My Good Friend Dory

So April was write your dissertation month, and it appears May is RE-write your dissertation month.  I have literally re-written my entire results section, and made big changes to other chapters as well.  At the end of the day what I think at this point doesn't matter.   I am doing each and every single thing the members of my committee suggest as the only thing standing between me and this degree are their signatures.

Last spring I felt like I was drowning:  kids...classes...comps...Cancer.

There was one sentence that repeated over and over again in my brain.  It came from an unlikely source.  It came from an animated fish.

Last spring Dory (from Finding Nemo) kept reminding me to "Just keep swimming".

This spring she has returned with slightly modified guidance:

Will do little friend, will do.

Dedication

I did it.  I wrote my entire dissertation in one month and three days.  It is certainly not my magnum opus, but I decided to live by the creed that the best dissertation is a done dissertation.

There have been hiccups along the way including a super passive committee chair; a helpful, but late to the party methodologist; and more than one day where I felt like I had no words left, but it has been written and submitted to my committee for review.  The date of my defense has been set for June 13.  I am hoping to get feedback from the committee before the defense so the defense can just be a formality, but that didn't work so well when I tried that approach for my proposal so what will be will be.

Here is the dedication included in my dissertation:

This dissertation is dedicated to my family:  my husband J.T., my daughter, Isabella, and my parents, John and Judy Isenberg.  Without their encouragement, support and inspiration this work would not have been possible.

Truer words have never been spoken.

Without J.T. there is an excellent chance I would never be able to finish this PhD program.  I recognize the privilege in not having to work outside of our home to stay home with our child and the "extra" time and mental space I had as a result to be able to finish.

Isabella serves as inspiration in all I do now, but even she (and AJ!) were supportive in that they were excellent nappers during the month of April and allowed me 2-3 hours a day to work uninterrupted.

My parents have always served as my greatest supporters in all I do, but they also physically helped by allowing us to come up for a week long "visit" which was really them babysitting for several hours a day so I could write.

Without each of them this dissertation would not have happened.

I would also like to thank the fine people of Panera.  Both our local Panera and the one at my parents house.  While J.T. or my parents were with Iz I had to go elsewhere to write.  Panera was the perfect spot.  I am now thinking I will drop 5 pounds simply by not having a chance to devour their Kitchen Sink cookie on the regular:).