As a general rule, I don't put things off. Oh, I can be distracted, pulled away from things I plan to do by things I find along the way. But for the most part, once I know something has to be done, I will do it.
I've been planning to write this post for at least two weeks now, but haven't been able to get myself to start.
The last few weeks have admittedly been busy. I've been working on final revisions to my project defense--that lovely "little" forty-eight page document that shows my committee (and the world) that I learned something about diaries, audience, identity, autobiographical acts and the theory that underlies all of them, as I completed the capstone project for my MA degree. At its heart, the MA degree is all about learning to do real academic research-- and my defense was meant to prove I did just that. My committee all signed on the dotted line--agreeing that I'd proven my case--and with that I was approved for graduation. I've printed copies of the manuscript and defense, mailed a few off to those who needed to see them, and have moved on to researching publishers while I work on revisions of the novel.
I've also been putting together a final project for my independent study on the use of journals in the college writing classroom--creating a syllabus for a course I'd love to teach someday. Although I had little idea what I was doing, it was a great experience and I'll find out this afternoon how close to the mark I got with my first draft.
There's little (or maybe even nothing) left to do before I draw the curtain on my academic career. I've accomplished a great deal over the last 5 1/2 years, and I'm pretty happy with the way things have gone and proud of all the hard work I've put into it.
But come Friday, it will be over. I went back to college at 52. I became a student in classrooms filled with people who were, in large part, younger than my children (and not only survived, but thrived). I learned to love it all--and now it's ending.
And that makes me more than a little bit sad.
I could very happily have done this forever--and being a professional student would be fun. But everything ends eventually, and I know its time to move on to the next phase of my life.
I have no idea what that will be yet, but I know something is coming (even if it's some time off and a chance to finish the revisions on my book).
From here on out though, I will no longer be a college student. Any book I chose to read will be my choice (now, I've got to admit, that sounds kinda nice...). Even this blog will change. I won't be writing about being a graduate student anymore, but about being a writer trying to publish her first book. I'll probably post bits and pieces from my book and thoughts on the publishing process.
Who knows! But today, I stopped procrastinating and wrote this post to say good bye to college.
It's time to move on with the next step...
(so...whenever you're ready, Future, you can show yourself! I'm ready to get moving, here!)
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