Once upon a time, there was a second semester. This semester steadily crept by day by day, week by week, until suddenly, one day, the students realized it was over.
That day was Thursday. I had my last ever lecture and I didn't even realize it until after. Yup, I missed the momentous occasion of the end of academics as such forever by sheer obliviousness until it was over and I overheard someone else say it. I still have exams, assignments, and a dissertation before I'm completely done with school so I do get more chances to be conscious of a "my last ___" but come onnn. Conscious or not while it happened though, is pretty weird to think about. With the exception of a few toddlery years, I have spent my entire life in school. So the idea that I'm not going to do the go to class, write papers, take tests thing anymore is kind of strange. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to be done with those last two. It's more of a lifestyle change that's weird- I don't think most employers would be thrilled with me sleeping late and coming in at maybe 11, taking long lunches, and dressing like a bum. Just a guess.
Like I said though, this whole ride is far from over. Even since that big last lecture I've had stuff to do, eg. participants to run. As of this afternoon with our last testing session before both Dan and I get out of here for break, our participant count for our thesis is up to 77. In just over two weeks? Not too shabby. Our original goal was 120 (40 per each of 3 different groups) and I thought it was a long shot, but it's looking pretty reachable now. I'd be happy to settle for 90, but, as Dan so kindly reminded me (by shattering my nice rosy bubble) we'll have to savagely remove upwards of 15-20% of our data for bad participants etc. So in reality those 120 or 90 participants are our net goals meaning we need to aim higher. But... we can do it!
But enough about work... I'm on break! Heading home tomorrow, in fact. That's right- tomorrow! I'm not entirely sure I believe it. I don't think it has sunk in, since the semester has flown by and the fact that I am going home at all was a semi last-minute decision it has all kind of crept up on me. But believe you me I am excited! Except for the painfully early train part. 5:14am. I'll be getting up before many of you have even gone to bed, time zone difference or not. That sucks. BUT it'll be totally worth it after I sleep all the way from the UK to Amsterdam to Boston and awake magically having arrived at home :) Then I'll happily be roaming the east coast for about 2 weeks until flying back here at the end of the month.
That does mean, however, that the blog will be on vacation for a few weeks as well. Stay tuned for more firsts, lasts, and general shenanigans when I pick back up in May!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Truth or Dare
Three things I know to be true:
1) It's already April
2) This is the last week of term before break
3) I will be home a week from tomorrow
How did it get to be April? I feel like I do this every month in one way or another, saying "omg it's ____" or "wow can it really be ____ already?!" It's no less true any other month than it is now. I suppose the passage of time shouldn't surprise me that much- it's not a new concept- but somehow it continues to amaze me just how time really can fly. Days and weeks and months suddenly go from future to past and it seems as if I never notice until it sneaks up on me. That is, until a new month begins.
I was speaking with a friend the other day, and they were telling me about something exciting they're looking forward to that's happening towards the end of June. We were talking about it as a distant future kind of thing, like June is summer and summer is far away. Then I said you know, that's actually pretty soon. Naturally, they responded as if I was crazy thinking when it's barely April that the end of June is right around the corner. But I explained my rationale and it really makes sense. People always say that time passes quicker if you set yourself mini milestones to get there, rather than a single really distant big one. It's baby steps in time. The evidence in this theory lies in a life built around academics. My own case study: I have this last week full of participant sessions and project work and paper writing, then 3 weeks of break in which I will fly across the ocean, run around Massachusetts to do as much as possible, drive to Delaware/Maryland for a few days then drive back, then finish up my time at home doing as much as possible again. Then it's May. In May we have 1 week of possible lectures, then it's exam time. By the time exams and projects are completely finished, it's June. When you break it down like that, you barely have time to "stop and smell the roses" as you're flying through the days. In that sense, the end of June might as well be next week.
I've realized as I finished that paragraph that it sounds like a rather depressing view of things. I really don't mean it that way. I really just mean to say that I am regularly astonished at the speed with which these baby steps of time are coming at me and, inevitably passing. It makes me reflect back on last spring and summer, which seems like not so long ago and lightyears past all at the same time. This time a year ago, I was sitting in Delaware rocking my last month or so of college. This year, I'm in Wales working on my thesis. Crazy.
Speaking of my thesis, participant count as of this afternoon: 52
Since I've titled this post Truth or Dare, and I began with truth, I will end with dare. I dare all you blog-lurkers who apparently read this but never comment to come out of hiding and say something. Anything.
1) It's already April
2) This is the last week of term before break
3) I will be home a week from tomorrow
How did it get to be April? I feel like I do this every month in one way or another, saying "omg it's ____" or "wow can it really be ____ already?!" It's no less true any other month than it is now. I suppose the passage of time shouldn't surprise me that much- it's not a new concept- but somehow it continues to amaze me just how time really can fly. Days and weeks and months suddenly go from future to past and it seems as if I never notice until it sneaks up on me. That is, until a new month begins.
I was speaking with a friend the other day, and they were telling me about something exciting they're looking forward to that's happening towards the end of June. We were talking about it as a distant future kind of thing, like June is summer and summer is far away. Then I said you know, that's actually pretty soon. Naturally, they responded as if I was crazy thinking when it's barely April that the end of June is right around the corner. But I explained my rationale and it really makes sense. People always say that time passes quicker if you set yourself mini milestones to get there, rather than a single really distant big one. It's baby steps in time. The evidence in this theory lies in a life built around academics. My own case study: I have this last week full of participant sessions and project work and paper writing, then 3 weeks of break in which I will fly across the ocean, run around Massachusetts to do as much as possible, drive to Delaware/Maryland for a few days then drive back, then finish up my time at home doing as much as possible again. Then it's May. In May we have 1 week of possible lectures, then it's exam time. By the time exams and projects are completely finished, it's June. When you break it down like that, you barely have time to "stop and smell the roses" as you're flying through the days. In that sense, the end of June might as well be next week.
I've realized as I finished that paragraph that it sounds like a rather depressing view of things. I really don't mean it that way. I really just mean to say that I am regularly astonished at the speed with which these baby steps of time are coming at me and, inevitably passing. It makes me reflect back on last spring and summer, which seems like not so long ago and lightyears past all at the same time. This time a year ago, I was sitting in Delaware rocking my last month or so of college. This year, I'm in Wales working on my thesis. Crazy.
Speaking of my thesis, participant count as of this afternoon: 52
Since I've titled this post Truth or Dare, and I began with truth, I will end with dare. I dare all you blog-lurkers who apparently read this but never comment to come out of hiding and say something. Anything.
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