As is probably evident from the fact that I’ve not been updating this blog, I have been taking something of a hiatus for the past few weeks. I’d write about running or fitness, but I’ve been suffering from a severe lack of motivation since the end of October. I have no idea what has caused it and am desperately searching for a way to fix it. (Suggestions are welcome!) My ongoing health problems have probably had something to do with sapping my desire to work out, but I did manage to ‘suck it up’ and run one race in November. (It was the Howard County Striders’ Run through the Grapevine Cross Country 8k. I’ll post a race report next time, but can say that it was the hardest race that I have ever run. The hills were ridiculous and made the Patapsco Trail Race look like a joke.) Equally depressing has been my ongoing job search, which I will not comment further on as the mere thought of the whole situation has the tendency of late-night panic attacks. Yes, it’s that bad.
On a far happier note, I received a pleasant surprise last Tuesday: my degree results – posted over a half month early! I finished classes at King’s College London on 1 April, sat my exams in May, and submitted by dissertation at the end of August, at which point I was informed that I would find out my final results on December 19th. This would have not been such a worrying prospect had I had any indication of how I had done in my core classes where 50% of the final grade was based on the final exam. Considering how my exams actually went (dismally), I was more than a bit worried. Add onto this the stress of my wildcard of a dissertation and the end result was that I had absolutely no idea how I had done. In fact, the primary reason why it took me so long to decide to attend graduation in January was that I was reluctant to shell out the cash for a plane ticket to the UK. (My Granddad solved this problem by giving me my air fare as a graduation present. If only I had his (and my parents’/friends’) faith in myself!)
Last Tuesday afternoon found me sitting in the waiting room at my grandmother’s doctor in Virginia, idly passing the time by checking Facebook on my phone. Out of nowhere, my newsfeed was flooded with reports from my fellow students at King’s, revealing their degree results. I immediately entered a state of shock. How did they find out? It was a month too early! I frantically checked my email accounts and the student records website. When it failed to load, I made a spectacle of myself my hyperventilating and shaking from nerves and the fear of failing. Granny Becky moved a few seats down the row to avoid being seen with me – a crazy person. Mom tried to reassure me that everything would be ok, that we could check the website when we got back home. Wait two hours? Was she mental? Having waited three months to find out if I had passed, there was clearly no way that I would survive another two hours. (Insert sarcasm here) To make a long story short, I phoned Elysa who, probably just desperate to get me to stop freaking out, checked my results online. And I am now pleased to announce that I passed…with merit! I officially have my Master’s in International Relations from King’s College London!!!
In the UK, MAs are awarded with one of three grades: pass, pass with merit, and pass with distinction. Passing with distinction requires extremely high marks in all classes and a mark of distinction on the dissertation. I received distinction on my dissertation, but missed out on distinction in my classes by 4 points. Am I disappointed? Not in the slightest. I am just so happy to have passed! To be frank, I’ve had a fairly shitty year. Several friends and family members passed away, my relationship ended and generally revealed to have been a lie, I was hit by a car, and my overall physical health was poor. I am not complaining about any of this – it is a fact of life that bad things happen to everyone – but it does add to my overall feeling of accomplishment. To have experienced this turmoil and still pass with merit – well, I suppose that is pretty darn good.
Now that I’ve spent an entire post congratulating myself…what’s next for me? First on my list is heading back to the UK for two weeks at the end of January. For the first week, I’ll be in London and accompanied by Mum, who is making her first trip out of the US specifically to end my graduation. During the second week, I’ll be heading to Scotland to visit my beloved Edinburgh and hike across the Isle of Skye. And if all goes according to plan, I may be back in the UK again as early as April…this time for good. Plans for the move are still in the works, but I’ll reveal more details as things become more final. Exciting times are ahead!
As is probably evident from the fact that I’ve not been updating this blog, I have been taking something of a hiatus for the past few weeks. I’d write about running or fitness, but I’ve been suffering from a severe lack of motivation since the end of October. I have no idea what has caused it and am desperately searching for a way to fix it. (Suggestions are welcome!) My ongoing health problems have probably had something to do with sapping my desire to work out, but I did manage to ‘suck it up’ and run one race in November. (It was the Howard County Striders’ Run through the Grapevine Cross Country 8k. I’ll post a race report next time, but can say that it was the hardest race that I have ever run. The hills were ridiculous and made the Patapsco Trail Race look like a joke.) Equally depressing has been my ongoing job search, which I will not comment further on as the mere thought of the whole situation has the tendency of late-night panic attacks. Yes, it’s that bad.
On a far happier note, I received a pleasant surprise last Tuesday: my degree results – posted over a half month early! I finished classes at King’s College London on 1 April, sat my exams in May, and submitted by dissertation at the end of August, at which point I was informed that I would find out my final results on December 19th. This would have not been such a worrying prospect had I had any indication of how I had done in my core classes where 50% of the final grade was based on the final exam. Considering how my exams actually went (read – dismally)…I was more than a bit worried. Add onto this the stress of my wildcard of a dissertation and the end result was that I had absolutely no idea how I had done. In fact, the primary reason why it took me so long to decide to attend graduation in January was that I was reluctant to shell out the cash for a plane ticket to the UK. (My Granddad solved this problem by giving me my air fare as a graduation present. If only I had his (and my parents’/friends’) faith in myself!)
Last Tuesday afternoon found me sitting in the waiting room at my grandmother’s doctor in Virginia, idly passing the time by checking Facebook on my phone. Out of nowhere, my newsfeed was flooded with reports from my fellow students at King’s, revealing their degree results. I immediately entered a state of shock. How did they find out? It was a month too early! I frantically checked my email accounts and then my student records account. When it failed to load, I made a spectacle of myself my hyperventilating and shaking from nerves and the fear of failing. Granny Becky moved a few seats down the row to avoid being seen with me – a crazy person. Mom tried to reassure me that everything would be ok, that we could check the website when we got back home. Wait two hours? Was she mental? Having waited three months to find out if I had passed, there was clearly no way that I would survive another two hours. (Insert sarcasm here) To make a long story short, I phoned Elysa who, probably just desperate to get me to stop freaking out, checked my results online. And I am now pleased to announce that I passed…with merit! I officially have my Master’s in International Relations from King’s College London!!!
