What a week....

I defended my dissertation (capstone) on Wed. I had an audience of about 10 people...some friends, faculty, my committee, and my dad came. The defense went well and I have some grammatical errors to fix and I have to clarify a few things....not bad at all. After the committee met I was announced as DR. ASHLEY COSENTINO.....WOW I was not expecting that at all. I figured that part would wait until graduation. There were some extremely wonderful things said to me as well which makes the day one I will never forget.  I spent most of the night on the phone and tried to get some sleep for my big interview the next day. I woke up in the middle of the night and could not fall back to sleep. No matter what I did Thursday morning I could not focus and began feeling incredibly unprepared. On my way there I heard my motivational song on the radio so I determined I wasn't going to be a worry wart and that I knew I could do this. The interview went very well. I was there from 130-6. I met with the chair, the dean, the faculty, and the students all at separate times. I concluded by teaching for an hour on boundaries using Structural Family Systems. There is not a single thing I would change about the day. It could not have gone any better. When I left the Dr. that headed the interview process told me I was extremely organized and that I should be very proud of myself especially based on my high recommendation letters. As I left, he shook my had and told me that if he were my boss he would give me a raise. Based on that I would have to say the interview went very well. Now comes the fun part....waiting!

I can't hardly believe it...

That's it....my dissertation (Capstone). I turned it in last week....all 200 pages! I finally sat down and read the whole thing about a week ago...I almost cried. Its amazing to think that I wrote it. I feel that I have really come a long way in the past 3 years and it just amazes me. I'm not completely finished though. Next Wednesday I will present my findings to my committee and whoever feels like coming to visit (its from 3-5 pm if you are interested). They will tell me I pass, I pass but need to fix some things, or that I don't know what I'm doing. I'm betting it will be the second one. Pretty exciting and nerve wracking...but it doesn't stop there. On Thursday I have a big interview! I will be going to a school to get a tour, meet the faculty and the dean, meet with a group of students, and then teach! Yikes that's going to be an intense 48 hours. I'm feeling super excited right now. I hope I can sleep this next week! PRAYERS APPRECIATED FOR THE NEXT WEEK! I am looking forward to next weekend- being able to see family and unwind. April and May will be spent finishing up. Graduation is set for June 8 and my hooding ceremony on the 6th (anyone can attend the hooding). I plan on celebrating with my family and friends to show my appreciation for all their love and support on June 15....SAVE THE DATE!