I AM DONE!!!
after reading for about 8 hours/day since sunday i had my final oral exam today - and just breezed through the 40 minutes! i knew every study mentioned, every theory and hypothesis and mentioned the newest research in the area - yay!!!!! i got a distinction in my MA thesis from my one examiner (the second one - grrrrr, not) and distinctions in the oral and written exams!

i fulfilled my conditional offer for UCL (thank goodness), leaving for holland in half an hour, then on the ferry on sunday!!! then i will start on my second MA... (have to to get ESRC funding)

tomorrow i've got a farewell cake party at work, then will spend hours printing and binding my thesis and sending it to interested people (while i can still do that for free, haha), backing up my data onto external hard drives. saturday me and my parents are going to amsterdam (*sniff* farewell holland) for a day out.

yay, after so many years: i have finally gotten my first degree!!!8-)

That is great news Swantje! Well done. We all suspected that things were going to turn out this great for you, after all the work and dedication you put into it. Congratulations. Now that everything is done and dusted we just hope that you'll keep in touch. (up)

TG, you did it! it's finished! Of course that the world as we know it can implode thanks to the experiments in the particle accelerator in Switzerland, but that is completely besides the point that you have done the work and reported it in your thesis, in time. Go have a well deserved weekend off and enjoy. 8-)

Lara, good luck with today's writing. We really need to get our respective chapters 3 out of the way soon. Come on, let's go for it *battle face*

Mi writing is not going terribly bad, but it's still painfully and frustratingly slow. I really need to speed it up now. I am however very hungry now and I'm going to break for some food.

Talk soon, :-)

TG well done!! you really deserve a nice weekend break, how sweet of your bf. hope you have a lovely time! and good luck with the submission on tuesday. i bet you cant wait till its all over, what do you have plans for next week after submission?
dont cancel that car just yet, i might still need it!! lol

Swantje, well done!! you must be so relieved. you did fantastic during the oral exam. you must reward yourself and relax now.

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Armendaf, looks like its you and me now left in the running! lol at battle face comment that was funny :-)

but yah, lets blow this chapter 3 out of the water (or whatever the phrase is!) :-s

i just had some food too, now i have glued myself to the chair and will work for the next 2 hours and then take a little break.

i really want to finish chapter 3 today :-s

Hi Lara, I'm still at it, but have had enough for tonight I think, I'm pleased enough with my progress on chapter 1.

Hope you and Armendaf get your chapter 3s out of the way - what does a battle face look like btw? I was imagining :-s but maybe that's a just a normal PhD face!

Tractorgirl, hope you have a great weekend, you really deserve it!

Swantje, you're starting another MA and you've literally just finished this one???!! You didn't fancy doing a PhD then...?

Hope you all do a good night's work, and see you in the morning.

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======= Date Modified 11 Sep 2008 22:00:11 =======
Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking when I made the comment about the battle face: something like :-s but with blue paint as in Braveheart... kilts are optional ;-)

Lara and Rubyw, it seems like you are cruising through the thesis. Fair play t'ya! you'll see the back of it in no time.

As I predicted, didn't make as much progress as would have liked to, but at least I finished the subsection I was stuck with and started the following one which is half done but not edited; so not too difficult to pick up again. But that's going to have to be left for tomorrow because I'm tired and I need a shower, dinner and some down time before going to bed... and then off to work again tomorrow, at least no teaching :p

Lara, good luck if you are braving the night shift (Jays, you are my hero!) I'll keep an eye on the forum before going to bed to see how you are doing.

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Good luck with getting everything done you need to tonight, Lara. Hope you manage to get a good night's sleep after. :-)

Hi,

Just to say well done Swantje!!! Also well done to everyone on the night shift. I have been doing some reading before tomorrow as i still feel i have missed a load of stuff!!! I know i am not thinking straight as the sup say it is ok, i just feel i should be doing more!! Anyway, am definitely signing off now, i just wanted to give anyone still on the night shift some encouragement and to say i hope it is going well. Lara and Armendaf: Well done for getting so much done today and best of luck for tomorrow and the weekend. PS Hope you are not staying up too much longer, and that you get a good nights sleep

yay!
just spent a few hours printing out the thesis and sending it off to people who asked for it...puh! knackered.

rubyw: i did want to start a phd now, but for funding reasons i first need to do a research master (1 year), then i can start on the phd (3 years). my MA isn't ESRC-approved (well, it's german, so that's not surprising) and so it would have been very hard to get +3 funding without having done an ESRC-approved MA first. so this way i get 1+3 funding.

