Almost Done

A family emergency came up last night, so I didn't get to finish the chapter. But that's my goal for today. Thus far today I've written about the contributions my study makes to theory.

Last night I read some interesting stuff about dissertation defenses in Swales new book Research Genres. One interesting suggestion he had about the speech the candidate gives: don't summarize the dissertation there. Apparently having a speech where you talk about things the committee hasn't already read a "personal odyssey" helps to create the right atmosphere. Will have to work on that later.

Back, on to the Last Chapter

My job interview trip went well. Everyone there was nice, it seems like a nice location, nice students. At least another week before I find out if they want to offer me the job, though.

Today I went back to attacking the last chapter. I need to finish it by tomorrow night. Once that happens there could be a short break before the defense. It would be nice if a job offer came before the defense.

Getting Ready for a Talk

On Thursday I go to another campus visit. Lately I've been working on coming up with the perfect presentation to give there. Since that doesn't seem to be happening, I've switched to working on a decent presentation. Let's just hope the people there are impressed by what I have to say.

Edging Ever Closer

Got a couple chapters back from my advisor yesterday and revised them. I also updated the acknowledgments section and I am now working on getting the leader dots right in the table of contents. It's the little things like leader dots that suck up a lot of time when you really need to finish in a hurry.

Date Set

April 18, 2005 10 am to noon.

That's the unofficial date for my dissertation defense. It can't be official yet because I still need to:

-- get final confirmation from all parties that this time and date works for them

-- get chapters back from my advisor and revise them

-- finish writing the last chapter

-- distribute the penultimate version of the thesis to each committee member

-- submit the form asking the graduate school for permission to schedule the final exam

But all that will happen soon.

Lunch

I stopped by the ABC lab to say hello to people I know there since it's been a while since I stopped by. I talked to Hiroshi and had lunch with him. We talked for a while about what it is like to live in the San Francisco Bay area since he was there last summer and has been given an offer to return there this coming summer. It was a very nice conversation.

Last Chapter

Chapter 3 is done now. I just have to print it off and turn it in to my advisor tomorrow. Even though it's chapter 3, it is the fifth one, of the six that will be in the thesis that I have written. The six chapters were written in this order:

chapter 2
chapter 1
chapter 4
chapter 5
chapter 3

It just seemed easier to write them in non-linear order.

I have also started writing the last chapter. I should be able to write it in a few days. It will be nice to have at least drafted all the chapters before going on my next campus visit. I don't know how long it will take my advisor to read them and pass them back to me, but as long as I file the paperwork to schedule a defense before April 8, everything should be fine. The defense itself needs to be on or before April 22, and the final copy that goes into cold storage in the library needs to be deposited by April 29.

It's all within my grasp.

Defense

A friend of mine in the same cohort in ESL here at Purdue has his defense scheduled for April 8. This is a good inspiration.

I will finish another chapter today and move on to the last chapter tomorrow.

Also, another school called me yesterday to invite me to visit campus. Employment after graduation is looking increasingly possible.

Texas and Chapters Back

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were spent travelling to a job interview in another state. I think they liked me and I liked them. There is certainly a need for a second language writing specialist there. Perhaps I'll hear something from them in a few short weeks.

Today I got two chapters with comments back from Bud, one of my readers. His comment: the content and organization are fine -- clear & straightforward.