The Sonikcycle Syndicate

On Sunday, May 18, 2008, I followed the time-honored UVa tradition of walking the Lawn. I thoroughly enjoyed the pomp and circumstance as I reveled in the ritual of UVa’s Final Exercises. Admittedly, I didn’t have high hopes for the commencement speech, but Hunter R. Rawlings III came through with a well-crafted bit of oration befitting the occasion.

I particularly enjoyed the conferment ritual whereby the dean of each school presents the candidates to the university president who then orally confers the degree and challenges the candidates to do good in the world (he actually makes remarks relevant to each field, e.g. to the MBAs and Commerce grads he said, in essence, “be ethical and don’t steal”). There was something powerful in all of that, I think it has to do with the power of words. It’s one thing to receive a piece of paper that says one is now this, that, or the other, but when combined with the power vested in a verbal proclamation by UVa’s President and Board of Visitors, there’s simply more meaning, at least to me ;o)>>>

Without a doubt, pursuing a doctoral degree was the most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my life. I’m thankful to all who helped me achieve my goal, especially Dr. Who, a.k.a. Steve Whitaker who went well beyond the call of duty as co-chair of my committee!

I do not intend to pursue any more degrees, nor do I intend to blog about this subject ever again, cuz I’m DONE!!!

Alhamdulillah, by the Grace of God, it’s done-done. My dissertatin’ days are over! After a successful defense plus some substantial revisions, I have finished my dissertation. Earlier today, I tied up all of the loose ends and took it to UVa for publishing. Needless to say, I am elated ;o)>>>

For the interested, nay, foolhardy souls among you, feel free to download and peruse the manuscript…

The Impact of Weblogs on the Affective States and Academic Writing of L2 Undergraduates

In the thick of the final crunch and in a procrasti-distracti-nating frenzy, I created a mess o’ loops, here are three of my faves in commemoration of the whole scene…

 

 Bassy [1:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Slo-test [1:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Next [1:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

As it happened, I did have my pants on, and the dark clouds of dissertation crunch have passed. I successfully defended my paper, last Friday, March 28, 2008, and I say “YEAY!!!!” I, like all other doctoral candidates before me, feel as though a tremendous weight has been lifted off my entire being. It’s hard to believe…

I am eternally grateful for the loving support and guidance of my family, friends, and, of course, my committee. Alhamdulillah.

I feel as though I just ran out of my house and onto a busy street, and that if I look down I’ll realize that I forgot to wear pants — I’m not looking down!

READY ABOUT!… COME ABOUT!
Okay, we’re now close hauled on a new tack…

To date, this syndic has posted only whimsically and as the spirit moved. I now find myself wanting to blog more purposefully, if only for kicks and giggles, and to add a different dimension for my posterity to ponder come the distant future.

I shall attempt a more diary-like & Twitteresque approach…

I am now in the final phase of my dissertation: data analysis and discussion. I’m geeked & giddy because I have something to write about, and because I can see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel… well, maybe not THE proverbial light, as that would mean there’s an oncoming train about to deliver a crushing blow, or that I’m passing on to the other side… no, it’s the other light, the light that represents the end of a very difficult task.

At the same time, my excitement is tempered by the mild sinking feeling I get as I thumb through my statistics notes and peruse the pages of the SPSS Brief Guide… oh, how quickly we forget! Fortunately, that sinking feeling is mild enough to be more motivating than panic inducing, and the challenge of it all is just right ;o)>>>

I registered an account with seesmic, today, so I got one more web-based conversation social thingee to be mindful of and to play with… we’ll see if it clicks eh!

Technorati Tags: sonikcycle, dissertation, seesmic, twitter

I started working on my doctoral dissertation the moment I decided to officially Pile it High & Deep under the auspices of UVa, though for the first 2.5 years this work was merely a contemplation of the vague inklings of what was to be. It wasn’t until January ‘07 that I began writing my dissertation in earnest. And it wasn’t until July ‘07 that I fully realized the subtle nuances and powerful effects of procrastination, and the nature of my own dilatoriness.

That procrastination is real, I do not question. But is it always real? Is it possible that what looks like dog shit, smells like dog shit, and tastes like dog shit, ain’t really dog shit? In a word, yes. I won’t ramble on about the psychology of the Big P, but I will share a serendipitous event that gave evidence for cosmic preordination operating under the cloak of imagined procrastination. Here goes…

Weeks and weeks had passed and it seemed as though the only things I had to show for my doctoral self was a respectable Chapter 1, a detailed outline for Chapters 2 & 3, and a boatload of articles and books that I had to digest. More time passed and the emotional roller coaster of disserprocrastitating manifested in manic swings between self-loathing, jubilation, and a devil-may-care-flee-to-the-other-side-of-the-planet attitude. One day, I was chatting with a friend and colleague and he mentioned an author with whom I was not familiar, and, as it turns out, whose work was critical to my dissertation and exactly what I needed to bring closure to my lit review. Here’s the punch: for weeks I felt that I was a pained victim of procrastination, and while some of that P was real, some was only imagined because there was nothing I could’ve known or done to make that conversation happen any sooner. That was the time when I was meant to get it together.

The moral of this story is that procrastination ain’t always what it seems, so don’t let it get to you, and just let the chips fall where they may because things happen when they are meant to happen.

Technorati Tags: dissertation, procrastination, kairos