Cleared for graduation

So, I had my MALS exit interview. At 2:30pm, while I was in the Whole Foods parking lot, having just bought a bottle of champagne to celebrate, my phone rings. "Michelle, we surely hope you are on your way. It's 2:30 now and your interview started at 2pm," said my program director. "You have got to be kidding me," I said. "I have had the exit interview on my calendar as 3pm since the day I scheduled it." Great. I checked back through e-mails yesterday and realized that yes, it was scheduled for 2pm, but for some unknown reason, I put it into my calendar as 3pm.

So, I screech into the parking lot and run in. They looked thrilled. I sat down, gave my apologies, and then the beating began. Honestly, I don't want to go into detail about the whole thing here. I still haven't processed what happened, and to be honest, I am still a bit angry and saddened by what happened in the one hour exit interview.

The end of the story is that I passed, and I was cleared for graduation. If you want to know the dirty details, feel free to ask me, but be prepared for a long winded rant on my part. And I'll probably cry.

My degree won't have an asterisk at the bottom saying "defense went badly," so it will all be fine. Thanks everyone for your support. I will do my final edits this week, drop all the books off to the library, and this paper will be put away for a long long time. Bye bye school, hello life.

MALS and me: A retrospective

Today I will complete the Masters of Arts in Liberal Studies program at Duke University. This has been a long road. I started in the fall of 2004 – and a lot has changed since then. I have traveled to Africa 7 or 8 times, got a divorce, became a vegetarian, went to Oxford, changed jobs, got engaged…..geez. My MALS experience has been one of tremendous change. I don’t think the two are necessarily linked, but I do know that the more I learned, the more questions I had about the world around me. And I didn’t just ask the questions, I also sought out answers. This has been a tumultuous journey to say the least.

When I started the program in the fall of 2004, I was a little over a year into my marriage, struggling to find a path to adulthood. My then husband and I were in a beautiful home in North Durham (which I just googled only to find the house is on Countrywide's foreclosure list - that hurts a bit inside), he was working as an engineer for the State, and I was working as an assistant to a former US Ambassador. My travel to South Africa had awakened a curiosity I had about the world, and MALS provided a forum to explore new avenues and have new experiences. It was a tough adjustment. I had class one night a week for about 3 hours, and I had a lot of reading and writing to do. It took a few semesters before I was able to find a good habit of actually doing the work I needed to do and having the life I wanted to have.

And I don’t think I found a comfortable balance – for any of it at all. When I think back to those days, all of my insides sink a bit. In my search for meaning, I behaved selfishly and lost quite a bit of control. My head was in a constant whirl. My then husband, and subsequently my marriage, was an unfortunate casualty of my need to find meaning in my life and direction in my world (the ex husband is still alive and well – he’s found his counterpart in the world and has a little one now – he escaped my craziness rather unscathed). Notice the use of the word “my, me and I” here. It was the time of “me” and I still have a lot of unresolved feelings about the pain I caused to others, specifically the ex-husband and also my Mom, during that time. Not too long after our two year wedding anniversary, my husband and I split. It was like the whole world was spinning so fast I couldn’t keep up. In less than a week’s time, I went from sleeping with my husband, two cats and my dog in a beautiful 3 bedroom house to sleeping on the couch of my best friend’s townhome. A week after that, I slept in a small one bedroom duplex, sans the dog (I still miss my Maggie dog oh so very much) and husband, crying a lot and drinking too much – trying to figure out what the hell was going on in my world.

All that time, MALS was still there. I continued classes – I never missed a semester, and I stayed on track to complete the degree as fast as I could. In class, I could ask questions and debate with my classmates to find answers. In a world where I could find no answers at all, it was comforting to be surrounded by people asking questions, too.

MALS gave me the continued connection to Duke as a student, which would become very important for me. The MALS community is a great one, and I have made some of the best friends I have ever had because of this program. I met my bestest buddy, Lauren on the first day of MALS. I met several other people who were very close to me for different periods – some have gone their own ways for various reasons, and there are others I met part of the way through who have become important to both Mike and I in our lives today. MALS helped me make North Carolina home.

As I became a more active student, I took the position of representative to Duke’s Graduate and Professional Student Council. As long as those meetings were, GPSC will always hold an important place in my heart. For if it was not for GPSC, my friend Jeremy would have not met Stefan who then in turn would not have introduced me to Mike. It’s an important part of my life puzzle. If you want to know that whole story, you can ask me in person.

