School's Out!

Good intentions and all that, I still don't seem to have gotten the hang of this regular blogging thing. But schools out, and I'm done with coursework! Well, almost--I have planned to take one more teaching course in the fall.

But my core coursework is done...all I have ahead of me, before I can officially start on the dissertation phase is...(cue Jaws music)...Comprehensive exams. What is that you're asking? Just an opportunity to show that I've absorbed and synthesized everything I’ve been taught in the past two years. We’ll be getting two questions on Monday, July 23, and will have 48 hours (and a page limit) within which to respond.

In the mean time, my cohort as been attempting to review all of our core coursework, but we have not done as well as we had hoped in terms of formal review. We do have a 4 day ocean-retreat planned for a couple of weeks from now, but I’m still nervous. (And frankly, tired of all the people saying “you’ll do fine,” I think that creates as much anxiety as it attempts to dissipate!)

The up side of all this is that, for a little while at least, my schedule is somewhat opened up for the first time in ages. Yes, I have that studying hanging over me, but no formal writing or reading to do, and I’m only working three days a week….which is two days more than I have been working.

So hopefully, I’ll have more things happening worth posting about (I have a recent experience which I need to get on paper soon), and more time and energy to actually post, not just think about posting.

I’d say “watch this space,” but I don’t want to set myself up.

---

And in different news, I’ve been accepted into the Palliative Care Fellowship at the VA. I’m not sure exactly when it will start, probably in September or October. It’s for nine months, and I’m really, really looking forward to this experience.