fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2199 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2199 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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[Dragon Age 2]

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[Baby-sitters Club]

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[The Twelve Kingdoms]

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[Dangan Ronpa]

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[Homestuck]

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 023 secrets from Secret Submission Post #314.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Thanks.

Annnnd secret time - I actually 'walked' across my stage almost two years ago (May 2011) and am JUST NOW actually completing my thesis. And I am only the 4th of 8 in my cohort to be officially graduating.

So - YOU CAN DO IT. If I can do this (I am horrible and usually need deadlines to finish so this blobby thesis period has been horrible) SO IF I CAN DO IT ANYONE CAN!

Well, I'm still getting my brain chemistry back in order, and I'm not sure I want to go back anyway, but, heck, it is ALWAYS helpful to know that the world does not contain only people who got all their things together and completed grad school in two years... and then there is you. That is not a good feeling.

But, yeah, either way: man, fuck thesis...eseses...eses.

Do you mind if I ask what your program was/thesis is about?

Seriously. Lots of people don't finish in two years. It just sucked because I was in a smaller program that was adjacent to a larger program and those master's students didn't have to do a thesis, but an exit project which was essentially a 20 page paper. So a lot of them graduated, but not one person in my cohort actually graduated when we walked across the stage in May. Actually my master's program only technically has a 50% completion rating - meaning that through the entire program's history (of about 35 years) only half of all the students who have gone through it have finished their thesis.

But I have spent the last few months absolutely hating myself for taking too long, but I figure it needed to take this long for me to finally get a halfway decent product. And stressing about it made me procrastinate worse.

And I don't mind you asking! I am getting my MA in Historic Preservation Planning - which is essentially saving historic buildings through a number of different means and such. My thesis was mainly about planning history - about one planner in particular, who was a Socialist who helped plan parts of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Ugh, yeah, logically I can tell myself that tons of people don't finish in two years. Heck, most of the people in my tinytiny program didn't! But somehow instead of focusing on the three people who didn't, I zero in on the two or three people who did and begin the self-flagellation.

I would also be incredibly bitter about being attached to a program where MA students didn't have to do a thesis. Because I wanna be an MA student who doesn't have to do a thesis. D:

I know nothing really about your topic, and yet I think it sounds cool!

Sorry for butting in, but I just wanted to say that I totally get the whole feeling crappy for not being able to finish in two years thing. Currently finishing up an MA and I'm actually in my 6th year (ugh) because I've had a lot of issues with research delays, money worries (and having to work a lot taking away from thesis time/concentration), and depression (so even when I had time to work on thesis crap I couldn't drag myself out of bed to do so half the time), but I'm finally finishing up, so it can be done! And honestly, the majority of people in my department take at least 3 years unless they're SUPER INTENSE, so taking longer than two years isn't as unusual as they like to make it seem. :)

Oh man, interrupt away anon!

Depression is why I didn't finish my thesis and took a leave of absence instead of finishing the nominally two-year program in two years. That was just earlier this year, though, so while I am starting to feel better about my leave and maybe going back, I'm still leaning towards not doing it since I went to grad school for the wrong reasons and picked an area for the wrong reasons and, while I enjoy Chinese, I either need to start learning classical Chinese for my thesis or start getting waaaaay more fluent if I want to do my thesis "right" and that... does not really appeal, at least not right now...

But enough pity-party for me -- congrats on finishing!! And congrats on giving depression the ol' boot-in-the-ass. :)

I'm glad to hear you're starting to feel better! And there's definitely nothing wrong with not finishing, especially if you don't think it's right for you and that you won't enjoy it. A thesis is hard enough to do when it's something you really are into, so if you're not feeling it, it would be even harder.

I have several friends who decided a few years into their studies (and after lots of debate with themselves) that it just wasn't the right thing for them, and they were much happier after they quit. One of them is even looking for different programs that will be a better fit for what she wants and has a much better idea of what to look for now, so there is that, too. Not that I'm saying that'll be true for you, but sometimes it seems like a program not being a right fit is what people need to find something that is. Whatever happens, I hope you have a good supervisor or other profs or some friends/family members that you can chat with to help get things sorted out and figure out what's right for you! Good luck with whatever happens!

[ SECRET POST #2199 ]

Re: If I can finish Grad School, anyone can!!

Re: If I can finish Grad School, anyone can!!

Re: If I can finish Grad School, anyone can!!

Re: If I can finish Grad School, anyone can!!

Re: If I can finish Grad School, anyone can!!

Re: If I can finish Grad School, anyone can!!

Re: If I can finish Grad School, anyone can!!