ABD: All But Done

Guess what. This is probably the last (or 2nd to last, after rereading this, haha!) post I will ever write regarding comprehensive exams.

BECAUSE I AM COMPLETELY DONE.

I cannot describe the elation I felt yesterday after being called in after an hour of inquisitive questioning and hearing from my adviser, “Congratulations!” And then from my dissertation chair, “You’re ABD (which we joke stands for “All but done” but really just means you have everything complete but the dissertation)!!” My committee members hugged me and congratulated me, and I just stood there like I was in a dream. It felt like a dream. On the drive back home, the colors of the trees were more vibrant, the sun was brighter, and I read the most un-intelligent/research book I could think of. Sunday night I read “Analyzing Media Messages” while soaking in the tub. Last night, the book did not enter my house.

The one hour of questioning went by fast – and, really, it only lasted about 50 minutes. But they were looking for such specific answers that sometimes, it was hard for me to figure out what they wanted. I would ramble on for about five minutes and then when I finally said what they wanted, they would stop me and say, “That’s fine. That’s what I wanted to know.”

It’s just so…freeing. I’m giving myself today off before I hit the road and start working on my dissertation. Mainly cause…ugh, who wants to work on a dissertation when it’s so beautiful outside??

I was a bit surprised by my post-comps reaction as well. I had a plan to cathartically burn all my notes from comps, but, after it was over, I couldn’t help but think, “Well, it wasn’t really all that bad.”

What I’ve been happy to note is how God has used comps to show me another little piece of myself, something to help me again focus on others. He did it earlier with the buying/selling house fun that we went through this summer, but there was another little facet of knowledge that I took out from my comps experience – besides learning about Scott’s Pi, research methods, and diffusion of innovation theory. But I’ll get to that later this week.

In the meantime, happy (late) Halloween and happy November!!! (And, please shave your legs. There’s apparently a Twitter hashtag about November being a don’t-shave-your-legs month. Um…no. That is all.)