Home Stretch

2 more weeks! YAY! but two more weeks~!!! It has certainly been a rollercoaster of a semester, but not unlike what i've experienced in the past. Somehow, it seems like I end up doing things the hard way, but like my husband says- go big or go home! (i'd rather be home though...)
Just kidding. I've really learned a lot, as the most difficult times generally do impart some pearls of wisdom. I thought for sure i'd be done with research half way through my semester, but looking back, it isn't nearly as bad as i thought it would be and there are so many possibilities ahead of me!
I'm looking to hopefully get published as I realize my data set is so large, and so many possibilities. It has really given me some insight into the work of putting together a thesis, and it really makes it seem endless. I can see how people spend years on their thesis. I could do that, but I don't really want to do that. So this summer I think i want to buckle down and do some research to really see where I may want to go with this whole thesis thing.
A lot can happen in 2 weeks... I will be happy to have some of my life back. :)

FEAR. research. FEAR. research. Fear. papers

I've noticed a theme in my thinking lately. And it is fear alternating with whatever I have to get done. I have to write a paper. Fear. I have to read my data results. Fear. I have to go pick up my son. Fear. etc. etc. etc.

This morning i'm sitting at my desk. I've been sitting here, doing fluffy 'work' (you know the kind- you sit and look like you're busy doing something when really you aren't doing anything, just killing time). And i find myself sighing a lot. I realize that I have been doing this quite a bit lately, and its negatively affecting me. I am stressing out because i have work due. I have work due because i'm in school. And because I chose to come back to school. I actively chose to work full time as a student, and also to work extra hours to cover my school expenses. And it has been a lot more than i expected it to be.

I realized, sitting here this morning, all my stress is due to fear. I'm stressing myself out because instead of doing work ahead of time, like i planned, i put it off because i'm afraid it won't be good enough. I'm afraid it won't sound like all this time I've spent working on my research, all this time I've spent away from my baby and my husband were for nothing. I'm afraid that the publishers, the people reading my paper will look at me and say "You spent your time doing this??? Why?" and if not verbally asking me, they will at least look at me in stupefied wonder. All this time I could have been catching up with my friends and family will have been spent for nothing. And that is why i ultimately have not written my paper in the past 3 weeks.

I realize that all this is the FEAR that is invading my heart and my mind. I know that i'm smart enough to have an interesting topic. I know i'm smart enough to have at least come up with the concept, and i'm smart enough to have figured out what I needed to do to find out the answers to my questions. And i'm smart enough to get answers to those questions. So why am I letting fear run my life?

So i guess that is ultimately the proper question, and the answers are so different for everyone.  Maybe that is what causes writers block? At least for me, that is what appears to be causing my writers block. And I can either let it run my educational career, or not. Breaking it down into small steps I think is a great first step. Then let it go,  i think once i start writing, it will flow by itself into a paper. Just need to start. 

UGH! but yay, I think

Sooooo.....i'm very frustrated with myself over this whole process. I did not get it done and was not able to submit to NCA. I thought I could do it until monday when I realized it was not going to be in any way close to submission quality work. It was difficult to let my instructor know, and it was difficult to acknowledge to myself that I did not meet my goal for the class for the semester.

But seeing as how this is the very first complete research project i've ever done, i think I did pretty well. I mean, i've done other research projects, but this was the first one that i've ever worked on from conceiving the idea to researching literature to making a survey to submission to IRB. Then to actually have interviews and -ugh- transcription to putting it all together. For someone who just a couple years ago was totally not into research at all, this was a surprisingly invigorating class project.

That being said, i'm surprised that overall, this class has not deterred me at all in continuing my studies and completing this degree. So, this is a good thing. I'm actually excited to continue to do more research and more projects. This project has really opened my eyes to how much work goes into the thinking process of the project, in addition to the process of actually reading/gathering data/writing it up. I've come to realize there are so many more avenue of possibility open right now.

I am a bit confused though. I had thought that we were not going to be presenting our projects to the class or community, however, we just received an email stating that we were going to be doing just that. So even though i'm glad to be done, and i feel fairly confident in my project, i'm still a bit daunted by presenting it. To other researchers. I guess i feel a bit like i'm not quite on par with the other researchers I know. However, I know that the more I do, the more I push myself and push my comfort zone, the more I will grow. This is not unlike when I first began working as a PA. I felt kinda lost, and a lot confused but I knew where to go to ask for help. And such as it is with this program. So since I have to present my work, i'm glad it is with my cohort of researchers. At least we have all felt the struggle this semester and know first hand what has gone into it.

