Thesis Underway
Be impressed. On Saturday, I read 12 articles and basically wrote the introduction to my masters thesis. Today I went through the notes and figures and turned it into a 5 page introducition and approximately a page of the proposed methods. The methods section probably needs a little work and I still have to meet with my advisor to make sure I have permission to do the thesis, but half the work is finished. Yay!
Okay, actually there's a lot that still needs to be done. I need to talk to my advisor, submit a proposal for IRB approval (which should be no problem because the state IRB already approved the research protocol I'll be working with), figure out exactly what statistics I need to do and how to run them, and then run the computer program and make sense of the output. However, I feel like such a huge chunk of the work has already been done. I'm turning in the introduction and methods as a final paper for one of my courses this semester (I'm so glad I took it now, since it has to do with my externship in a way and I can relate both to my thesis) and then the rest of it won't be due until next December just before I graduate.
I really feel like for the first time in a year or more I've just done some major schoolwork that actually has a practical application and that I care about. It's a really good feeling and the fact that it didn't take me weeks and weeks feels good too. It just goes to prove what I always say: When I'm interested in something, I'll work really hard for it and get it done quickly. I feel great having accomplished something so big, especially on a day like today with a lot of other stuff going on in my life. I guess that was why I wanted to do the work so badly even though I didn't realize it.
I suppose I should go type up the references (ew, I hate that part). Then I'll be done with school work for a couple of weeks and if you're all lucky everyone will benefit because I hope to write a story or two. :)
Okay, actually there's a lot that still needs to be done. I need to talk to my advisor, submit a proposal for IRB approval (which should be no problem because the state IRB already approved the research protocol I'll be working with), figure out exactly what statistics I need to do and how to run them, and then run the computer program and make sense of the output. However, I feel like such a huge chunk of the work has already been done. I'm turning in the introduction and methods as a final paper for one of my courses this semester (I'm so glad I took it now, since it has to do with my externship in a way and I can relate both to my thesis) and then the rest of it won't be due until next December just before I graduate.
I really feel like for the first time in a year or more I've just done some major schoolwork that actually has a practical application and that I care about. It's a really good feeling and the fact that it didn't take me weeks and weeks feels good too. It just goes to prove what I always say: When I'm interested in something, I'll work really hard for it and get it done quickly. I feel great having accomplished something so big, especially on a day like today with a lot of other stuff going on in my life. I guess that was why I wanted to do the work so badly even though I didn't realize it.
I suppose I should go type up the references (ew, I hate that part). Then I'll be done with school work for a couple of weeks and if you're all lucky everyone will benefit because I hope to write a story or two. :)