Comps passed -- now ABD!

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by adireynolds, Aug 26, 2009.

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  1. adireynolds

    adireynolds New Member

    Hi y'all,

    Just wanted to update you on my progress -- I got word last week that I passed my comprehensive exams ... so am now ABD!

    My mentor and I are already communicating and planning my dissertation process, and I'll be headed to a Dissertation Writer's Retreat being held by Capella in late September.

    Needless, to say, I'm very excited at this milestone accomplished!

    Cheers,
    Adrienne
     
  2. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    Congratulations, I am right there with you!
     
  3. -kevin-

    -kevin- Resident Redneck

    Congratulations!
     
  4. Fortunato

    Fortunato Member

    Congrats, Adrienne!
     
  5. mbaonline

    mbaonline New Member

    Outstanding

    Congratulations!

    The retreat sounds like a fantastic idea...Are you still overseas/not in the US?
     
  6. Arch23

    Arch23 New Member

    Congratulations!
     
  7. PatsFan

    PatsFan New Member

    Congratulations! How exciting!

    Tom
     
  8. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    Fantastic! Two ABDs in one week. Congratulations to you both.
     
  9. japhy4529

    japhy4529 House Bassist

    Awesome! Congrats!
     
  10. adireynolds

    adireynolds New Member

    I am still overseas -- I'm going to combine a few days home with family in Atlanta (there's a new baby in my family!) with the retreat, which is also in Atlanta.

    I'm really excited about the retreat. By the way, it's open to non-Capella doctoral students at the dissertation phase as well. If anyone wants more information, the website is: http://www.dissertationretreat.org/.

    Cheers,
    Adrienne
     
  11. Shawn Ambrose

    Shawn Ambrose New Member

    Congrats! Have a good time with your family while you work on your proposal!

    Shawn
     
  12. edowave

    edowave Active Member

    I love the idea of a "dissertation retreat". I'm tempted to do this.
     
  13. mbaonline

    mbaonline New Member

    Sounds like a great trip! And I too love the idea of the retreat! That's great that they open it up to the general scholarly/ABD community. (I'll have to remember that.)

    You should invite Randell, Truckie and all the other ABDs and have a mini-DegreeInfo dissertating party. And Shawn is doing his diss at Capella too, right?
     
  14. Shawn Ambrose

    Shawn Ambrose New Member

    If I didn't have to teach that week, I'd be there. I'm ready to finish coding and start writing Chapter 4 this weekend.

    I'm behind schedule, but two weeks ago I got struck down with Shingles, and I still have not recovered. It's either deal with a great deal of pain, or deal with pain killing meds and sleeping 10 hours a day (Right now - I'm choosing meds).

    Shawn
     
  15. warguns

    warguns Member

    Just a quick piece of advice from someone who's been through this. All dissertations are written in the last three months before they're submitted. Make your three months, three months this year rather than three months five years from now.

    Set aside scheduled time each week to write and do nothing else during this time. Rent a motel room if you have to.

    Remember that half of all PhD students never finish their disseration. Don't be one of them. Work on it consistantly.

    Remember you're not shooting for the Nobel Prize. Most dissertations are never read by anyone but the candidate's committee. Some people use the disseration as a jumping point for future publications; others just get it over with. Your choice.

    Good luck.
     
  16. adireynolds

    adireynolds New Member

    Oh, Shawn, ouch! That's horrible -- I do hope you feel better soon, and not just because of Chapter 4, but because health is the most important thing. You're doing the right thing by choosing meds and sleep.

    I'm glad to be able to manage this retreat right at the beginning of writing my proposal; I think having that week to be a recluse, yet have such great resources at my fingertips will be a great boost to getting my proposal shaped up. I plan on defending my proposal mid-January - I've set up a fairly ambitious, but doable dissertation process schedule which I've checked out already with my mentor.

    Get well soon!

    Cheers,
    Adrienne
     
  17. adireynolds

    adireynolds New Member

    That's really great advice, warguns, thank you very much!

    I love to write (or do anything, really) during daylight and in strong sunlight, so I've already decided that the bulk of my writing will occur on weekends from 8am-2pm. Those time slots will be non-negotiable for the next year. I do plan on doing more during the week, but I've already decided not to beat myself up if I have weeks where I can't write anything... I'm about to change jobs and that will entail a commute again, so I have to keep that in perspective.

    And you're right about not shooting for the Nobel Prize. However, I will say that I have a pretty good topic, and one of the top three experts in the world on my topic has agreed to be on my dissertation committee, so I am actually planning on submitting my dissertation once done to the Academy of Management annual dissertation award. I certainly don't expect it to win, but I'm hoping (fantasizing?) that I could maybe get a finalist slot. However, if nothing else, I think it'll be worthwhile even just to show that a Capella dissertation can be considered competitive with those from B&M schools. Every little bit we can do to continue this momentum of changing the currently-held paradigm of the academy in the U.S. of the worth of online doctoral degrees, I say we do!

    Cheers,
    Adrienne
     
  18. RoscoeB

    RoscoeB Senior Member

    Congratulations, Adrienne!

    Great news!

    Roscoe
     
  19. adireynolds

    adireynolds New Member

    Edowave, you should! It wouldn't be that far a drive for you from G'ville. Atlanta is, what, 5 hours up I-75?

    If I had more time on this trip I would be in Gainesville, too -- it's a regular stop of mine, normally, when I'm in the U.S., as my best friend lives there. She teaches at SFCC.

    Cheers,
    Adrienne
     
  20. adireynolds

    adireynolds New Member

    You know, that's a great idea -- I will at least start a new thread about it so more people who aren't necessarily reading this one can see if it's something that they'd like to do. I think it's a really cool idea, and I also like the fact that Capella has opened up the retreats to non-Capella students. That only happened fairly recently.

    Cheers,
    Adrienne
     

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