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So I’m back from vacation (which was wonderful, by the way), and feeling like a new woman! I seriously needed a break from my day to day routine and play for awhile. And play is exactly what I did…the entire vacation. Didn’t read an article, didn’t check an email, didn’t even write a note…and it felt fabulous. Vacation was exactly the re-boot my brain needed to get me through these last three upcoming weeks of class. I am re-energized and ready to wrap up this quarter on a high note.

 

My first priority is to handle the last of my upcoming class assignments, hopefully by the end of this weekend. I’ll then concentrate on my two final papers for the remainder of the quarter. It is truly amazing how quickly this Autumn has passed us by – it is already nearly Thanksgiving.

Sunday Q and A

Q: Is it wise to schedule a mid-quarter vacation?

A: This is a tough one that really depends on personal style and commitment to the idea of a mid-quarter break. I would advise that if at all possible students should limit vacations to quarter (or semester) breaks and/or other scheduled time off from school — the decision, of course, is entirely in the hands of the person considering the vacation.

I am heading out on a mid-quarter vacation next week. I planned very carefully for this time off. First, I was sure to schedule it around a holiday — a holiday that falls on my regular class day. That means I won’t be missing any critical class time, nor will I have any readings or papers due that week. Second, for both of my classes, I had to work hard to get myself to a point where I could actually take time off and not have to drag a ton of homework with me, or worry about writing a paper in the middle of my “me” time. As mentioned, getting to this point involved setting goals and deadlines and sticking to them, as well as working ahead to complete assignments before the due date.

I also have two major research papers due at the end of the quarter, so it is not like I’ll be heading out completely homework free (I really don’t think any mid-quarter vacation could ever be completely sans-homework). I plan to bring along some articles and my trusty notebook for reading and note-taking on the plane, over coffee, or during some general down time. For the most part, I can rest easy knowing I do not have to spend all my time tethered to my schoolwork.

Fielding questions about graduate school, education, media and all things in between. Got a question for “Sunday Q & A”? Send it in!

Boot camp

As I settle into the bulk of my research for my two quarter-end projects, I am now faced with the issue of organization. While I do consider myself a fairly organized person, with as much article pulling as we do in graduate school, it is very easy for papers and books to pile up…quickly…and all sense of control can seemingly fly out the window. Well, not me.

I am tackling the issue of organization more diligently than in the past because this year I am starting to lay groundwork for my thesis. Organization will be what, frankly, keeps me sane during the whole process.

 

So, where to begin?

 

For me, as tedious as it sounds, the first thing I do is start a running, properly formatted, resource list, which ends up representing some kind of annotated bibliography-end note hybrid. I like to keep tabs on what aspect of my topic, specifically, that resource was pulled for, and why I feel it is useful. I do the same for books. (Honestly, this is my favorite part. I have a strange affinity for formatting references. Isn’t that odd?)

 

The next phase is physical organization. The following can be applied to electronic filing, but as I have noted in the previous blog I am a hard copy girl. It’s my vice. Anyway, for those who need paper copies of everything (like myself), it pays to invest in a good filing system — sturdy Rubbermaid (or its rough equivalent) containers and high quality dividers (not the flimsy kind that can rip easily with a couple of tugs) usually do the trick. At this point, I typically organize the papers by course, but now that my course projects and thesis topic seem to be colliding, I’ll need to revamp my strategy a bit. My plan is to physically organize items much like the annotated bib hybrid — I plan to file them by general topic related to thesis, then by author. It would be good to alphabetize by author, and I’ll probably start off with those good intentions, but I’m not superwoman. And the books? They will probably stay in some kind of neat pile at the end of the dining room table.

 

All of my notes and correspondences will be filed as well. It is extremely important to be sure dates and method of communication are noted. It is also important to keep some kind of file for those articles that you thought would be useful, but end up only being tangentially related. These may come into play at some point in the future and you don’t want to find yourself spending precious time trying to find it.

 

Remember folks — this is just the groundwork phase. I have not even touched on the literature search and possible data collection. Stay tuned for tips!