Time is flying………

February is almost over and March is hovering over my head, and with it is the deadline I’ve set for myself, April 1st. Ok, this is not an April fool joke. April 1st is the deadline I’ve set for myself to have my thesis completed. At the beginning of this semester, my advisor told me to submit a time line for my thesis. I thought that the deadline to submit the thesis to the office of graduate studies was November 30th for the fall semester so obviously for the spring semester it will be April 30th, only to find out earlier this month accidently that the deadline is actually April 19th. Important lesson to learn here people: Always check the academic calendar at the beginning of each semester to know about the important deadlines and cross them out in bold red.

Now, you might tell me it is just ten days so stop nagging over it. Ahhh, I wish that was the case. These ten days put me two weeks behind on my time line. Before the thesis is submitted to the office of graduate studies, I must present it for review to my thesis committee and defend it in front of them. When I thought that the deadline was April 30th, I had planned to defend by third week of April and then submit it to the committee for review and get it back by final week of April, make the suggested changes and finally submit it to the office of graduate studies. Now since I’ve to submit it by April 19th, I need to defend my thesis before April 5th and submit it for review to get it back by the April 15th and make the necessary changes.

So, I’m looking at late night study sessions and long days in front of my laptop. But at the same time, I’ve decided to give myself an incentive for all my hard work. Once I’ve successfully defended my thesis and submitted it for review to my thesis committee, I am going to buy an air ticket for New York City and plan a trip to New York to see my uncle and cousin in May; something to look forward to when I get extremely frustrated. I think it is very important to award yourself rather than expecting others to acknowledge your hard work.

March will be important for all of us. There is spring break coming up but then also the dreaded mid terms right after that. So, everyone think of an incentive for yourself for all the hard work and late night study sessions, that way you have something to look forward to keep you motivated during the cramming sessionsJ…It does not have to be something big.. Maybe just a night out with your friends or going to a nice restaurant and even something as simple as spending a day making yourself a nice meal and catching up on your favorite show. Post a reply to this blog and let everyone know how you would like to award yourself for all your hard work…And like one of my favorite professor Dr. Brown always says “BEST OF SKILLS FOR THE TEST”