Grad apps are death
My first final deadline for graduate school applications is the 1st of December - and my thesis chapter is not finished. Oops. After revising outlines and reviewing notes, I think I’ve managed to destroy several sections of the first copy. I have a much clearer idea of how I’m arguing certain points, especially when it comes to using statistical analyses, which should help make the paper sound more intelligent. Sifting through all the sources, rewriting notes and staring into space while pondering what I’ve just read are all critical to my “process” for writing this giant paper. Unlike Bones, I actually like time to sit and wonder about these subjective things. (Maybe if I were a real scientist, I would have a quicker reaction time to analysing data.) As far as my style edits went, I can’t tell if the prose has become more interesting. The sections will be reviewed by my advisor, and I’m sure she’ll leave some comments about it.
I’m resentful of graduate school applications at the moment, because they are rushing me. And they cost so much. Sheesh.
By the way, there are spies everywhere, many of them with red hair…
I can’t say I’ve made much progress on anything other than editing the draft. I need to delve deeper into the various databases and search engines to see if I can find a nice book or two that will help illustrate the general immigration trends in Quebec from the early twentieth century to present. I need to be able to contextualize Haitian immigration and talk about why certain immigration policies or certain reactions would have been important in the history of immigrant relations there. However, no-one seems to have written a general immigration history about Quebec, and the Canadian ones seem geared toward women, youth/second-gen, or policy matters rather than just description. It feels like the more I write, the more sources and facts I want to check up. The researching never stops! I wish time could stop so I would be able to get through all the articles and books I need to read…
Short and sweet this week: 1) Revise chapter for grad apps [[Sent for edits… We’ll see how that goes.]] ; 2) Find some immigration books/chapters/articles [[Check! Now to read them…]]; and 3) keep on trucking. Hopefully I will get comments back for the chapter, and otherwise won’t soil the beauty of a Real Vacation (to grandmother’s house we go…)
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This rang so true to my ears: “I wish time could stop so I would be able to get through all the articles and books I need to read…” The comforting thought (to me, at least) is that this is still an undergraduate thesis. When it comes time to write a dissertation, whether on this topic or another, time/life actually WILL stop (for a year or so) UNTIL those articles and books have been read. At some point, I feel, you just have to settle for what is feasible.
With that said, keep on truckin’.