Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm DONE!!!!

Well its over. I handed in my thesis to the office of graduate studies today. I got all three signatures I needed, but not without a bit of drama. I planned on getting everything signed on Thursday, but Tuesday morning I heard that the Department head was not going to be in the office on Thursday and Friday. So then I had to figure out a way to get everyone signed today. Which I did manage to do, but due to the unconventional way of going about it, I was unable to get them to use the pen I got for Christmas, sorry Heidi. So Glenn signed the sheet left it in his mailbox, I had to go out to COHRE to track down Mike. He was in a meeting so the secretary Mitzi went in and had him sign. And then I went over to the psych department office to have Papini sign it. I realize you probably don't know any of those names... but trust me, its all the right people.

I also didn't get to use the paper bc they don't require special paper. They actually include printing and binding all together. I have to had in a paper copy, but I also give them an electronic copy. So, Sorry Heidi and Dave, I didn't get to use your paper.

I will hear back from the graduate office in a few weeks. I am sure there will be a thing or two that I missed as far as style goes, but everything else should be fine.

Unfortunately, I am not quite done with school-like stuff yet. I still have to take the PHR on Tuesday. Seeing how I haven't really studied yet, I am not too hopeful that I will pass. And if studying doesn't go too well in the next few days I may cancel my test time. I am not too worried about it though since it doesn't affect my graduation, but still it would be nice to pass.

Best Study Tactic EVER!

I have done this in the past and have had success, and I did it again today and it has been a very successful thesis day.

Step 1: Drink a cup of coffee
Step 2: Take a thirty minute nap before the caffeine hits.
Step 3: Wake up with an insane amount of energy.
Step 4: Finish your thesis.

I am still on step 4, but I am getting much closer!

Oh wow..... its already June 14th...

I am really REALLY nervous now.

It's Crunch Time

Suddenly it's June and in 21 days my thesis must be signed and in the Graduate Studies office. I have a lot to write before it is ready, so I am a tad nervous. I am not so much nervous in my ability to write, I am more nervous that the "stellar" professors here will not sign off on it in time. My proposal took 3 weeks and 3 emails to get signed by one person. Thankfully that person is now done with their part of the process and I don't need that signature for the final step.

I got some pretty interesting results so it won't be too painstaking to write. At least I will have more to say than, "nothing was significant" which some of my classmates are getting to write.

I can't wait for July.

It's been a while

Well it has been quite some time since my last post and a lot has happened and it mostly school related.

I took comps and found out yesterday that I passed.
I submitted to IRB and was approved for my thesis.
I went to New Orleans for SIOP, which was great.
I collected data for my thesis.
I cleaned my room.
My town got slaughtered by a tornado.

All in all things are wrapping up nicely. All I have to do at this point is enter the rest of my data (I am about half done), analyze the data, and write it all up in a fancy little document called a thesis. As far as class goes.... I am essentially done. We ran out of things to talk about so Thursday is my last class.... probably of my life, weird. I am busy at TCCW. I am the lead on a pretty huge project and so it is a bit stressful. I am taking another test sometime in May or June. This is the PHR certification test. Since I passed comps, it doesn't really matter if I pass this one or not. I would still like to since being certified would hopefully help me get a job, and the bugger was pretty expensive so I would rather it not be a waste.

Study Study Study

Next week this time the biggest test of my life will be over! Unfortunately there is a lot of studying that I have to do before I am ready for it to be next Saturday.

As part of our Master's experience we have to pass a comprehensive exam. This exam consists of 7 questions, one from all of the core classes we have taken and one integrative question. It is 70 points and I have to get a 70% to pass. That means they can take off 21 points and I still pass. I am pretty sure I can do that... pretty sure.

They give us all the possible questions before hand, so really there is no reason not to pass, but out of the 80 or so possible that they give us, I am a bit worried I will not know the 7 I need to come test day.

Besides that I am up to my ears in thesis, trying to get my proposal ready to submit to IRB. I really wanted to get that in early this week so I could collect data early next week since I am heading back to New Orleans on that Wednesday for SIOP.

