1.4.10 - Wow, getting close!

Less than 60 days left, people and deep into J-term. Ahhhh, J-term. Where men and women are made, where theses are forged from the raw material of research. SO excited!!! Pray for me that I keep my energy up - I feel like I could build a house right now (if I knew how to build a house...).

The time has come to WRITE!! :)

Target date: 4 March, 2010 17:00

Added 4 January, 2010 from web

11.3.09 - addendum

I have officially named my thesis Usnavy, pronounced, "Oooze-NAH-vy." It is actually used as a baby name in Cuba for boys, because Cubans read the side of a U.S. Navy ship and wanted to name their kid after it. Usnavy it is. :)

Added 3 November, 2009 from web

11.3.09 - Archives research WIN!!!

As I settled into the professional-looking research table at the Harvard Archives, I had no idea what I would find in this published thesis I held in my hands. I had awaited opening the pages for a LONG time, and after a few weeks of procrastination / library mishaps, FINALLY I was ready to research this promising compendium of information which a student exactly like myself had compiled a mere 8 years before me. And I had the BEST, most revelatory experience in reading only the first 30 or so pages of that thesis! I gained new insights, new perspectives on my thesis question, and generated several hundred new questions which helped, ironically, to focus my thesis on what I'm interested in: organizational capacity for change. I answered many questions I had previously held about the "whys" of Castro allowing Catholic organizations into Cuba, which was AWESOME, because it means that now I can move onto the other parts of my thesis research and start organizing and compiling data!! It's gonna be a long road ahead, but it's moments like this that make it worth the effort!! And now, I'm gonna go engage in a celebratory dance to Jay Sean's "Down" - it's been a GREAT day, folks!!! Thank God!!! :)

Target date: 4 March, 2010 17:00

Added 3 November, 2009 from web

10.26.09 - post-thesis meeting

Today was a great day for my thesis. Met with my thesis adviser, and he reminded me for the umpteenth time that I need to send out those emails to professors asking for contacts to interview and resources to use. This project is becoming more and more exciting to me as I get more and more involved in the research, and I'm SO excited to see what God will give me in the way of resources. Praise Him that I have an excellent adviser and the resources of a great school (and the VATICAN) to work with!! :D

Target date: 4 March, 2010 17:00

Added 26 October, 2009 from web

10.22.09 - The nitty gritty thesis research....

And so, my thesising begins in all its grand splendor at the most convenient time of 3:30 am this morning. I was a MACHINE, researching on EBSCOhost, printing out articles, preparing for my literature review due next week. Thank God for Dunky's coffee. :)

*sniff sniff* - do you smell that? I LOVE the scent of thesis work being done in the morning!!! It smells like my favorite, especially-popular-in-New-England coffee chain. :)

Target date: 4 March, 2010 17:00

Added 22 October, 2009 from web

Thesis Countdown!

Hello all!

This site is mostly to serve as the epic remembrance of the single most ambitious academic endeavor of my entire college career! Enjoy with me my trials, successes, and amusements as I try to make sense of Vatican-Cuban relations in the post-JPII era!! :)

Target date: 4 March, 2010 17:00

Added 20 October, 2009 from web

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