Elated!

It's been a long road - with cold weather, no sleep, homesickness, crusty books. But my results came today and I am graduating with my Masters, with Distinction. And you have all been there through my adventures - scholastic and otherwise so I had to share my happiness with you. I am really thankful to have made it through with my sanity, with great times and awesome people. Thank you for making me smile and keeping me off the brink.

Cheers! I can soooo use a freakin' caipirinha right now!

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Blazin' over that Finish Line

One year ago, I quit my job and made plans to hop on a plane to London to commit 12 months of my fabulous life to academia, stress and chill here in London.

Today I submitted my Master's dissertation, ultimately ending my life as a student - re-entering normal adult life. I am ecstatic. It is raining like a mofo here but there is sunshine in my heart.

I am frickin' DONE! There are simply no words to describe this amazing feeling. No words.

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Challenging and Channelling Awesome

Just a bit of light reading

Though it may seem lately that I am Miss Fun in the Sun and Miss Sex and the City, in reality, I am still a Master's student. That has not changed. I am still unsalaried and unable to even buy my favourite mascara (£10, Boots! Really?) and more importantly, bound to academia. While I may not have classes, which gives me significantly more free time than I had in the first two terms, allowing me to have a life, I am still often sitting behind the laptop, reading PR journals and stalking PR groups and people. It's just that writing about that is not always fun or interesting - not as interesting as salsa dancing. lol. I have been doing a lot of the PR stalking  recently as I try to overcome the most niggling hurdle yet - my Master's dissertation.

It is one thing to have to do research, and quite a hair pulling experience when one has to depend on others to complete said research. With my research method being qualitative research by way of in-depth interviews, I am handicapped by the good will or in my case, lack thereof, of my respondents. I have been grinding my teeth over the past month trying to grab 30 minutes of people's time to complete my data collection so I can get started on analysis and presentation. I am NOT a last minute kind of person and I foresee this major speedbump taking me down uncharted waters for me - the last minute hustle.

What is even more maddening is I got my transcripts yesterday for my degree thus far - minus said nightmare of dissertation. There is not a B on that sheet of paper. I should be ecstatic about this, and I am, cause if you have been reading this blog from the start of this adventure, you know through health, illness, thick and thin, I have been very committed as I am to most things in my life. Instead, I am more anxious than happy. I have been trying to forget my stress by going out more and not "sweating the small stuff" but this is not small stuff. This is a headache.

But I am keeping the faith. I just need 5 more interviews - which may sound like easy pickings but right now, from where I am sitting, and after countless attempts, it seems like an insurmountable mountain.

Still, I am awesome...in case I needed to remind any of you. AWE-SOME!

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In the Real World, 5pm is usually Happy Hour

4.45pm. You're sitting chatting with your homie on Facebook - laughing, carefree, animated. Laughing over the Jeopardy video that has had you laughing all day (I have embedded it below)
4.52pm. Your eyes dart from your mobile phone, to the laptop clock, to the alarm clock on your nightstand, to the online alarm you set this morning.
4.55pm - You close the FB conversation so you can focus your attention 100% to the task at hand. Steely determination and focus!
4.57pm - 89 other hopefuls around London are glued to their laptops and library monitor screens, just waiting and praying
4.59 pm - You start clicking on the link in case your clocks are all frickin' slow.
5.00pm - You're still clicking until....there it is...the link that says SIGN UP NOW.

You click.
You're in.
You have signed up.
Success. Is. Yours.

Cartwheels and happy dance.

You have gotten your first choice of dissertation supervisor. lol.

Never in my entire frickin' life has something so un-fun been so damn exciting and somewhat nerve wracking. The above is a true story and not a joke. At 5pm, the entire Marketing class of 2010-2011 waited by their technology to sign up for the man or woman who would either make their postgraduate lives a relief or a nightmare. I can tell you my nightmare is just being here, in school, poor and un-divaesque. Adding a crappy supervisor to the ordeal was really NOT an option. I sat here in my silk PJs, praying to the broadband gods that BT did not pull an internet stunt today of all days. But I was most prepared to sprint up the street to the cyber cafe and rough up somebody's boy chile, body slam him to the ground and close down his porn videos, to get at one of the computers there to make this sign up thing happen.

Speed dialing has nothing on this dissertation sign up process. In less than maybe 8 seconds, the supervisor spaces were filled. Poor you if you did not get there in time. It's not the best system but I recall my undergrad dissertation process. Ummm...there was none. You were told, "Hey you worthless undergrad, this is your supervisor. Enjoy." Luckily for me, my supervisor was awesome. Having the opportunity to sign up for the person you think might suit your dissertation needs best is a privilege, lemme tell ya.

Now that this is over, I can get back to what I was doing before. I am done crying (see below) and done eating, and maybe I can start working.

By the way...what's a ho?

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