Friday night musings
06/01/2007 10:23 PM
Not much has been going
on lately. I'm rounding the last lap as far as
teaching is concerned...it's hard to believe that
Summer Session I is almost over. Once school is done
I'm taking a much needed break for a week or two.
Since returning to work about a month after Ian was
born, I haven't really taken any kind of break. Even
when I've been traveling or seeing other people,
work/school has occupied much of my time and
thoughts. Come June 14th, I'm putting an "Out to
lunch" message on my e-mail, and I'm not turning on
my computer for a week (of course, I may turn on my
wife's computer...hard to go "cold turkey" on the
internet).
Looking to the future it is hard to believe that I'm
getting ready to start the final leg of my formal
education. Come July, I am going to start building
the last of the infrastructure that I will need in
order to write my dissertation. If all goes well, I
should have all of my data collected by the end of
December, and I can spend January - April primarily
writing up the final portions of my thesis. I'm
aiming to defend my dissertation late next Spring,
and walk for graduation in May. Being the sentimental
sap that I am, I have begun to allow myself to start
reflecting on the winding academic journey that has
led me to where I am today. The further I have
progressed in my education, the more I have come to
realize that my acheivements are not mine alone. Who
I am today, both personally and academically, is a
direct consequence of dozens of people who have
poured some aspect of their lives into mine. Most
anything that we accomplish is not really due to
ourselves; the real doers are those who make us into
the kinds of persons who can accomplish things. So,
as I enter this "year of fruition", I recognize that
it is not about me.
--Eric