MALS gave me the opportunity to study abroad, which was something I wanted to do in college, but I just didn’t have the funds. Therefore in the summer of 2006, I was lucky enough to have enough vacation time saved up and enough cash in the bank to hop on a plane to Oxford and study creative writing for a month. I learned I am NOT a creative writer – it was actually embarrassing to have to read my work in the same room with some of the amazing writers from all over the world with whom I shared class time.

In the midst of all this, in September of 2005, I met Mike for the first time. We developed a strong friendship, and in January of 2006, he made the first move. Oh, he was bold!! Since that time, we have been together and very, very happy.

Anyway, it will be strange for me to not have MALS in my life anymore. It has been a constant amidst all the questions and turmoil in my life over the past 3.5 years. But, I have new constants – I have the best girlfriends in the world – I am truly lucky. I am engaged to marry a wonderful man – silly, incredibly smart, sociable, and amazing. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love them some Mike Brady! I am ready to walk out of MALS and walk into the new life that is currently in production. A lot will change for Mike and me over the next year. In August, we will be married. In the fall, he will go onto the academic job market. Soon after that, if all goes to plan, Mike will have a job lined up somewhere and we will probably be plotting a move to a university that has so graciously opened its doors to Mike’s fantastic teaching abilities. And hopefully soon after that, if not while all this is happening, we will begin a family of our own.

MALS has been a roller coaster – but it’s time to get off this ride and for Mike and me to start building our own. Thank you, everyone, who has supported me through all the crazy events over the past few years. It has been one hell of a trip – but I’m already packed up and ready for the next one. Let’s go….

Some photos and a countdown

FRIDAY. Friday is the end of the road. At 3pm eastern standard time, I will sit down at a small cafe table in the GLS House and have my MALS exit interview. From what I have heard, this process goes about 30 minutes or so. So, by 4pm at the latest, I should have clearance for graduation. If not, oh geez. But let's just assume this will all go well. Let the countdown begin......

Now, in early celebration, Mike and I had an excellent time in Hickory, NC this weekend for the Hickory Hops Beer Festival. The selection of beers was absolutely fantastic - it was just as great as the BeerFest in Durham and Raleigh. Less of an international feel, but it was great to have so many local beers. One major comment for the planners though - HAVE FOOD AVAILABLE. A 6 hour beer festival lacking even ONE food vendor is a major event faux pas. There were a couple local restaurants within walking distance, but they were pretty much "sit down" in nature and not conducive to festival fare. Next year, have some food booths, folks!

To end on a high note for my review of Hickory Hops, I thought I would give my award for the #1 beer at the festival. Out of all the beers I tasted on Saturday, one was beyond awesome (and Meredith agrees with me here). The Pisgah Solstice was just wonderful. It is high gravity and Belgian style, but words just don't do this beer justice. Fantastic find. It's only available in Asheville, Black Mountain and Spindale, NC - so if you are ever in one of these three cities, have a glass of Pisgah!


Okay folks, I know you love photos. So here are some from this weekend - enjoy!!!

Davidson Boys - Andy, Taylor, Alex, Matthew and Mike in front!

Meredith and I after we got "lei'd"

Gangsta Matt and Gangsta Mike

Happy Beerfesters!

All ready for April 26 in Raleigh, baby!

Oh yeah - guess what time it is????

IT IS CELEBRATION TIME. PARTY TIME. SIGH OF RELIEF TIME.

I am happy to report that less than 3 minutes ago, I sent off the final draft of my final project for my Masters. It is in the hands of my program director now. If all goes well, on April 18 at my exit interview, I will get a pat on the back and clearance for graduation.

I cannot believe this - I never thought this moment would get here. I am absolutely elated. WOO HOO!!!!

Here's to you, little piggies!!!!!!!


If you actually care to read the project, post a comment and I will e-mail it to you. It's 60 pages about the factory farming of pigs - and I will warn you ahead of time, it is not the happiest thing in the world to read. Just be forewarned!!!!

Just a quick update

Hi, everyone - no long post today, but if all goes to plan, I should be able to return to fairly regular blogging sometime in the near future. I am now coming into work as early as possible most days so I can try and spend some extended evenings in the library. I have been meeting my buddy Tim at the library on Wednesdays (sans this week) from about 3-8:30pm for the past couple of weeks, and this week, I will be spending 3:30-8 at the library on Thursday and Friday. If need be, I will spend Saturday morning in the library. My goal is to send off the first full draft of my masters project by Saturday evening. I have already handed over the first half, and to good review from my adviser. Hopefully she will like the second half, too. Once she reviews the whole thing, I am sure I will have a series of rewrites, but right now it looks like I am on track to finish. GRADUATION, HERE I COME!!!

Oh Crap.

