Prepare to be amazed. My husband is the hardest working person I know. He has had this dream of getting his PhD since he was in the seventh grade, and--by gum--he's going to get it! His schedule has been all over the place these past three years. Some semesters harder than others, of course. But I must say, his present schedule takes the cake.
This semester Derrell only has one class. On the surface that sounds marvelous, but here's the nitty gritty: the class is SEVEN hours long on Wednesdays. 9am-4pm! Now that wouldn't be the worst thing to deal with if he wasn't also preparing for the comprehensive exams, doing an internship, and working full-time--all 1-2 hours away from home! So, Wednesdays tend to look somewhat like this: 2am alarm goes off, work from 3:15-8:45am, school from 9am-4pm, study group from 4-7:30pm, crash into bed around 9pm. A 19-hour day? Who could survive that? Derrell Small, that's who. He still has to go in to his internship on Thursdays, so by the time he gets home Thursday afternoon, the bed is screaming out his name.
This present craziness will let up in a month when the internship ends, then more in July when the class ends. But then he'll just replace some of the class time with study time. Comprehensive exams are in August. Anything from the previous three years is fair game on these tests. They sufficiently terrify all the students by promising to kick you out if you don't pass. Derrell has been getting very good grades this whole time, so I'm not concerned one bit. He'll do well. He doesn't know how to fail. But, of course, he feels the need to study until his eyes bleed. (And, that's probably why he'll do so well!)
Needless to say, we are on a countdown to graduation. My cousin's husband just finished his doctorate. It would be nice to be at that point. But our brother-in-law just started. Glad we're not at that point! There is some fairness in the world...
4 comments:
Wow, Derrell. The thing that amazes me the most is that you've been working at it for so long, so consistently. I always say that anyone can handle one really hard semester, since, by definition, it'll be over in, well, a semester. But to have continued on, month after month, year after year, pursuing a master's and now a doctorate is, well, simply amazing.
Right up there, though, is the efforts of "Mama" to pick up the rest around the homefront. It's your blood, sweat, and tears that makes it possible. Can you imagine what it would be like for Derrell without you around, Julie? You are to be congratulated, too! That PhD will belong to _both_ of you.
Wow...Derrell is amazing and you are an amazing wife to raise 5 children with such a busy husband. I love your blog and am so excited to keep in better contact through them. Your kids are so beautiful. I love the bug picture of Laura. Actually it gives me the eaby jeabies, but so cute.
Derrell is one of my heroes. He has been since the first day I met him all the way back in 8th grade. You're exactly right, Julie. He does not know how to fail. But you deserve a huge medal too, Julie. Derrell couldn't have married a better woman. (And I'm pretty sure he tells you that on a daily basis--'cause that's the kind of guy he is.) You're both amazing! -AFW
He is amazing! And you are just as Amazing- I'm always in awe how much you both are able to do, with the short number of hours! Thanks for being such great examples! I also never hear you complain which is also AMAZING! Did I say amazing again...?
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