Well, I can honestly say that I have made a great deal of progress in my novel since the time of my last post. I have finished up a second full draft, complete with additions, rewrites, revisions, and a few deletions here and there. It still isn’t a final draft, but nor is it rough. Printing out my entire novel at once–having all sorts of difficulties with double-sided printing and ink and page-numbering in the process–and putting it into a binder felt pretty amazing. This cleaner revised draft currently is in the hands of my remarkable advisor, who will read through the entirity in the next couple of weeks.
Feb
26
A time of historians…
I apologize for not updating my blog in so long! School picked up and then graduate applications were due and everything became quite a lot to handle. But I am happy to update that I have written probably somewhere between 2/3-3/4s of my thesis. It definitely has taken a new tone since I’ve last written. I have taken on a rather neutral tone that neither condemns SNCF nor accepts their conciliatory actions as fair and sufficient. This is the area I both love and hate to live in. The grey. I find it fascinating and it is the reason that I was attracted to this story in the first place. It complex, and gets even more complicated as the days pass. Recently SNCF has issued another statement and needless to say I was a bit frustrated as I had to make a correction to a section of my thesis which discusses their recent statement in America. Of course, this is also why I loved this topic, it is always moving and changing. The story is alive and is the clearest representation of how understanding history is paramount for being able to function in the modern world, as a business, a country, and a human being.
Feb
23
More Data, Please!
Well, for such a short month, a lot’s been going on! I gave a presentation for the Honors Colloquium last week, wrote the paper I’m giving at the Middle Atlantic Archaeological Conference next month, and made a poster for the Science Symposium happening later this week. So I’m getting lots of practice presenting my findings! Which is good, I guess – just a little stressful all at once.
Feb
12
A Semester In Review
I apologize for not writing a post last semester but to say Fall Semester flew by would be an understatement. It took a while to get accustomed to my new positions and responsibilities on campus so I unfortunately couldn’t focus as much of my energy on my thesis as I would have wanted. I am the President of Circle K International (CKI) and have 16 board members and over 60 club members to organize, coordinate, and keep happy. I set out some lofty goals and am proud to say that we achieved a majority of them. In addition to that new position, I am also one of two Student Directors of Branch Out Regional Alternative Break Program on campus. Katie, my co-director, and I had to organize training for our site leaders, lead a retreat, and advice weekend service trips throughout the semester. We now have a hold on how to best execute plans and thereby foresee only smooth sailing from now on. Now that I have a handle on my extracurricular, I have my eyes set on completing a well-researched honors thesis.