Morning all,

I'm not cruising through this either, it's a horrendously tortuous process at the moment. Yep Lara, wading through a swamp sounds about right. We are swamp things. Oh well, even tacky B movie monsters emerge from the black lagoons and swamps eventually, don't they, so there is hope for us normal humans!! At least you did the table even though it took ages, it would be such an easy thing for an examiner to spot a sloppy mistake in it, if you hadn't done it right - so you've saved yourself from doing another correction in the future!

Armendaf I was wondering that too, when are you planning to submit? I'm scheduled for Jan 09, or Feb at very latest and then my time is up!!! It's now or never, as Elvis puts it so very succinctly. Loads of time compared to you two, but have to be careful and stick at it, as juggling it with work needs seriously rigorous timetabling etc.

Anyway, I'd better get on with it, I need to try to get this chapter done and another started by end of Tuesday. See you later.

======= Date Modified 12 Sep 2008 12:41:05 =======
Thanks walminskipeas !! you're so kind
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Hi Ruby :-) lol at your swamp anectode lol

yes you have plenty of time so you can just work consistently and slowly get through all the chapters, you are doing really well! i wish i had started on my thesis as early as you. so well done you (up)

you're right about the table thing. thanks for that.

well i cant remember what time i stopped, i think it was around 2ish. i was knackered, and hungry then got something to eat, and then afterwards had no will to carry on so went to bed. woke up around 11ish and takes time for me to actually wake up. now i am going to work on the 3rd figure which hopefully wont take too long and then i can be on the next section. i just have to keep working on the chapter section by section and then it will be done. i am aiming to get it finished by this evening. but who knows how long its really going to take!!
glad to have the company today Ruby :-)
and it must be hard juggling work commitments and writing thesis like you and Armendaf have to do.
love that song by Elvis hehe. i once went to an "elvis" concert, it was his concert footages and they had a live band, if you didnt look for him on stage, it felt like you were at an elvis concert hehehe. was really cool. although i did keep looking on the stage for him hahaha.

anyways late start for me.
wow cant believe its friday already. days are just zooming past arent they?
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Tractorgirl thanks so much for your message! hope you have a great time in Wales.
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Swantje, again well done on completing your MA and good luck with the next one!
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Armendaf, how are you ?
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And hello to anyone else reading this *waves* and working today on their thesis. feel free to drop by and post a message declaring your aims for today or your progress
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My aims:
complete results section of chapter 3 :-s

Hi Girls,

I'm in my lunch break now, but I have a meeting afterward and some more work to do before going home to resume writing. I think I might be joining the night shift, need to make it up for.

I haven't heard from my supervisor yet, but there shouldn't be a problem getting the Dean's Grace. So, my deadline for submission is the last day of October. I've been planning on having the thesis fully written by the end of September (already running late there) so I can deal with formatting, printing, and perhaps some minor corrections in October before handing it in. I can't wait to see the back of it :-s

You know what is the best thing about sorting tables for the thesis, Lara? That when you are done sorting them out, the only thing you need to do is to describe them in the thesis. They actually function as a map for your arguments and make writing a bit easier. So, it's time well spent ;-)

Rubyw, you are doing great and you have time, just do not stop. What ever little thing you do everyday is fine and helps you keep the momentum.

I'm off to my meeting now... talk soon

:-)

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Hi Armendaf! thanks for the advice regarding the table, you are so right! it does make it easier.

and you dont have to "write as much".

and i have just finished subsection 1 (out of 3) of my results section for chapter 3.
i now have 2 more sub-sections left, i must get them finished by tommorow morning. that's my deadline!!

so yes count me in for the night shift for sure!

that's a good idea about getting your thesis written by end of september. and good that you will get an extention. cool!.

thats a nice artifical deadline to give yourself. and plus i am happy to have the company on the train for deads-ville!!

i am clocking out now for a break (today have done about 3 hours of productive work), going to eat something, and then tackle section 2. :-s (i love that face)

okay i am clocking in for the evening shift.

anyone else around?

it's going to be a lonnnnnnnnnnng night! but will take a ickle little break after 2 hours. okay time to get cracking.

how was everyone else's day?