Sunday, December 1st

More presentation work!! Think I’ve finished the presentation, just in time for my practice presentation tomorrow!!

Also graded almost all of Lab 9 (missing one that I gave an extension on). I’ll get to that Monday or Tuesday, and then I’m almost done with all TA work!!

Monday, December 2nd

Alright, time for monthly goal-setting! This one should be pretty straightforward. Not easy, but straightforward.

Goal #1: Finish Masters presentation. I’m doing a practice presentation for the lab in a few hours. Feeling decent about the slides, but haven’t practiced the full presentation at all! Hoping to get some quality feedback there.

Goal #2: Update thesis with edits and submit! I’ve already got the un-updated version formatted correctly, so while the updating will take some time, it shouldn’t be tricky.

Goal #3: GRADUATE!!!!!!

Beyond that, I’ve just got some TA work to finish up. Nothing too tricky, but is as follows:

  • Finish grading Lab 9 (one paper left, I gave an extension and she hasn’t submitted yet)
  • Grade Lab 10 (should be done in class on Thursday)
  • Go through old labs to make sure all late assignments got graded

Tuesday, December 3rd

Did good in my practice presentation! Overall thoughts: the material is good, but now I need to make it into a good presentation. Trim down stuff, turn things into graphics, simplify methods, etc. Spent a lot of time doing that, including a complete reversal of the ordering of my presentation (starting with Chapter 2 now, then flowing into Chapter 1).

Also finished grading Lab 9, so that’s one thing off my to-do list!

Wednesday, December 4th

More presentation work! Completed all my edits on the presentation. Trimmed down text as much as possible, made some cute graphics, thought deeply about the flow of everything, etc.

I also made some very solid graphics that answer potential questions and clear up confusion (how can immature crab and larger crab be more prone simultaneously?)

Tomorrow: won’t be able to accomplish a ton, since I’ve got two labs to teach. But I’ll record a practice presentation, send it to Steven, get some feedback that way!

Thursday, December 5th

Taught my last lab here at UW!! It was a good one - had a student give me some chocolate as a thanks, which was very sweet. Also finished all my grading for FISH 250, so it’s all thesis from here on out!!

Thesis updates: I made some minor edits on the thesis, did a practice presentation, and sent it over to Steven for a review.

I also fully updated my actual thesis to reflect all of Chelsea and Steven’s later edits! It should be totally set now for submission (pending my presentation).

Tomorrow’s goal is just to practice the hell out of my presentation!

Friday, December 6th

Got a bunch of edits back from Steven on my presentation! Made those edits and practiced my presentation a bunch. Feeling more and more confident with how it’s going!

Monday, December 9th

Ahh, final day before my presentation!!!! Practiced it a bunch, and feeling great about it. Let’s do this thing!!!!

Tuesday, December 10th

I PRESENTED MY THESIS!!!!!! It went super well, better than any practice presentations I did previously. Was great to complete it, see everyone there, feel all the love and support that I’ve had throughout my time in grad school.

Doesn’t quite feel like the closing of a door yet - I still need to actually submit my thesis. Working on that still, need to get final approval from Chelsea and Steven. But once I do that, I’m DONE!

Taking the day off tomorrow to celebrate and relax for the first time in a long time!!

Thursday, December 11th

Started going through the thesis submission process! Still waiting on final approval from Chelsea, but got it from Steven. Did some reformatting of my thesis (page numbering and formatting), just minor tweaks and revisions. As soon as I hear from Chelsea, I’m pressing that button and I’ll be finally done and officially have a Master of Science in Aquatic and Fishery Sciences!