Pass

I passed my dissertation proposal.... So, now I am officially a doctoral candidate! Woot woot! 

Baby Sneaker came to cheer on her mama :0)

I thought my presentation went really well, but the questioning part afterwards was really hard. I have two advisers who had read my paper prior to my final draft and then two other professors on my committee who had not, one of which was my adviser for my master's project. So basically I know three of the four committee members fairly well and two of them had given me feedback prior to my final draft. Unfortunately, that meant I got a few surprises from that fourth member. 

I wouldn't expect a dissertation proposal defense to be easy, but I didn't think it would be as hard as it was. I was really comfortable with the content of my lit review and the parts of my paper that relate to teaching, but it was hard to answer the questions about the research methods that I selected. This is my first time creating a research proposal so obviously I am not an expert. And, just like other researchers/scholars out there, there isn't always agreement on how to go about certain things. One committee member didn't exactly agree with how I set up my study, but despite that, I still passed. I do have to go back and revise a few parts of my paper, but that shouldn't take too long and shouldn't be too hard. 

Luckily, I am still able submit my Human Subjects application to get that process started because it can take up to 6 weeks to get approved and I would really like to be able to do my first round of interviews before July is over. Then I can go back and revise the necessary parts during that period of time during which I can't start my research anyway. 

I really wish I was completely dunzo with the proposal paper, but I'm glad I passed. 

Phew! 

P.S Anyone watch the Tonys tonight? The first actor from The Book of Mormon who rang Ricky Martin's doorbell is my husband's best friend's brother! We are so proud of him as he is the new lead in the show on Broadway playing Elder Price!!! Go Nic!!