My summer 2024
It was hot!
I had a very busy summer. How was yours?
My summer was busy with two major things- taking classes and my job!
Here’s a rundown.
Right after my last class for the Spring semester, I resumed a job at the Institute of Public Policy; the same place I worked last summer as a research assistant. It was truly an honor to be accepted again to work with the team after a year. I worked with them till last Friday (August 16th) to return to school.
Still in May, I embarked on a brief trip to New York City to see a close family. I had never been to New York before then so it was an experience I relished. The family that invited me lived just close to the popular Times Square in Manhattan, and they gracefully took me to different parts of the city such as Brooklyn Bridge, Wall Street, etc.
When I returned, I immediately resumed my summer classes. I enrolled in three classes. Yes, three in the summer! Ideally, it should have been two, but I found an academic writing class with the graduate school that I felt I needed as I prepared for my dissertation phase less than a year from now.
In my two years as a graduate student, I have realized that my academic writing skills need further refinement especially according to the American writing style (as a Nigerian, I was trained in British English). The class helped me prioritize brevity, reduce my use of passive language, increase the use of appositives, etc. I am glad I took the class!
Another pivotal course I also took was called Directed Reading. Here, a graduate student works with a professor to select, read, and review a select number of articles based on the student's research interest.
Since I will be writing my comprehensive examination soon, I thought it wise to do a directed reading on my identified interest with my advisor. So, together with my advisor, we selected about 70 articles to read over the summer. My final assignment was to submit a comprehensive narrative of mental illness among immigrants. Sincerely, it was a demanding task but extremely valuable.
Now, I have a comprehensive idea of what literature says about my interests, the gaps in the literature, and how my future research such as a dissertation can fill in the gaps! And I recommend this type of flexible and self-paced course for every graduate student.
In addition to these readings, I had five books on my list! However, I am halfway done with the fourth- Narratives, Health, and Healing. I am left with Madness and Civilization
These classes officially ended my coursework as a graduate student.
During my classes, I served as the project coordinator for a free summer driving lesson program for international students with a student organization that I am a part of called Mizzou 2. This experience further sharpened my project management and people skills as I coordinated the driving schedule for about 50 participants and volunteer drivers daily over a month. Interestingly, I was a participant too and got my driving license too! Yay!!
I climaxed my summer with a trip to Wyoming with the youths in my church where I volunteer as a teacher. Oh, that was an exhilarating experience I am glad I did not miss. Together with other 60,000 young people across the world, we had a great time learning about Jesus and his love for us through diverse activities!
I would not end without sharing about how I also ensured that my spiritual health was in shape. I took advantage of the summer to take daily walks to meditate and retreated at various times from all works to spend time alone with my Lord.
I pen this piece down a day before school officially starts where I begin a new phase of my graduate program of preparing for my doctoral candidacy examination! How time flies!
I hope you have a wonderful Fall 2024 semester!
