Published!

On Sunday evening I received a very exciting e-mail... ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) sent me a message saying that they've published my thesis to their database! This means that students and researchers can search the database for my paper--and even cite it for their own research. How cool is that?!
In other news, I'm still on the job hunt. This week I'm applying for the "Community Support Specialist Supervisor" position with Catholic Community Services here in Portland (among other jobs). The job description sounds like it's right up my alley and I feel like I could do lots of good in that position-- please wish me luck as I apply! 
This weekend I am driving down to Eugene to watch Joe and Susan's three little ones--I'm sure the kids and I will have lots of fun during the few days that I'm down there. Hopefully the weather clears up a bit, though! It was raining bullets a few hours ago, but at the moment it's clear and sunny. Gotta love the bipolar weather up here.

Entering the Real World

It's official, I'm done with schooling for good! 

Thank you all for your well wishes, love and support!

Last week I permitted myself a few days "off" to savor my success and reward myself a bit. I also bought myself flowers in lieu of flying down to San Rafael to attend my graduation ceremony. I will admit that this grad school graduation has been pretty anticlimactic. I didn't realize how significant "walking" is in providing closure after two years of hard work. At times it has been difficult to find closure for this chapter in my life because there was no "significant event" to mark it. Granted, I still don't regret my decision to stay home rather than fly out solely to attend the ceremony. I just have a better understanding of what it can do for one's psyche! Maybe getting my diploma in the mail will help me mark the end of that chapter. 

I've applied to several jobs lately, from social worker to university "success coach" to kindergarten teacher (yes, there are a couple teaching jobs out there-- keep your fingers crossed!). As long as I can secure a job within the Social Services arena, I will be very happy. No interview calls yet-- but I have a feeling that next week will be a good one.

My Thesis is Complete!

This past Friday I finished my thesis! It was a little more anticlimactic than I expected... I blame it on the fact that I've got loads of other work to do before graduating in 2 weeks. While my thesis is finished, I still need to fix in-text citations (waiting for the nice librarian to e-mail me back on that one), get final approval from my professor, print and bind 3 copies, mail 2 copies to Dominican, finish my powerpoint presentation, write my part for a group project, and present my powerpoint to the class (via Skype!) on Saturday. I will also be uploading my thesis to a database to be published! Once all is said and done, I can post a link to my thesis on this blog for anyone who is interested. Or, if you'd like to take a look sooner feel free to e-mail me and I can send you the PDF.
I will say, after finishing the paper I feel like 50 pounds has been lifted off my back. Having a giant 45-page project looming over your head for 9 months straight is not fun!
I have decided not to attend my graduation ceremony, as I feel it is not worth the cost to fly out just to dress up and walk... although Master's students do get to wear some pretty awesome robes! Instead of attending my graduation ceremony, I will be celebrating 3 years with Nick at the Columbia Gorge. Yep, my graduation and our anniversary are on the same day. It will be an extra-special weekend. Now if I could just get through the next couple weeks!

Pressure's On

I'm one month away from finishing my Master's work and it seems like the load has quadrupled in the past couple weeks. This past week I spent several hours each day doing research for a group project, only to come up empty on the data we need. Not only am I frustrated that the time spent on our project has yielded zero results, but I am also upset that all those hours I spent searching for statistics could have been spent on finishing my thesis! I have put in a call to my professor and e-mailed my group members about my lack of success, and now I'm waiting for a response. Admitting that I essentially failed at my group assignment is not easy. I tried so hard to find what we needed that I spent an entire week's energy doing research.
But research on our topic is not expected to just pop up, because the data we need is so insanely specific! If anyone knows where I can find reading scores for 15 13 year-olds from the UK sorted by gender, class and ethnicity, please let me know!
Okay, that's the end of my rant. :P When we uploaded our gun videos the other night, we came across this oldie from last summer. Turning up the volume for this one would be a good idea, so you get the full effect.

P.S. Happy Birthday, DAD!!