I just found out from my final project adviser today that I need to turn in a full first draft of my final project by March 1, although February 23 is preferable. I have 6 pages done. I have a lot of writing to do in a very short amount of time. You will have to excuse me if I am absent for a while. Yikes.

A Quick Update

Hello, everyone! Sorry it has been a while since I have posted any text, but the holidays provided a lot of time away from the computer, and since returning, there has been lots of work to do. Here's the quick rundown on the past few weeks:

I got sick around December 19 and ended up spending half days out of work the Thursday and Friday before Mike and I left for Tampa. I got a serious cold/flu bug that really knocked me out for the count. Mike and I still headed down to Tampa on Saturday, and unfortunately for Mike, he ended up doing all the driving on the way down since I was still feeling puny. We made the trip in about 12 hours - traffic was terrible between the SC and GA border, so we ended up in a parking lot for a while.

We had an enjoyable stay in Florida. The weather was nice and warm, and I am assuming it helped me in my healing. Christmas day was very nice - Santa was very gracious to Mike, Mama Brady and myself. I got some perfume (Ralph Lauren Pure Turquoise), some cool clothes (a fuzzy sweater and a velour track suit), as well as lots and lots of books (school and fun), gift cards and holiday decorations. Let's just say the car was probably more full on the way back to Durham than it was going to Florida. I missed being with my Mom and Dads, but it was also very nice to spend Christmas with Mike. It was difficult being away from him last year, and the year before I made the stupid decision to spend Christmas by myself in North Carolina (never again - I felt like it was some sort of price I needed to pay for separating from the ex - let me tell ya, Christmas by yourself in that circumstance was the loneliest feeling I have ever had....anyway).

We left Florida the morning of Friday, Dec 28 and headed to Atlanta to spend some time with Ed, Amy and Owen. I am so glad we decided to make this side trip. Mike and I had a wonderful time playing with Owen, and I think he enjoyed his time with "Uncle Mike and Aunt Michelle." It was also just as wonderful to spend quality time with Ed and Amy - chatting about the past and the exciting future (the arrival of the next Baby Grega!). We left with heavy hearts on Saturday morning, but we were soon cheered by a visit to Ikea. Mike and I managed to fill up the rest of the remaining space in the car with our Ikea finds, and we made the trip back to Durham.

Upon our arrival in Durham, we found that the kitties were VERY mad at us, and Scout had begun to use our bed as his personal litterbox. LOVELY. Luckily, everything was washed and repaired, but we learned one heck of a lesson on that one. It was back to work for the both of us on Monday, but luckily we had Kyle's awesome NYE party to look forward to (see the last post for pictures from that event). We had a great (and late) time at the party, getting home well into 2008 - about 4 hours into the New Year! January 1 was spent in recovery, and Mike and I both finished the work week.

Wrapping up this week was planning benchmarks for my Masters project. I have to have my final unbound draft turned in no later than April 8, 2008, and my exit interview is scheduled for April 18, 2008. That means I have about 13 weeks to crank out my Masters project. YIKES. That is scary. Hence, this weekend will be spent rearranging my office to be in the best shape possible for writing. From here on out, Sundays are dedicated to school. School and laundry. Trust me, that's not the ONLY day I will be working on the paper, but that will be the big chunk weekly that I will sit down to really crank some stuff out. Wish me luck.

That's it for now, folks. More photos from the trip coming soon - promise!

Professor Warren Lerner 1929-2007

UPDATE: Obituary is posted here - http://www.meaningfulfunerals.net/fh/print.cfm?type=obituary&o_id=168174&fh_id=10877&s_id=8304E690667C8835085A916FA5260BF4

I just received word that one of my Professors in the MALS Program, Dr. Warren Lerner, passed away yesterday. Going to his class was always like going to "storytime." Professor Lerner would give a 2 hour lecture with no notes on the history of communism and tell it with such fervor that you would think he was actually there. The loss of Professor Lerner is saddening to the students of Duke University and the wider academic community. Peace to his family and friends. I received some info about his passing, and some excerpts are here.

"Warren was a pillar of the history and Slavic studies communities at Duke
and in the Triangle since he was first appointed at Duke in 1961. During
his four-and-a-half decades at Duke, Warren served as chair of the Duke
History Department and as a member of the Policy Committee of the Center for
Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies from its inception. In addition
to Warren's extraordinary contributions to the Department of History and
CSEEES, his years of teaching for the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies and
Focus programs and for the Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies forever
changed the shape of those units, their faculties, and students.

An author of many notable books and articles on 20th century Soviet history,
Warren Lerner was a leading scholar and teacher who supervised dozens of
doctoral students, many of whom now teach at universities throughout North
America. To the thousands of undergraduate and graduate students he taught
during his long tenure at Duke, Warren was a gifted, generous, engaging
teacher.

