Passed Comps, Moving Right Along

Monday I attended a friend's M.A portfolio defense. And ran into one of my committee members who swore I'd hear something that day. I told them I wasn't concerned (because at that point I'd reached Zen about Comp Limbo) BUT if I was going to defend my prospectus 18 March, and had to have drafts of my prospectus to the committee by well, today, then I should know by then/now whether I passed to move forward or reschedule.
And by the time I'd gotten home from campus, I had a letter in my email inbox telling me I had passed (my uni did away with high pass we just have pass/fail and I'm fine with that).
I promptly celebrated.
And by celebrated I mean I posted this celebratory gif on social media, drank a Cherry Coke, and was nailed to my computer finishing the annotated bibliography I wanted to have finished the two days uni was closed for snowpocalypse.

The outpouring and support on Facebook and Twitter was great.
But I also posted this

Because today I will finish final notes/edits on my dissertation prospectus so I can email it out. I emailed my committee yesterday to confirm my defense in two weeks. Over Spring Break I'll put together my presentations for my defense. I'm aiming to get the first two survey chapters to two members of my committee in the next couple of weeks. Drafts of intros to those chapters to another prof after that. By the end of the semester drafts of CH 1, 2, 3, and 5 will be to committee members with a goal of revisions back before summer/beginning of summer so I can revise over break, and have second drafts to them all in August.

I'm a little behind on my ideal timeline/deadlines. But not by much. Still think I won't have a problem reaching the above goals. The one thing that has been punted is the Revising Milton book project (which ideally comes after the diss project, The Devil You Know). There's just no time to write, but because I am teaching the class on this, I do have LOTS of notes to come back to, and maybe over the summer tinker with when I need a fun break.

Over Spring Break, I have the following projects to complete:

• Write conference version of Milton chapter (which I'm submitting to MTSU's Milton Symposium).
• Write Old English conference paper (which becomes intros to  my two survey chapters) and send to professor for translation/close reading feedback before expanding.
• Get ahead in OE translations and write reviews since I'm gone for two classes after break for SCMS and PCA/ACA.
• Write Teen Wolf paper for PCA/ACA which will be mostly watching Teen Wolf in the background as I do this other work as it's already planned out.
• Complete a book review (which is also double duty to see if I'm adding this to Revising Milton reading).

 

IF I end up having time, I also plan on starting to expand either (both?) the Milton and/or Old English conference papers into the 20-25 page book chapters they will become.
And I plan on going to see dinosaurs at the museum. Love dinosaurs. And may go see Insurgent, if only to get more glimpses of Four's tattoo.


Now that I've officially passed comps it's moved from a source of stress to just another thing I can now check off the list. And focus forward on what else needs to get done in the next two months. Happy to feel like I'm making forward progress once again.