Changes

I have recently been hired as a full time Educational Counselor at Upward Bound at the University of Maine at Farmington. My new job starts December 17 and I am ready to immerse myself in the culture I am studying and get this dissertation done! I think this is going to be a great opportunity for me and I am so excited to start working.

In terms of progress. . .I just finished my problem statement. This is like an introduction where I lay out the major argument for my research and state the problem that it will address. I hate the fact that it is called a problem statement because I am not looking at problems (a deficit model), but at what is working for these kids. Anyway, when all is said and done I feel like I have many problems: most of the research is on urban poverty, most of the research is quantitative, most of the research tells us the factors present for resilience, but not the process, and hope is a cognitive construct. So, now it feels like a disjointed mess that has coherence in my head but not on paper. I think some feedback will help me to circumscribe these problems and figure out how to couch my research in an argument that makes sense.

Most importantly, I feel my energy coming back, my focus regaining, and my desire to find answers to my questions getting stronger again. That is a good feeling. I know that when I get to Maine and I settle into my office and my new space I will be able to be more productive and make substantial progress.