Some unexpected things came up in July. If you follow my blog, you know those “things” mostly revolved around becoming my grandpa’s personal assistant. The most problematic issue for my future in grad school was that too few people signed up for my thesis experiment in July.

My research assistant and I had openings for participants 10 hours a day beginning on June 1st. We could have finished by August 11th, the summer deadline for data collection. Unfortunately, three people experienced simulator sickness, we had to cancel numerous participants because only one person signed up when I needed two to do my experiment, and we had multiple No-Shows. There were too many experiments on campus, too few students enrolled in psychology courses and no funding available for me to provide extrinsic motivation to recruit people.

Some things are completely, utterly, without a doubt beyond our control.

If I didn’t defend my thesis in front of my Committee by mid-August, there were a number of significant consequences.

• I wouldn’t graduate in August.
• I wouldn’t get funding for my first year as a PhD student. (i.e., I would have to pay for tuition and I would not get an assistantship.)
• Without funding, I would have to take out a maximum amount of loans and I would not be able to afford rent for my apartment without those loans.
• I would have to work on my thesis during the Fall while doing a million other things.

Commence freak out.

I transcribed, coded, scored and analyzed whatever data I had in late July (which was only 1/3 of what I needed based on an a priori power analysis). I dedicated two years of my life to this research.  It seemed like such a waste to defend an unfinished product.  Not to mention, my committee would not be too pleased with me.

Life happened. Plans changed.

The good news?

I talked it over with my adviser and we decided to submit an appeal for an extension. That means I have another semester to finish my data collection, analyze my data, write up my results and defend it to my Committee.

The bad news?

I am definitely unhappy about the prospect of finishing my thesis on top of one of the more difficult semesters I’ve faced so far in graduate school. I’m taking three courses, teaching, working for the Navy and taking on more responsibility within a student organization. It’s too much for one semester, to be honest.

• Because plans changed slightly, I do not have the time to write a Fulbright graduate research grant proposal. I need to wait until I can really dedicate ample time and resources to achieve that dream.
• This semester I’m taking two courses that I know are going to kick my ass. I have to pull up my GPA .05 points so I am more competitive for research awards at conferences. This coming semester I can’t expect myself to pull off A’s, but I will definitely do my best.
• I won’t be able to spend any time away from Hampton Roads unless it is scheduled around school or work-related travel. I’m incredibly fortunate this semester because I’m attending a conference in San Francisco. I am tagging on a weekend visit to LA! I will still miss taking trips here and there throughout the semester to visit my friends before the Christmas holiday.
• I won’t be able to play on the Internet as often. Most likely, I will have to go back to only using Twitter on the weekends. I can keep up with my closest online friends with email, blogging, Skype, etc. I want to continue to focus on making my current relationships stronger instead of making new connections. Quality over quantity, as they say.

How do I plan to do all this?

I have no mother effing idea, but I think there are two keys to my success next semester: stay organized and remain calm.

• I have been teaching myself some basic programming, web design, modeling and simulation this summer to prep myself for some of my more difficult courses.
• I created a new, detailed budget using Mint.com.  I have all my bills set up to make my life easier (automatic deductions).
• I have an updated, beautiful color-coordinated Google calendar and planner to keep me organized and on track.
• I have a food planning calendar so I continue to plan my meals a week at a time.
• I enrolled as a distance learning student for one course, so I can stream the lectures from the comfort of my home.
• I set distinct boundaries with my grandfather by moving closer to campus.
• I chose an apartment complex that will help me be successful this semester.  I am within walking distance of a grocery store and my yoga studio and there is a gym in the complex. I am paying a little extra to save time and my sanity.
• I hope I can stick with my plan to practice yoga regularly, to eat healthier and to stay active.
• I plan to spend more time in coffee shops, bars and restaurants with my friends who live here. Whether that time is spent studying together or socializing, spending time with people improves my mood tenfold.
• I plan to continue to blog because my relationships online also help keep me sane.
• With the prospect of not traveling, I hope my friends will come visit me instead. *hint hint*

Here’s to another busy semester. Here’s to my future. Here’s to never planning more than six month in the future because you never know what might happen.

I have this thing called a Master’s Thesis.

