I hate to admit it, but I did actually learn something throughout this whole master’s degree process. I have officially learned how to ask the big questions—both in research and when looking at overarching data. I never thought I had a brain for research, and honestly, I still don’t think I really do. But I can say wholeheartedly that my advisor taught me how to look at an enormous amount of numbers and figure out what they could possibly mean.
That woman has me thinking about data analysis at all times of the day. I’ve been completely consumed. I’ll be walking my dog in the forest, in the middle of a run, or just lying in bed, and suddenly I’m wondering about how to represent my findings in the best possible way. I don’t even want to begin to tell you how many tables and graphs I’ve made—and then deleted—within the span of three hours because they turned out to be complete rubbish, only for me to think of a better way to display the data moments later.
I’m technically on break right now and still find myself gravitating toward writing my thesis (yes, I know—gross of me). I complain a copious amount about school, for sure, but at the end of the day, I truly do love education. I love learning, and I fucking love school, and I hate, hate, hate to admit it. I love learning new things, I love applying them to my life, and I love writing that makes me think—but only on my own time. Deadlines aren’t really my thing; I have control issues.
I think that’s why I love my advisor so much—there are never any deadlines. I have to make my own and rely on my own discipline to get things done. At times, I haven’t been very good at that, but I’ve gotten better.