken the class during the summer, since the workload only got nastier for that class in the fall.

Fall came, and there was only one class available for me, as I'd already taken the other program course offered then and all the other classes weren't offered until Winter. BUT . . . there was a class offered that was highly related to one of the required program classes, and so I figured it was worth a try to ask the department if I could substitute that class for one of the other classes. Thankfully, they agreed. That substituted class turned out to be the key to any chance I had of finishing my grad program (ever), but more on that in a bit.

Fall was all right, and then came Winter, a much busier semester with a baby due to arrive right smack in the middle of it. Fun. My teachers were understanding, thank goodness, but it was definitely an adventurous semester, to say the least, what with maternity leave in the middle of it and all. Once again, though, I survived (thank you nice professors). Not only that, but at that point I had taken all of the classes required for my program. There was still that thesis thing, though. Hmmm . . .

The thesis was an interesting issue on its own, but complicated a bit not only by the new baby, but also by the fact that we would be moving waaaay out of state that summer and probably be far, far away from Utah for the next 5 years at least, if not more, since someone else was getting ready to apply for med school starting in 2006. While in Seattle, I attempted to write a thesis long distance by knocking out a big long draft of one and hoping that someone would be willing to help me after seeing all that work I'd put into it. Nope. Not at all. Got a "nice" message back from one of the more interesting professors saying sorry, thanks for trying, too bad you can't finish grad school after all. Cheery.

Despite the letter, the fact remained that my credits had not expired and that I was still technically eligible to return to grad school and finish by writing a thesis. My husband pestered me about it for a few years, but I resisted. The school didn't seem any different than it had when I got the rejection letter, so why bother? However, a few kids later, lo and behold, the school changed! Someone retired, and the visiting teacher who'd taught that class I got substituted was now a regular faculty member! So, with a baby on the way, I started inquiring about whether she'd be willing/interested in helping me do a thesis long distance. She talked with the department, and they all somehow decided to go ahead and give me a chance, despite the fact that once again it would mean pulling a few strings, cutting red tape, etc. to make it happen.

Within 48hrs after the baby was born (our 4th, for what it's worth), I was on the phone talking with my professor about thesis ideas. We finally agreed on one, and even managed to round up two more committee members. By the time baby 4 turned 1, I had written, defended, revised, and finally submitted the thesis. Aside from calling/emailing people periodically to make sure everything is really done, there's nothing left now but to sit back and wait for official graduation at summer's end, followed by a degree in the mail a month or two after that. It seems that I may be finishing grad school after all. Who'd have thought?

A random word to desribe school: crunchy

It's crunch time again; the text of my thesis has been approved, but now it's down to the technical folks to approve the nit picky details of it all (format issues). Biggest thing that comes to mind through all of this, though, is that I've been here before, more times than I'd care to admit. Seems like the end of the year/semester/week/day/etc. in school has always been associated with "crunch time." Part of me wonders why I can't ever seem to get it all together and not be crunched, but the rest of me gives thanks for all the folks who have helped me through past crunch times and who are helping me through crunch time now. If this crunch time turns out all right, I will have successfully come through "The Year of the Thesis," which began just before baby 4 was born (and included an academic phone call from the hospital soon after he was born) and should finish up now right as baby 4 turns 1. But, if it doesn't, things will still get finished, just more expensively and not within the nifty-sounding just-one-year time. Can't believe I'm almost done! Looking forward to being called "Master." :)