hoop, jump. hoop, jump.
Not a lot going on over here, but things may get busy very soon. And I am beginning to foresee an extremely crazy few months coming up, so I am preparing myself.
So the dissertation proposal is all defended (yay!), and I sent off the protocol to the IRB (the university ethics board) for their approval of the research. In the meantime, I learned that I did not get either of the two grants I applied for in the spring. Which sucks big fat hairy donkey balls, but now that the anger and self-flagellation is over I can say that I did learn a lot from writing those damn things, and I will definitely win the next grant I apply for, whenever that happens.
So while it is looking a little dismal financially (I have no assistantship, no job, no grant $, and I have to fund a dissertation study), I've got a couple irons in the fire that I hope will lead to a better situation for me, for us, etc. So I'll keep you posted.
I have also looked at a timeline that would allow me to graduate next May. It's technically possible, especially since I am focusing only on the dissertation. It will be a shitload of work and stress, but that's how these things get done. For now, I need to collect data as soon as I get IRB approval, which means recruiting and getting everything ready on the EEG side and lining up my consultants to be ready to analyze data. In fact, today I am taking care of a little technicality on my IRB application, and so I should be all approved to start collecting data by the end of this week.
Simultaneously, I'm getting emails about all these academic positions opening up and it's a little weird and exciting and "Oh, crap, I might have to apply for one of these things." I'm not seeing the Dream Job yet, though. So I'll hang in there and see what else comes up. But the next six months or so, with all this dissertating and potential job hunting and, oh, right, trying to publish a couple things will make for a crazy period of time. I will remember to breathe, above all, and hold on.
So the dissertation proposal is all defended (yay!), and I sent off the protocol to the IRB (the university ethics board) for their approval of the research. In the meantime, I learned that I did not get either of the two grants I applied for in the spring. Which sucks big fat hairy donkey balls, but now that the anger and self-flagellation is over I can say that I did learn a lot from writing those damn things, and I will definitely win the next grant I apply for, whenever that happens.
So while it is looking a little dismal financially (I have no assistantship, no job, no grant $, and I have to fund a dissertation study), I've got a couple irons in the fire that I hope will lead to a better situation for me, for us, etc. So I'll keep you posted.
I have also looked at a timeline that would allow me to graduate next May. It's technically possible, especially since I am focusing only on the dissertation. It will be a shitload of work and stress, but that's how these things get done. For now, I need to collect data as soon as I get IRB approval, which means recruiting and getting everything ready on the EEG side and lining up my consultants to be ready to analyze data. In fact, today I am taking care of a little technicality on my IRB application, and so I should be all approved to start collecting data by the end of this week.
Simultaneously, I'm getting emails about all these academic positions opening up and it's a little weird and exciting and "Oh, crap, I might have to apply for one of these things." I'm not seeing the Dream Job yet, though. So I'll hang in there and see what else comes up. But the next six months or so, with all this dissertating and potential job hunting and, oh, right, trying to publish a couple things will make for a crazy period of time. I will remember to breathe, above all, and hold on.