Yay! Congrats Ethel 😉 I'm still around, just didn't do anything this past year. But, I'm back at it next week!

This has happened to me too.

I"m getting this error pretty frequently the last two days with Firefox. ETA: I got it twice when trying to post this reply.

I am sorry to hear about this! I hope they can come up with something so it doesn't really mess up your programs.

Good luck everyone! I am finally back in the fray. I have replaced the two committee members I am losing and and thrilled with them. These two are taking over my major and minor areas, which this late in the program is a big step. The major area/chair prof is my Native American lit professor, who I have worked with a lot. The new minor area is a wonderful professor I've known since I started grad school. Both are very enthusiastic and very hands on/involved, especially since I'll be prepping for comps to be taken in the fall. I'm majorly relived and actually excited about things again. I am doing two classes this semester and they are my last two classes! I have one more Native American lit class and an architecture history class that is focused on American homes from the colonies to now.

That's awesome, congrats!! 🎈

WOOHOO! That's awesome! 🤸‍♀️

I SO dislike those precise word limits. In an intro art history course once, the TA marked a paper down from an A to a B because I ran over like 20 words. I wanted to start throwing desks.

There will always be other classes. You did the best thing. Take care of yourself and wishing you the best!

That would drive me nuts, especially not putting things up till Tuesday. LEt me guess, that Monday can't be used as the 'end of the week' beause stuff is due Sunday?

Glad things are off to a great start Ethel! As for exams, Debbie, just pace yourself. It will be stressful, but you'll get through it 🙂 As for me, well y'all know of the committee implosion. I decided to take this semester off so I have time to reorganize it and figure out if I need to pick a new focus/direction, since the professor overseeing my general dissertation idea is the one who left in June. Classes start here on Monday and already it feels weird that I won't have any.

I agree with Mom22ns. Graduate degrees/writing that thesis/dissertation take passion in the topic and sounds like you have that fit.

I get the fear that comes with comps. I decided to delay mine while I figure out what the heck is going on with my committee and whether this means a big direction change for me. I'm likely taking the semester off.

Thanks! I'm taking Fall semester off while I sort this all out. I'm going to delay comps till spring.

He's got some leads, one with the manager of a department his group was in before they were moved 🙂 There are even more changes. I got another email....another member of my committee is leaving to go take over the film department at Univ. of Utah, leaving end of June. The big thing is that the dissertation topic idea we've been planning is his area of expertise. I spent a few days pretty lost and still am, sort of. It's really rare for a committee to blow up like this but it's a big deal. At this point, I'm thinking of taking the semester off completely while I regroup. I can delay the exams and just fly back here to do them, but I think a break is a good idea. In the meantime, it means I can actually read books for pleasure this summer, at whatever speed I want, without having to take copious notes on them 🙂 Also, I have time to get to the gym often, which should ease the mountain of stress that's hit. But this is me this past week or so:

What a difference a week or 2 makes! My summer plans have changed radically. J (hubby) was working as full time IT staff but on contract. The IT dept on campus has reorganized several times int eh last year (don't even get me started on this) and his group has been part of 4 different areas in a year. Now, they are consolidating, so his contract wasn't renewed. Granted, he thinks it was due to the fact he hasn't graduated yet and does not have his official degree, but that doesn't change our situation. It was like the first domino falling. Because of this, we had to drop the mortgage loan we have in processing - it was a pre-qual so no real house involved at least. I dropped that summer class. He only has 3 classes to finish, but one of them here was not till Spring. We found it online via the Univ. of Maryland and his department has approved it. He can do it this summer and graduate in December. The reason we want him done by December is that we've decided to move back south to be closer to my brother and his family. Them and us are about all that is left of this branch. The fact that he lives at the beach, and in my favorite city on earth, is a big plus 🙂 Nothing like suddenly-changing circumstances to make you realize what you want. We are supremely tired of snow and cold. Things changed rather radically for me too. I got an email from my Ph.D. committee chair yesterday in which he told me he is retiring after the upcoming spring semester - i.e. before I'm done. What that means is getting another chair or moving one of the current members to that spot and shifting my focus. I could do that, but it was just one more thing on top of everything else. So, we've decided to schedule my comp exams for the end of this fall semester. I wiil still need a couple of classes to finish out the required coursework credits, but I can do those after we move and transfer them back here. At that point, I will just be writing the dissertation and I can do that anywhere. It also gives me all summer and fall to prep for them. Whew! What a whirlwind these last 2 weeks have been. The idea of comps is scary but at least I have plenty of time to get ready. It means two four-hour written exams, then an oral exam, then discussing my dissertation proposal. The good thing is that if I'm iin Charleston (SC), the historical resources are vast and I could more easily write about that area than I could if I'm still out here.

Yay, Congrats!! That's awesome and well-deserved 🙂 🤸‍♀️🎈

Financial Accounting II condensed into 4 weeks. 2.5 hours a day mon-thur.

I turned in one paper yesterday. One more and I just finished making the notes on it. I'll whip it up tomorrow and send it in. This one is for dissertation research hours, which is pass/fail. While that takes the pressure off, it sorta takes away the ambition too 🙂

Congrats all and good luck in the interview Ethel! I can relate to the age...I'm debating filling in some accounting classes on the side to sit for the CPA exam and I'll be that age when I get to the exam.. 🙂 I decided I needed something marketable in case we end up somewhere that college teaching jobs are few.

Ohhh I hate that crap about never giving certain grades. If a student earns it, more power to them but to purposely refuse an A 'just because' is criminal in my opinion.

Starting wind down too...but April is nuts. I have three papers to write: 30 pg, 10 page, and one about 5 pg.

A summer break is always a good thing! I purposely don't schedule classes in the summer so I can get to books I need to read that relate to my program but aren't part of class. This summer I"m doing an EMT class in June with my middle child.

We started registration for Fall semester yesterday and there isn't a single class available that I need or have on my Ph.D. plan. Fall is always lean on offerings for some reason and spring semester always has like ten that I want/need. I can usually find something in the fall but this one...I'm digging for something worthwhile and I don't want it to be a waste of money/student loans. I still need about 20 credits worth of classes before comps.

Just finished mine and I was pretty lazy, which was nice. We've had record snow here in February (30 inches) and I was so happy to see sun and warm temperatures! The snow...is still everywhere but melting. But...wee had so much 2 of the gym roofs at out huge fitness center collapsed, so it's all closed the rest of the semester. I did several days at the animal shelter where III volunteer with the girls. It was lovely going in and spending two hours just petting the cats 🙂 This will be my last laz streak this semester though. April is going to be nuts.