I Mastered it.

It was the best of times...


Dear Elizabeth Thackeray, 

Congratulations. Your submission, 11442 has cleared all of the necessary checks and will soon be delivered to ProQuest/UMI for publishing. 

Regards, 
Georgetown University-Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Administrator


I received this email on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 at approximately 11:41 am. "11442" fondly refers to my Master's Thesis, which is formally known as "Essential Concepts in the Secondary English Classroom: A Meta-Writing Approach Using Inquiry and Reflection." Informally known as my lovechild because I most definitely had quite the affair birthing this little bundle (of joy?). 


Essie's stats:
Number of Chapters: 4
Number of Pages: 107 (including the roman numeral title page, table of contents, and bibliography)
Number of Sources: 51(not including many others that did not make it in the actual document)
Number of Meltdowns during the process: undeterminable 
Number of Man Hours: Way too many
Number of Dollars Saved by completing the thesis on the very last day of the deadline: $2750
Number of Dollars Saved by completing the thesis instead of two additional courses: ~$10K
Number of Dollars Earned by completing my degree on time: $5488 (the difference in salary from BA to MA)--really not much considering, but I'll take it. 


Many have told me to look at my thesis as earning $10K because choosing that option saved me that $$. Others have told me I should use the $2750 I saved by getting my thesis in on time and reward myself. I am not going to be quite that extravagant, but am considering a few ideas for rewards: a new road bike, a trip somewhere exotic, a trip home? What would you do to reward yourself? 


Oh, and here is the wordle of my thesis. I'm glad to see that the most common words are the most important points of my thesis.