I’ve reached that point I think every students hits at some point or another—Am I ever going to graduate and be done with this degree???????
Originally, I wanted to graduate in May 2012. It’s a standard two-year program, so why not? Then since it looked like I wouldn’t have my thesis done on time, I pushed it to August. Then December 2012.
Now my advisor is thinking it’s best if I take my time with the thesis and graduate in May.
I feel like giving up!
If I try to graduate in December, I will have two weeks in October to pull all my data together, write up my findings and present it at the oral defense. It’s a big challenge but one I’m willing to accept if that means I will have my degree in December versus May of next year. I simply don’t want this to drag out any longer.
On the other hand, will rushing effect my grade? Will I really be able to do it? Ugh, I don’t know. As I type this, the countdown app on my phone says I have 77 more days until graduation. By pushing it back, I extend it to 220 days. That seems like a world of difference, even though I know it’s not that much.
I just want to be done.
Help! I need your advice!!
My advice: Take your time. I know that sometimes when you end up just getting frustrated and “over” something, you feel like you want to be done with it now. I know it may be hard to think about the “big picture” when you’re in the thick of it, but how much difference will those months make when you think about the grand scheme of life verses spending time, even if its just a relatively short time, feeling overly stressed and pushed to your limits. I’ve never looked back on something and said “man I wish I had rushed through that.” I have, however, looked back and wondered why I stressed myself out over something I didn’t need to. Whether its December or May, you will get there, don’t worry!
As a fellow writer and someone who wrote an Honors thesis with a newborn, I feel you…and here’s my best advice: Let it sit and come back to it later. That could mean letting it sit for two weeks or two months. Whenever you take a break from creating, the next time you look at the project, you’ll have clarity about its direction.
Maybe you can give yourself a short break now, and if that doesn’t give you a giant wave of motivation to finish in October, postpone it and schedule more breaks through the end of the school year?
At any rate, I’m sure you’ll get through this just like you’ve gotten through teething, potty training, and a ton of other stressful things in the last few years!
Like I told you yesterday (for those of you who don’t know, I’m Tara’s younger sister and quite reliable babysitter if I do say so myself LOL), would it be so bad to have an extra semester if you were done with all your work?
This way, you could take your time, really do it right, be thorough, and you have time for the unexpected as well (what if some of your subjects are hard to reach, don’t want to respond entirely, etc.) This gives you more time for data collection, to be meticulous about writing, editing, rewriting, all that.
In the end, I know you could beast this out in two weeks and come out with an A. You’ve been beasting it out and succeeding all your life. But there’s no saying that because you CAN do it with the deadline crunch over your head that you HAVE to.
Take your time. Do it right. Don’t stress.
And when ever you decide to graduate, I’ll be there, cheering you on.
@Simone – In my Sweet Brown voice: “Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That!” LOL
Take your time! Don’t rush it just because you feel it would be more of an accomplishment to get your diploma sooner. It wont. It will cause you more stress and anxiety both things no one needs let alone needs to give themselves. Your AMAZING and are accomplishing so many things and making not only us- your audience- but more importantly YOUR FAMILY proud. Remember how far you’ve come Tara and realize that finishing off the race at a steady pace is better than “just finishing.”
TRUST ME! I feel the same way and i’m just at my BS. Not even GRAD SCHOOL YET!
Keep the December date. At the end of October if you don’t like what you have postpone. Is that an option? I got married, brought a house and had a baby who I nursed while in grad school. While I finished “on time” I failed to make three property connections that I should have made because I was so busy/tired. Taking time would have helped me.
I say take your time, and do it right. No need to rush it and affect the quality of your work and your grade. You worked so hard on this already, that the last thing you want to do is rush to the finish line just to be done. At least by taking your time, you know that you finished it, and you did it right.