I also got moved at work into a different department. I am now part of Organizational Effectiveness which is more in line with my field. I am working on a workforce planning project for a change that DCS is going through. Its a bit stressful because I am essentially the only one on the project and frankly I don't have a clue what I am doing... but it will look good to future employers given I am successful.

And now... back to studying. I am now going to move out of advanced org psych and into job analysis/performance appraisal..... exciting stuff.

It's come to this...

I lit the stress candle Heidi gave me for Christmas... let's hope it gets me to the end.

I cried in class tonight...

I have come to the conclusion that I chose the wrong masters program. The professors here are worthless. I have had an incredible amount of issues with my thesis and it is very frustrating. I will summarize quickly: My first thesis topic fell through bc it was supposed to be done with the support of an organization and since they decided they only wanted to do one study they had to choose from 3 students who wanted to work with them. Obviously they didn't choose mine. So after I had started research on that and started to gather articles for a lit review it was scrapped. Then I move on and found a new adviser. I should have known from the start that this was not gonna be good because she didn't ever seem to remember things we talked about between meetings. One meeting we would discuss one topic, the next week I would have a new topic. So eventually I settled on one (kinda). I was in a lit review class at the time and since we had assignments due I had to do a very quick (and crappy) lit review for this new topic. I gave the things i was working on to my adviser the whole time, but never received any feedback on anything. So basically it turned in to me trying to do it on my own. I have emailed her a few times this summer with questions getting a few word replies, or a "i'll get back to you on that" which has been less than helpful. So it was up to me trying to figure out how my analyses will work and how it will all come together. I find out tonight that the way I am trying to do it probably won't work, and I don't understand how it is supposed to work. And changing it now will change a lot of stuff. So basically I am sitting in class, my whole thesis is a mess, and I have no clue what is going on. And this is when I find out (from my peers who don't even have her as their adviser) that my "adviser" is on a leave of absence for the next year. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?! Don't you think this might be something you tell a student that you are responsible for helping. And that is when I lost it and started crying. What's that you say, not a big deal? Oh I forgot to mention, my research methods plan is due on Thursday. (and I am driving to MN on Wednesday night, and I haven't packed anything yet, and I slept all of 3 hours last night sind i stayed up working on what I have learned is complete crap, so I guess I would kinda like to sleep before I drive 16 hours). I am going to get my first B in grad school and it is going to be due greatly to incompetent faculty.

The faculty are absolute crap here. When I was trying to find an adviser (the first and second time) everybody tried their best to dodge it as though it would be the worst thing in the world to advise a student on a thesis. Seriously, they should probably all teach undergraduates so they don't have to deal with such things as thesis and practicum. We have 7 faculty members here, and I can honestly say, that one professor in MSU's I/O program is leaps and bounds better than all 7 of them here.

So I might be a tad on the angry side, but after having to find my own practicum and now doing my thesis on my own, I am not too thrilled. This program doesn't deserve the reputation that it has.

Ears are expensive.

I guess I started a blog...


Today in my wage class I learned that values have been assigned to limbs and such so that if you lose one on the job they know how much to pay you in workers comp. An ear costs $32,800. I guess that is why Jesus healed the servant's ear after Peter cut it off, that is expensive stuff.

I am currently researching my fourth thesis topic. I really hope this one sticks, I think it will. The rest of my class have gotten their lit reviews turned in, I got an extension due to my circumstances. Unfortunately, I have to do all the research, come up with hypotheses, and write half a lit review, on a topic that I decided on yesterday morning, and hopefully have it done by Saturday.

I got a stats test back today that I took on Tuesday. I got a 93%, thats better than the 50% I got last time (seriously 50%). The whole class had done that pathetic though so we got to retake it as a take home test and she averaged our scores, so yippee I brought my grade up to a 73%... not much better. Today she said that she was going to curve our final grades since they are an entire letter grade lower than years of the past, so that is a very good thing.

I am going to SIOP in two weeks, it's in San Fransisco, so it should be fun. It better be, it has cost me a ton already. I will get to see my old MSU professors and classmates and attend a ton of fun-filled I/O conferences so it will be worth it.