What does it mean?

As I come to the end of the grad school marathon, I feel like I should stop and reflect on the experience. Did I learn anything? What did I learn? What does it mean to me?

Grad school is an achievement in overcoming life circumstances

I had children in my mid-twenties and by the time I turned 30, I had two toddlers. I entered a graduate program after college, but instead chose to begin a family. I enjoyed my family and my career, but I always longed to go back to school, and I knew that when the time was right, that I would do so. My dad was the relative who really helped our family. He helped pay for our house, our children’s education, and a small amount of money was put aside for my education. Years later, I knew the time was right and what I wanted to study and I embarked on a now-or-never-journey.

If I have any regrets, it’s not being able to get my Ph.D., an ambition that has always been in the back of my mind. I always kept my grade point high because I wanted to keep the door open. But I don’t think I have the stamina for 7 more years of study, and I would die in debt, which is not an appealing prospect. Then I think about the practicalities of the degree. Where would it really fit in with my career?

Most of all, I feel that I’m living my life backward. First children and marriage, then school. And now, as a new grad, I’ll launch into my (sort of) young life! We’ll see how it goes!!

Grad school is a celebration of hearing

One of the reasons that I got the cochlear implant is because I knew that one day I would go back to school, and I thought it would make life easier.

I feel like I missed so much of my education. I sat in front of the classroom and was expected to speechread (a skill I was trying to learn) and never heard anything from middle school onward. In college, I used an FM system for the first time, which helped greatly, but it meant that I had to wear a device and could only hear the teacher and not the discussion.

After I got the cochlear implant, I would always go to my kid’s “American Education Week” where parents can sit in the classroom. I got the biggest kick out of being able to hear the teacher and understand the classroom dialogue. My kids were in middle and high school then and didn’t always appreciate having their mother in the classroom. They told me that I couldn’t live my life through them and I had to stop going! I said I deserved “compensatory education” in special ed parlance.

Grad school is my compensatory education! I always love that I can sit in the classroom and hear the teacher and follow the discussion. Of course, I can’t do these things perfectly and I know I miss things. But I feel that I understand most of what is said, and that’s fine with me. I make school so much easier – I don’t have to rely on reading the textbook for all of my understanding. I can listen to what the instructor is saying.

I’m so warped. The opportunity to hear in the classroom is a thrill of a lifetime that never grows old. Just like the thrill of going to the hearing the movies… or hearing the elevator talk to you!

Grad school is learning about work and life

I’ve studied many topics that I never would have otherwise and I’ve read a lot of interesting books and journal articles. As I think back, I feel that I’ve been able to put into practice some of the skills that I’ve learned. I’ve also gained new insight into management, leadership and the dynamics of the work environment that have helped me a new perspective and context for my experiences. I have grown professionally.

Grad school is an academic accomplishment

I will graduate with high honors and I’ve been inducted into the Delta Mu Delta honor society for business and management.

Now, as I begin my last class, I just hope that I can enjoy what I’m learning, that I will not become too overstressed, and that I will finish strong.

Please pray for me.

Ellicott City Labor Day Running Classic

Somehow, I manage to keep running. This year I began running in the early months of the year and then cut my running down to once a week during the 7-week semester. When that was over, I slowly added runs back into my week, running about 1.5 miles with a generous walk/run ratio. Then I built up to 2 miles at a time for weekday runs with 3 miles on the weekend.

At this point in life, I had no desire to increase my base miles or increase the number of times a week I run. My whole goal has been to maintain a very small base. Instead, I've experimented with longer ratios to increase my endurance and added speedwork to the mix. I was trilled that I was able to keep running throughout the buildup to our summer conference and after.

Running add so much to my quality of life, and I believe that I feel better, think better and function better on the days that I run. This is no longer simply a personal belief or a fuzzy notion that I've encapsulated in my personal philosophy of "yin and yang" in which I seek to counterbalance the mental activity and stress of work and school with the opposing physical activity of running (and swimming and biking). It is now backed by scientific evidence in the book "Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain" by John Ratey and Eric Hagerman that suggests that exercise affects the brain cells in specific ways that boost our mood and improve our focus.

