my biggest love-hate relationship

Definition:
Thesis- (verb)the most horrible punishment known to mankind. (also see stupid graduate students for clarification)

But...I survived it! Wahoo! It was a lot of hard work boring days filled with writing and re-writing my drafts. I literally re-wrote every word in most of the document 15 different times. I think it turned out to be a great piece of work and i am excited to try and publish it in a journal.

The process is tedious (that is the understatement of the year). The thesis has to go through about 20 people to get approved with one of them being the dean of the college. I was nervous to leave my paper with him because we were told that he reads every thesis and makes sure they are to his standards.

I heard that several people get rejected at this point. Once he was done reading my thesis his secretary called me and told me it was done and that I could come pick it up from her. She sounded excited on the phone, but I didn't know what to think. I headed up to her office and she just gave me a huge smile when I walked in and said the dean finished your paper and it is ready to go onto the next step. What she said next made me so proud of all my hard work. She opened up my paper to the first page and there was a note from the dean.

She proceeded to tell me that he never leaves notes commenting on how good a paper is and that this truly was a great compliment and that I had accomplished something amazing!

Now Rodney J Brown I don't know you and would have no idea if I walked past you one day, but thank you for taking the time to read my work and make me feel accomplished!

I don't know if I am a master of anything, maybe just a master of staring at my computer for obscene amounts of time, but I do feel like for the first time in my life I am starting to understand what it means to really learn and think, not just regurgitate information then forget it all after the exam.

Now call me sick and twisted, but I truly feel that I need to go on for my PhD. My post was titled my biggest love-hate relationship. I hated the process and the hoops and the back tracking it felt like I did every other day, but I love the accomplishment and feeling that I really can think for myself.

We will see what the year brings, I will most likely apply to the U for their PhD program in athletic training starting fall 2013. That way I can still live in spanish fork and take the commuter train to school everyday. I am excited for my future and I hope to be able to teach young minds what I have learned to help further the field of athletic training.