Yes, last night was the night I defended my thesis.
Except it wasn't really defending my thesis, it was presenting on my thesis and my evolution in the program.
Simple enough though, right?
WRONG!!
All of the class "preparation" made me worry about anything and everything that could possibly prevent me from passing (which is detrimental to someone like me who has wicked awful anxiety). I began obsessing about everything; what would I say, how would I say it, and how visual could we be in our presentation? It was ridiculous!
Anyway, because you need to answer three very specific questions, I tried my best to build my narrative around said questions. It was hard, because I knew I needed to include specific language to properly articulate my story in a way that would address and answer those questions.
Blarrrggghhh!
Anyway, I had my budgeting class the night before, so I didn't get home until after 9:30pm. I stared at my closet for awhile before deciding on my outfit, and then made myself go to sleep.
I woke up shortly before 6am, and did a 30min Yoga workout to help me find my center (but it didn't help as much as I'd hoped). I dressed, made my lunch, kissed Sam goodbye, and headed to work.
I spent most of the day filled with nervous energy, taking every chance I had to walk up and down the stairs in my building to burn through some of the nerves.
Since I took a regular lunch hour today, I walked over to the library and picked up a book I really like (Something Blue) so I could read it for the 3rd time since the school year started. It made me feel a bit better.
As I finished off my afternoon veggie tray, I realized I forgot to pack my hard-boiled eggs to snack on before the presentation!
Dang it.
I decided to treat myself to a sandwich from the deli in the cafeteria. Gotta love me some roast beef and provolone!
Finally, I gathered up my materials and headed over to the education building.
Me, Lori and Nikki waited anxiously in the room for our evaluators to arrive (they were late, btw). We had already decided that I was going first (eek!).
Sam had made me an origami sword (to "defend" my thesis with), and I had it paper-clipped to my stack of notes for my presentation.
Bubby was most certainly present (especially in the look on my face!)
Lori was nice enough to snap a pic of my and my title slide.
I was supposed to talk about myself as a community leader, how that led to my project, and how that project will make a difference in larger context.
In a nutshell, I had a teacher when I was in 7th grade who changed my life. Many years later, I realized that she had a need in the classroom that wasn't being addressed. I decided to address it so that I could make sure other students had the opportunity to have the same kind of classroom experience. I became an advocate for the CTE program, which in turn made me an advocate for public education. I'm the leader who notices the details, and am able to point them out to the people who are in a position to make change.
Anyway, stay tuned for my post about Truman's birth story, which provides a more in-depth description of my thesis project!
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