I've put aside racing because my mileage is so low...but of course, I couldn't resist a 5K and scheduled the "race of the year" for the end of summer, when I had time to prepare and establish a small, but consist base.

Ellicott City Labor Day Running Classic

I'd known about this race for a long time, but somehow never ran it because I was in the midst of preparing for other races and it didn't fit into my mileage or schedule. This year, they offered a new 5K route in effort to attract runners interested in a shorter distance.

The fluorescent yellow race shirt left something to be desired. Although wearing the race shirt on race day is supposed to be bad juju and one shouldn't wear a shirt unless it is earned by running the race, I decided to eschew these traditions and wear the shirt that I probably wouldn't wear anywhere else.

The race is held at the Shrine of St. Anthony, which is located on the IronGirl bike route. I'd ridden past this many times in training and racing and even driving along the route always brings back IronGirl memories.

The entire race was well run, from the volunteers that guided our parking on the grass surrounding the monastery, to the abundant and helpful announcements, to the well-positioned course marshals and the post-race food.

The event organizers made clear in the race materials and at packet pickup that half of the route was on paved roads and half was on paths. However, it was much more of a trail run than originally described and was very different than the wide, smooth paths through the woods that I'm accustomed to running on. The trail that winds through the woods on the property is narrow and the ground ranges from spongy material to a solid dirt path with tree roots emerging. The volunteers had done a wonderful job of spray painting the roots so that people like me would not trip over their own feet and there was plastic tape so that people would not wander off the path.

The trail run provided interesting mental and physical challenges that kept me focused as I navigated the uneven and changing terrain and avoided the spraypainted roots. It a nice diversion that kept me externally focused and prevented me from thinking about myself and my fatigue during the race.

I did an 2/8 ratio throughout the race and from the beginning, I found myself in competition with another middle-aged portly man who seemed older than me. I would run forward and then he would catch up and pass me. He also was using a walk/run strategy, although his walks were shorter and did not seem to fall according to any pattern. During the middle of the race on the trail he charged ahead and was a good distance in front of me as I focused on navigating the trail.

Normally, I follow the ratio strictly, with a rule that I must run when the walk interval ends, even if that is a hill...but the hills on the trail and the grassy portions were unexpectedly steep and I found myself walking up a few. I was glad to be out of the woods, but knew I would encounter one last hill as we climbed toward the finish. It was there that I passed the older man who was my personal competitor. I still had energy in my tank as I charged toward the finish and conquered the final hill. Due to the terrain and the hills, my time was much slower than it ordinarily would have been, but I was satisfied all the same.

Running into the Future

Will I be able to keep running into the fall? I don't know. I'm headed into a very busy fall with work and school. I'm strategizing ways that I can keep my momentum, rather than continue the cycle of stopping and starting as I've done over the past several years. I am anxious to complete the grad school marathon, and to move on to other things in life...but I worry that my running ambitions could be eclipsed by age and injury. We'll see what the future holds.

Of Kindle Paperwhite and TaQualla Butler, the United Airlines Kindle Angel

I left my Kindle Keyboard 3G in the seat pocket on a United Airlines flight from Baltimore to Denver in December. I couldn't believe that I'd been so careless. We filed a missing item report but after reading Steve Silberman's blog, I quickly lost all hope in getting it back. I deactivated my device and went on with life...and even got a wonderful new Kindle.

 

But then a month later, TaQualla Butler tried to send a document to my Kindle account. A quick web search showed that this is her modus operandi. TaQualla Butler is a United Airlines Kindle angel who reunites devices with their owners. She sends a document to a Kindle account to let the owner of the device know that United Airlines has located the device and to ask the owner to make arrangements to have the device sent back to them. A week later, the device was back in my hands, or rather, my husband's because I gave him my old Kindle. I am now enjoying the latest and greatest device...

