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Monday, November 1, 2010

SHOCK!

Shock, n. [shok]
a sudden or violent disturbance of the mind, emotions, or sensibilities.

I am still in shock today.

Why?

I got the mark for my dissertation yesterday.

During an Orientation meeting in September 2009, the first piece of information I heard regarding the dissertation that would be required to complete my degree:
Don't expect a mark of 80 or above - that's impossible for anything less than exceptional work produced by PhD candidates.

Great. The director speaking to us must have felt our dismay because she quickly asked, "how many of you are from the United States?"

I raised my hand (along with 30 or so other people at the meeting).

She then said, "How does a score of 80 look on an American transcript? Pretty mediocre, right?"

Indeed.

That's when I was introduced the craziness known as the UK marking system. Anything that falls between 70 and 100 is awarded a distinction. The reason we were not to expect 80 or higher is because professors and administrators feel that Masters' students do not have the background, research experience or adequate time to spend on one topic to deserve such a high mark - it's pretty much an exclusive privilege of PhD students. So anything over 80 was non-existent, and anything over 70 was still pretty rare.

The grading scale we came to know and love pretty much looked like this:

40-49: Thanks for trying
50-59: Good
60-69: Great
70 and above: Distinction - we think you're awesome.

Somewhat comical, but true. Average marks usually fell somewhere between 58-66 for students in my program.

26 March 2010 - the day I promised myself I'd do whatever it takes to earn a distinction - no pleasure reading, no facebook, no wasting time, constantly research new sources, take tons of notes, question every argument, cite every source, etc. etc. etc. A quote I have come to love, which truly captures the essence of my dissertation experience is by Jim Rohn:

"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment."


Here's what that looked like:


This is on a light day - usually our front room looked like a tornado had hit Piersfield Terrace, leaving books, papers, post-it notes, etc. strewn about the room.


16 August 2010: I turned in two copies of my completed dissertation, flew back to the States the next day, and started the waiting game to receive my final mark.

Not a big fan of that game, but at least I kept myself really busy.




31 October 2010: Halloween just got even better.


I got a 79.


I am truly stunned. I felt really good about this paper and know I gave it everything I had, but a 79 far exceeded my expectations. I was shooting for 80 or above - even though I was told it was impossible I still worked to the grading rubric that qualified for that score - all the while thinking that it would likely end up in the high 60s, maybe low 70s.

Was it all worth it?

Absolutely. I can't keep from smiling.


I know I've already thanked you a bazillion times, but to my amazing editors - DRI and LIR - I couldn't have achieved this without you. Thank you. And a big thanks as well to all of you who sent lovely thoughts and prayers on my behalf - they were felt and answered.


7 comments:

GreenTaiwan said...

Really proud of you Kristen! Glad you still had a little time for fun! I had a great year with you and can't wait to get my marks for my thesis...in two years.

Jen Holtkamp said...

wow kristen! congrats! though i'm not surprised, we all know how awesome you are! :) -jen

Penelope Celeste said...

First things first... (and I know I told you via text but I simply couldn't refrain from posting a comment).

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously Kris, such a feat! I'm so, sooo happy for you! A MASTER at last! =)

For those of you not familiar with the British grading system, I can fully attest to all that was posted regarding its ridiculousness. The only thing I strongly disagree with about this post is that I KNEW KRISTEN WAS GOING TO GET A DISTINCTION ALL ALONG. You see, I've known Kris for a good 16 years and she was either being far too humble or just plain silly to think she'd get in the mere 60s. She is my most brilliant friend, my best friend that is, and she FULLY DESERVED this OUTSTANDING mark.

That's all.

WOOOO-WOOOOO! GOOOOOOOOOOOO KRISTEN!!!! (straight from my cheerleading days at MPJ). Hahaha!

Cullen said...

Waa - HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations! Well done! I'm sure you deserved at least an 80 . . . but the professor had said it couldn't be done, and he didn't want you to think he's a liar. ('course, now that he gave you an inferior score to save his pride . . . well, he's still perjured himself!)

That is super news!!

TheCoys said...

Wow Kristen that is really great! I can't imagine how great that must feel to be done know your hard work has paid off. I'm really proud of you and all you've accomplished.

Lauren Kay said...

Congratulations Kristen!!! That's really really great! I'm just so impressed!

Else said...

So happy for you! I know you totally deserved it! You are such a hard worker. Yeah you completed your masters!