One Step Closer: The Comprehensive Exam

Days to graduation: 26

There comes a time in most grad students’ lives where they must complete the capstone project or vault over a major hurdle in their quest to attain their degree. For some, this is an internship…for others, a thesis defense…

Yesterday, I took the comprehensive examination. Four and a half hour of typing answers into a computer, hoping that the semi-intelligent word barf that spewed from my fingers answered the questions that I had crafted the month before. I answered things ranging from research, to high and low context cultures, to crisis management and apologia, and even meme theory. I crossed a lot of subject content into my answers that I had studied in the past, such as education, earth science and biology.

I have no idea when I’ll get a verdict. I’m trying not to obsess. I’ve been at this for nine semesters; hopefully the fruits of my labor (and a program change and a quarterlife crisis) will yield to something great. So I’m just gonna go enjoy this sunny and 75 degree day that’s going on and worry about it later.

Best of luck to those grad students doing comps/defenses/internships! May the odds be in your favor, along with osmosis…