The long and winding road to my masters degree is finally over. This month was our final class weekend. Everyone in the cohort presented their thesis and defended it. This was one of the most stressful weekends we have had. I think the entire cohort was extremely relieved to have the ordeal over.
I was amazed at the variety of projects and papers which came out of our cohort. One proposal was to start a geo-caching after school club which was aimed at helping our digitally wired students rediscover the great outdoors and reconnect with nature. Another paper discussed the possibility of putting together a slacklining group in Portland. Slacklining is a sport using a narrow (1") length of strapping strung between two trees and then walking, jumping and doing other tricks on this strapping. It is generally done only a couple of feet off the ground. Another paper discussed the need for beginning teachers to have good nutrition to help lessen the stresses found in the first few years of teaching. It is amazing to me that nearly 50% of all new`teachers quit within the first five years in the classroom. The title of that paper was The Tastiest Tools for Teaching. The project has grown into a cookbook which the student is now attempting to have published.
The whole experience of obtaining my masters degree has been wonderful. It was stressful at times, but I learned a great deal. I think the thing I most appreciate about the experience is that I now know I can do hard things. I am glad to have had the experience, but right now I am glad it is over. I do find myself a little lost not having a paper to write or a textbook to read. I am looking forward to reading a few book I have been putting off.