And thats pretty cool.

Just looked over my previous post. I can't believe it is Thursday again! LOL. This week has flown by, but I've done 9 interviews so far. I have several more to go. I'm trying to install Dragon onto the computer, and it isn't working with me. guess i'll have to see if i can get OIT involved with me. Wish me luck!

On the upside, I've continued to collect articles. Just have to remember to type all of them in as I go, rather than all at once. At least the plan is to do a little at a time, as opposed to waiting to do it all at once. It is already the third of march, I have just a little over 3 weeks to get this all wrapped up. Panic is settling in, funny how you can get used to the feeling if it is continuously there... 

The rest of my classes feel like they are speeding up as well, so I feel like I've been on a continuous internal automatic drip of corticosteroids and adrenaline since the beginning of the semester. I hope my future semesters are not nearly as stressful. Certainly makes me rethink this whole grad student thing for sure. All in all, however, it is actually quite interesting. For all these years I professed an intense dislike of stats and research, i'm actually enjoying my research. The stats, well, they can stay far far away from me. 

Well, ta ta for now. I have more reading to do. 

Time so slooooowwww down!

It is so hard to realize that this month is almost done! I have done so much more than I ever thought i'd accomplish in a month and a half. I've read through a ton of articles, put the IRB packet together and now i'm conducting interviews. I believe I set it at a goal of 25 interviews, and I've already gotten 3 done. But then once I've done the interviews, I need to do the transcription and then look for themes. And then I write it up and submit. Sounds deceptively simple.
More on that later
My other classes are ramping up, and i'm actually kind of glad I just jumped into this whole research thing because of the deadlines set my professor. Now I don't feel so overwhelmed with the prospect, since it seems like something I can actually do with a sense of accomplishment. As opposed to feeling like an impostor. Or is it imposter? Either way, something that doesn't make me feel so great at times.
Just a tip- if you want a chocolate frosting that looks appetizing, please do not use the Hershey's special dark cocoa powder. Don't say I didn't warn you...

Whoa!

So I got IRB approval!
I am happy, but the real work begins! no more tart cherry crumbles, no more brownies. :(  I did go to a class and ask for volunteers. I should have gotten emails from them when i was there. Great lesson learned. But more to come, i'm sure.
We had a couple of exercises in class to do interview practice and also focus group practice. There is nothing better than just jumping in and doing them in order to learn. I know my tendency is to just learn and learn and learn and not actually do it if i don't have to. So there is something good to this whole NCA/IRB learning curve.
I need to figure out how to do the literature review stuff. I know i've learned about it in other classes, but the whole research thing is so amorphous at times in my brain. LOL. maybe someday it will be cemented in my brain.
6 pm on sunday. Where did my weekend go????
New school week, new adventures await.
Have a great one!

IRB

Folks, it is getting real! IRB submission is almost finalized, even though it is later than I would have wanted it to be. I'm not one for excuses, so i'm not going to give one (although I could easily have put in something here). Other than to say, I had a great time in Speaking Center today - busy with students- and then getting ready for class, and then giving class today. So.... no time for finalizing IRB stuff today. :S
But it is almost there!
Now on to the next step- waiting and looking for more materials to research. yay!
I never once thought i'd be into research, but i suppose once it is a topic that interests you, it can be done quite easily. There have been days when i've done searches for a few hours and gotten lost in the research and ended up in a completely different spot then when i started. Its all good, though.
So many things interest me, i just want to study it all. But time constraints are the determining factor here. So its off for a weekend of fun, but mostly just to do homework. not so bad really.
have a great one!

Tart Cherry Crumble and more...

This week has been tough! I have had some serious doubts about this whole grad school thing. I was thinking on Friday how much 'easier' in some respects it would have been to not start it all and have a lot of leeway on my schedule.

Friday morning, my son was not wanting to walk after falling. Of course, I freaked out. All my training all these years, gone, poof in an instant. All I could think about is what if he broke something??? I managed to kind of pull myself together and ended up at the urgent care center. Several hours later, all appears well, except he still wasn't walking.

And I still had to get my research proposal done. And figure out what I need to be doing for the organizational analysis. And just realized I have to do a PR campaign. *sigh*

this all comes down to finalizing our IRB proposal. I suppose, a lot of it has to do with procrastinating until the last minute, and just doing it.