 

Kindle Paperwhite

When I left my Kindle on the plane, I felt guilty about being so careless, so I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a replacement and I resolved to get one of the lower-end models. I originally was going to get the regular Kindle for just $69, but then when I read the reviews on Paperwhite on Amazon, I was convinced to spend more money and get the new Kindle Paperwhite for $119 model.

I am loving it. I immensely enjoy the light on the device that allows you to read in bed without disturbing anyone - and without the need to attach a separate light. Another advantage to having backlight text is that the lighting is even across the entire pad, unlike a clip-on light. The light feature allows you to read in any lighting condition, from a dark room to outside in the sunlight.

I also really like the touchscreen, which makes the device easy to use and similar to other touchscreen on other devices like a cell phone, etc. The touchscreen makes it easier to access the dictionary and look up definitions and to make notes, etc., just by pressing and holding the screen over the word or phrase.

The Paperwhite has a very simple shape and it feels nice to hold. Because of this, I don't have a cover for the device yet and I'm in no big rush to get one.

I was a bit leary about getting a device with "special offers," i.e., advertising, but the ads are not that distracting. In fact, I admit that I sort of like them. All the Kindles sold in stores have special offers; if you absolutely don't want any offers, then you need to buy directly from Amazon for $20 more.

There are certain design considerations that users should know about. For example, there is no audio on this Kindle, unlike my older model. Audio is now available only on the high-end Fire device. In addition, there is less storage, so you need to keep more on the cloud.

And of course Jeff Bezos' marketing is great with a personal letter to tell you what a great purchase you made.

In summary, I think a key deciding factor is: Where do you like to read books? If you like to read books in bed in the dark, Kindle Paperwhite is for you. The device is by my bedside and I just reach over and grab it if I'm awake at night or first thing in the morning on weekends so that I can get in a little reading before cycling or running. Kindle is helping me beat my winter blues.

Grad School By The Numbers

 

There has been rumbling in some quarters that I “try too hard and study too much” and I “do extra credit.” To respond to these notions, I’ve put together an educational post designed to shed light on the grad school workload. There are NO opportunities for extra credit in grad school. One earns grades from the required assignments and everything is graded on a rubric.

I’d like to debunk the notion that I “try too hard.” On my first assignment for class #2, I realized that I’d spent several hours doing the wrong assignment and then proceeded to quickly do the correct assignment and hand it in. I got the top grade. I was surprised to hear that this was not the case for my peers who were complaining that their case study papers were considered not long enough and there was not enough information provided in the case study to work with (but did you know about Google? It’s a very useful research tool). I do, however, put more effort into high-value assignments for instructors that have strict grading requirements.

This semester was one of my most difficult semesters ever for multiple personal and professional reasons. For the first time in my current job, I decided to take 2 classes because both are completely online (saving travel time) and one was easier. The second 7-week class ran concurrently with the first 14-week class and began in mid-semester when the first was well underway and major projects were due.

By the Numbers

Class #1

• 1,500 words weekly for several essay response questions and a journal entry
• 50 words weekly for discussion board
• 100 pages of reading a week
• 28 total double-spaced pages for final paper (plus reading and researching to gather information for paper; 15 pages minimum, excluding title and reference pages) 
• 12 total double-spaced pages for 3 short papers (plus reading journal article that formed the basis for the papers; 9 pages required, excluding title and reference pages)

Class #2

• 120 pages of reading each week
• 300 words weekly for discussion board
• 14 total double-spaced pages for final paper (plus reading and researching to gather information for paper; 10 pages minimum, excluding title and references)
• 8 single-spaced pages for business case studies
• 5 PowerPoint slides for group project (plus 3 conference calls and reading to develop slides)

The Result

My grade point streak continues!! I now have 3 more classes to complete and will graduate in December 2013 or May 2014.