I have scheduled a proposal defense date!!

FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY...did I say FINALLY? Yes, I have finally been allowed to schedule a date for my dissertation proposal defense! YEAH! It has only taken me an extra year and a half to get to this point but let me not complain and instead just revel in the great news. So the big day is November 12th.

To catch a few of you up to date, I finished my graduate school coursework the year before Maya was born and then took my preliminary exams. So for the last 4 years, I have been trying to put together a study proposal for my dissertation and form a dissertation committee. I took a lot of time off while I was pregnant with both Maya and Armani, but once I started actively working on the proposal (about two and a half years ago) I had it done within the year. However, trying to form a dissertation committee has been unbelievably difficult; my department wasn’t very willing to work with me after I had taken almost two years off.

So what does all this mean and where do I go from here? It means that I will present my study proposal to the entire department on November 12th and if they accept my proposal I can move forward to conduct my study. This is more of a formality than anything else; they usually don’t let you set a date until they are confident that you will be advanced. So what am I studying? I’m studying acculturation and infant feeding among the Hmong people. The story of Hmong people in the U.S. is truly fascinating (I will post more about the Hmong in the U.S. at a later date). Hmong people are an Asian ethnic group from southern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar-Burma but most Hmong living in the U.S. came from Laos and Thailand during the late 1970s. They came to the U.S. as refugees after fighting the communist-nationalist Pathet Lao and assisting the U.S. during the Vietnam War. Hmong culture is truly unique and they have a strong sense of independence. Like many refugees and even other immigrant groups, I think that the obstacles the Hmong people have overcome and their resilience are amazing. I’ll post more about my study later. I certainly don’t want to bore you all at once.

About a year ago, I thought I would never get to this point and to be honest I even thought of quitting. I’m so glad I stuck with it. Many thanks go out to my hubby for always believing in me and encouraging me to continue. I LOVE YOU! From here on out things should go relatively smooth and I anticipate being completely done by next October. I CAN’T WAIT!!