This week I'm headed up to Minneapolis to attend the National Recreation & Park Association Conference. I'm presenting some of my research on family recreation Wednesday morning. Then I'm going to spend the rest of the time networking, networking, networking. Trying to see what's out there in terms of faculty positions for next fall. It's a little overwhelming to think that I have to start putting my name out there and really thinking about where we want to end up. It seemed like just a few short months ago that I was starting this doctoral program and just a few short weeks ago that Jeff and I got married. But really I've been in Bloomington for 2 years. And now I've got only 14 months left of this doctoral degree and there's so much to do. 14 months may seem like a long time to some people, but it really is going to fly by so quickly. Besides finishing a doctoral degree, what else can be accomplished in 14 months? Let's think....(these are not necessarily things on my list...they're just things I came up with)
1. Train for, run, and recover from approximately 3 marathons.
2. Save enough money to buy a car or put a down payment on a house.
3. Lose 20 pounds safely and effectively (none of this Biggest Loser 3 months thing).
4. Adopt a kitten and watch it grow into a cat. This could also apply to puppies.
5. Thru hike the Appalachian Trail 3 times....though that would be CRAZY!
6. Refresh my French skills.
7. Learn to play an instrument and get pretty good at it.
8. Conceive and have a baby.
hahaha....that's a lot of things that can be done in 14 months. Not necessarily WILL be done by me and Jeff. The sort of mind boggling part of life right now is that there is SO MUCH to accomplish before this degree comes to an end. Here's my checklist:
Finish my last 3 classes EVER (done this december! Woot woot!)
Finish my pilot study (should have been done a month ago, but it's dragging on painfully)
Teach R270 - Inclusive Recreation in the Spring of 2011 (January-May)
Write my dissertation proposal (should be on-going already, I haven't even started)
Send my proposal to IRB and hope it gets approved quickly (January)
Study for qualifying exams (December/January/February)
Take my qualifying exams, passing means I can do my dissertation (February)
Defend my dissertation proposal (March)
Make any required revisions to proposal (April)
Submit revisions to IRB and hope they don't nitpick the changes (April)
Supervise TR summer interns (May-August)
Collect my data (tentatively May-July)
Analyze the data (August)
Teach whatever other class they have assigned to me in Fall 2011 (September-December)
Write, write, write (September/October)
Defend dissertation (November)
Graduate (December 2011)
This time line is assuming that everything will go according to plan...which might be tempting fate. Maybe I should assume that everything will go wrong and have a backup plan for life...you know...just in case. So much to do.......and somewhere in there we have to apply for faculty positions, hopefully be selected as a candidate, go on interviews and WOW them, get an offer, make negotiations, then accept an offer. I feel like the school stuff is totally manageable. I'm a little overwhelmed with the work stuff. Who knew growing up and making adult decisions would be so hard. Lots of things going in the coming year. I hope we can handle them and that Jeff realizes he's in for a crazy ride. Should be an adventure though. :-)
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