Final Days

Here I am, 19 days away from graduation. I never thought this day would come, and here I am, a little less than 3 weeks away. It has been a long four years, and I can't wait for it to be over.

Right now I am working on my final paper as a master's student. It is 15 page research paper that I can't seem to get motivated to finish. I have completed 5 pages so far, and I have been working on it for nearly 3 hours. That certainly is not my normal rate, but I typically don't have to write research papers.

On Friday, May 2, I will become an official alum of Indiana University. That night is the Educational Policy and Leadership department's hooding ceremony, where master's and doctoral students will officially get their hoods and complete their degrees. My whole family is coming in for it, and then we are having a celebration afterwards. It will be a proud and happy moment for me!

As with the end of the spring semester every year, it has been a stressful two weeks. My mom had surgery a week ago Friday, and my sisters and I took off of work for the day to sit with my dad during surgery and help my mom after. She actually did very well and was walking the halls after just 6 hours. She was released the day after and gets to take six weeks off of work. She's been doing great!

I moved offices (and buildings) this week. The School of Informatics has been renovating an old frat house next to the current School of Informatics building. Some of my colleagues and I have had temporary offices in a residence hall about 1 mile away, which has caused many problems with meetings, student accessibility, etc. With renovations nearly complete, I moved into my new office on Thursday. There is still much to be done, but I am happy to finally be settled in a permanent location.

All of these changes have caused much stress in my life and trying to complete this paper hasn't helped. I have no motivation. I can finally touch the light at the end of the tunnel I have been walking for nearly four years. It is so close, yet I still can't stroll to the end. I have to finish strong.

Thanks to all who have supported me in the last four years (and especially the last few weeks). It has been a wild ride, and I'm glad it will soon be over.