For those of us who had the privilege to work with Warren Lerner, he is
simply irreplaceable. Warren was a generous and kind friend and colleague
to so many of us; his impact on our lives will never be forgotten. In the
dictionary, next to the word "mensch" you'll see a picture of Warren Lerner.
He will be sorely missed.

We invite anyone who would like to share their thoughts and remembrances of
Warren with us to send an email to mnewcity@duke.edu. We will post them on
our web site. "


From: Edna Andrews and Michael Newcity
Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies
Duke University

PROPOSAL

I rewrote my proposal yesterday and spent a good chunk of the morning doing revisions. I sent it off to the program director about 40 minutes ago - if she signs off on it, the proposal will be approved. Please send good thoughts to make sure this part of the process is over. I don't think my nerves can handle it much longer!!

(This seals up that I could never do a PhD - I don't have tough enough skin for academia!!)

Not much to report

I haven't really had too much to report, therefore, I have not been blogging. But, today I have some good news. As I type this, my best chickie buddy, Lauren Braun, is in her MALS Final Interview, and within the next hour, she will be officially done with our masters program!! I am so thrilled for her. I am so close I can taste it - so I can't wait to hear how she feels after she has finished all her degree requirements. Tonight calls for girlie drinks at the Fed! woo hoo!

Other than that, I wrapped up my class for the semester on Monday - which feels great. I actually started reading a fun book the other day (The Omnivore's Dilemma) and it feels great to not procrastinate on anything. I forgot how it felt to "just" have work to deal with. That's nothin'! My next (and LAST) class starts the week of May 14, so I am happy to have a little break.

As for job stuff, nothing to report on that matter...yet. Stay tuned.

This weekend will be busy - a birthday on Friday, celebration of PhD defenses on Saturday, Sunday is recovery and house cleaning day.

Next week is Beer Fest! I can't wait! And that means Ed and Amy will be coming to visit next week, too! WOO HOO!!!!!!!!

The next year to year and a half

Yesterday, I had a sit down with the director of my Masters program, Donna Zapf, and she and I had a nice long discussion about wrapping up my degree. Time flies so fast that I am now down to only one more class after the one I am in now - then I write my final project. I started in Fall 2004 - which in some ways seems like eons ago, but when it comes to school, it doesn't seem like it has been that long at all.

For the past 6-9 months, I had planned on doing my final project on South African protest art. Last semester, I started the ground work on this by doing primary research on anti-apartheid posters compared to Dutch emblem books from the 17th century. Sounds like a far stretch, but you would be surprised on the similarities! Then, this semester I am taking a class called "Trauma in Art/Literature/Film." This was meant to back up my final project idea in art.

But when it really comes down to it, is that where my passion is? South Africa has played an important role in my life - it has changed so much about me. But, I must admit, that chapter is coming to a close. This may be my last trip to South Africa for work in a few weeks, and I probably won't be back until I am old and wealthy after that.

But animal issues are always current to me, and they are a passion. I am going on two years now as a vegetarian. Issues of factory farming, environmental impact, moral responsibility to living beings, etc are subjects that are of interest, and concern, to me. There is a lot of academic work that can be done in this realm of issues.

In the summer of 2005, I did a presentation on hog factory farming for a class in Dr. Kathy Rudy's "Animal Ethics" class. That presentation was given again, to a public audience, in the summer of 2006 to a group of Duke undergraduates and faculty. Kathy believes that a further analysis of the effects of factory farming is much needed in the academic literature. So, I have made the decision to drop the art project and go for an animal one - most probably the issue of factory farming (check out www.themeatrix.com).

What this means logistically is that I will take Kathy Rudy's class this summer, and in the fall I will register for my final project. Since I just want to graduate by May 2008, I can work on the paper through the spring of 08 and still graduate on time.

It is exciting to know that I am this close to the end, and to know what I will be writing about - but it's also sad. I have enjoyed earning this degree, and it will be sad to end the experience. Good thing is, MALS lets old-timers audit classes and even sign up for the study abroad sessions, so the door will never be fully closed. But still, it's the end of an era.........

A whole semester closer....

Thanks to a fantastic observation by a fellow MALS classmate last night, I am happy to report I am in my 8th class. Which means, I only have ONE MORE CLASS to take before I start work on my final project. You know what this means? Michelle is taking the summer off. I will take my last course in the fall of 2007, and I will write my final project in the spring of 2008. That means graduation in May 2008, as scheduled - with a free summer vacation thrown in there! WOO HOO!