Oh, and I made this delicious tart cherry crumble (http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-cherry-cobbler-recipes-from-the-kitchn-195824)

I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.

Plus, trying to put together a helpful pamphlet to help my research participants made me rather depressed. ugh!

ok, ok, its almost 930, i gotta get this done. hasta la mañana.

Week 4

I cannot believe 3 weeks have passed since I began my trek through graduate school, with the 4th week beginning tomorrow. I have come up with what I think are great ideas for research, but given the shortened timeframe for submissions to NCA this year, they cannot be completed in time. However, I haven't given up on those. One of the original ideas I had come up with was to look over the ways that sexual health information is provided to people in rural Alaska. However, in talking with the CHAP Director she reminded me that each tribal health organization has its own IRB process that can take anywhere from 6 to 12 months for approvals. So....

Thankfully my colleagues have other really great ideas that can be completed on a compressed timeline. So now we are back to a similar topic we came up with at the beginning of this journey. I think that looking over what people remember receiving as health education in middle and high school and seeing if they felt that the information affected their health choices since then would be an interesting study. Particularly given that some states do not require certain types of education provided to their students as a whole.

In talking it over with my husband, he also reminded me that a lot of these ideas are probably not new ideas. So it is yet another reminder of how important literature reviews and researching papers that have been published is. No sense in reinventing the wheel.

It is already the end of january and I am feeling much more confident as a researcher, but a lot less confident about the process overall. I made an appointment to see a research librarian and it was so very  helpful. When I took Library Science at UAF as part of my undergraduate studies, I found it interesting, but i didn't feel that it was applicable to me. However, I am glad that UAF does require it because having someone help me navigate the vast amount of information available at UAF is so helpful.

I was always in awe of people that I knew had written books on the subjects that they studied. Heck, I thought writing 30-50 pages was a LOT! And now, i'm here. I think that as long as my instructor continues to help me, it will go well. At least I hope so.

And so it starts

Like so many other things out there, there has to be a beginning. Welcome to my beginnings as Professional Communications graduate student. As such, i've been tasked with keeping a blog. After my first research class last week, I was overwhelmed by how much I have to complete by the middle of the semester.

This blog itself was probably the most intimidating assignment I have received in a long time. 

I am overwhelmed. I have to start and complete a research project by the end of March. And then wait patiently on pins and needles to see if it has been accepted. I've taken research classes in the past, and yet, i'm still a bit confused about the whole process. After thinking about this blog, I am actually glad to do it because then I can see where others are in their processes. It will all work out. (At least that is what i'm telling myself) 

Of course, I had also wondered if there were academic benefits to blogging. I did a bit of research and came across an article appropriately titled "Blogging for Mental Health".  As a graduate student, I feel that mental health could possibly be an issue given the numerous demands upon my time as a student/TA/wife/mother/friend. And so many other roles I have in my life. Thankfully,  Novotney (2014)  states "research has also documented such psychological benefits as lowered anxiety, less rumination and fewer depressive symptoms" (p. 42). So Yay for blogging! 

Seriously, however, there does appear to be many benefits to blogging in the academic world. Most notably, VanBuren (2014) states blogging helps with key aspects of research including definition of topics, becoming familiar with different points of view on our topics as well as just practicing writing. Obviously, the more you write, the more your skills are developed and honed. 

Most importantly, it is a well known fact that graduate students tend to be rather lacking in the money department. There are few graduate students who have "extra" money laying around, It is helpful to acknowlege George Gosling's point of view that blogs are the "resesarch seminars and conferences that we can all make it to."  And, I have to admit, that is the one thing that i've missed since stepping away from my previous professional role- the ability to attend 2-3 conferences every year. So, yes, I do agree with Gosling and I look forward to the opportunities this blog will afford. 


References

Gosling, George. (2014, May 12). Academic Blogging is Seasonal [Web log].  Retrieved from https://gcgosling.wordpress.com/2014/05/12/academic-blogging-is-seasonal/


Novotney, Amy. (2014). Blogging For Mental Health. Monitor on Psychology,45. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/06/blogging.aspx

VanBuren, Emily. (2014, May 22). Open Thread: Should You Blog Your Dissertation Research? [Web log]. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/gradhacker/open-thread-should-you-blog-your-dissertation-research