Shared Leadership as a Function of Role Assignment and Task Difficulty in a Distributed Computer Game

Abstract:

The use of computer game-based architectures provides a safe, controlled environment in which geographically dispersed military units can develop leadership skills while rehearsing a specific task such as building clearing, search and rescue, or navigation.  The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship among task difficulty, team task performance and emergent leadership during a team search task using a modified version of the popular video game, Half Life 2 ™.  The shared leadership model predicts that multiple individuals often share responsibility for the outcome of a task.  Using gaming experience and efficacy as covariates in a within-subjects ANCOVA, I will assess if role assignment and task difficulty will interact to have an effect on whether an individual emerges as a leader.  There are two levels of difficulty: easy and difficult.  There are two types of roles: the individual with the map and the individual who is immersed in the game.  This experiment may indicate that the leader emerges based on task context or role he takes during the task.  Such results would lend support for a more contextual theoretical basis for emergent leadership than a personality-driven theoretical leadership model.  The Army can implement this leadership model in the creation of new video game-based leadership training modules.

~~~~~~~~~~

Are you still with me? You can read more about the pilot study for my thesis that I completed last year here.  I included some of my pilot study results in a conference submission and hope to have it published in September.  I also hope to combine the leadership findings from the pilot study with my thesis to write a journal article in the Fall.

I was supposed to finish data collection in April because the research participant pool drastically decreases in the summer. I propose in April. So I’m a semester behind. Why? Because I have tough classes,  a challenging job outside of school, an apartment and car I need to maintain, a blog, a cat, a family and friends. Because I applied to PhD programs last semester.  Because I’m active in multiple student organizations.  Because I like to play on the Internet, watch TV and movies, sleep, eat and exercise a little. Mostly because I like to sleep.

My advisor is not exactly pleased about all of this, but I am OK with being behind.  I am OK with prioritizing my life the way I did this semester.  At the end of the day, I finish what I need to finish.  One cannot be a perfectionist in grad school and survive.  One must pick his or her battles and I picked mine.

I have a lot to do the rest of this semester. It makes me want to freak out just a little bit.  To be honest, I have thoroughly freaked out multiple times already.

This summer will be interesting.

For my thesis, I will (with the help a lovely undergrad assistant):

• Run 30 teams through my two hour experiment
• Transcribe 30 teams’ conversations (Four fifteen-minute conversations)
• Content code 30 x 4 conversations
• Analyze my data
• Write my Results and Discussion sections
• Defend my Thesis by July 30th
• Submit my final Thesis to the Registrar on August 20th

If all the above goes as planned, I will graduate on August 27th so I can hit the ground running when I start the PhD program.

I will also work full time between May 1st and September 1st.  Yes, that’s right.  40 hours a week, baby.  Gotta make that cash monies so I can go to the strip clubs in Vegas.  😉

I plan to exercise regularly again beginning NOW because this is something that completely went by the wayside this semester.  My hip, my pants and my scale are starting to scream at me for missing yoga so much.

I will most likely move closer to campus in July or August.  I absolutely adore living in Virginia Beach, but the commute is killing me.  I need to move to Norfolk or at least somewhere in Virginia Beach that is closer to campus.  Sometimes I spend over two hours commuting in a day between school and work and home.  A long commute is fine for some people because it is just for one job, they make enough money that it does not create a financial burden and they have a family who can take care of things at home when they are driving.  For me, that two hours I sometimes lose on the road could be used more efficiently in a number of ways.  For example, I could exercise every day in the amount of time I am normally driving.

I also have six trips planned right now between May and September:

• Vegas/Boulder/(debating on the 3rd destination) for 10 days
• A week in Glasgow for work
• A week in DC for work and fun times
• Huntsville for a long weekend
• Boston for a long weekend
• Portland for a long weekend

Right.

So as you can see, I have to re-prioritize things in my life until June.

The plan to get ‘er done between now and September

I think it’s time I step away from the blog.  I have some blog posts lined up to tide you over until June, but I will probably not be very swift with replies to comments.  My Google Reader is filled with all of your blogs, so I will keep up with them.  I may not be able to comment as often on the amazing posts you all have lined up.  I have challenged myself to drastically reduce my use of Twitter or TweetDeck in April.  That is code for: I am not allowed to open TweetDeck during the week.  I know, right?!  You know where to find me in the meantime.  If you have still not added me as a Facebook friend, why the hell not?!  I know where to find all of you lovelies, too.

The point is… I have to be a full-time grad student and full time government employee until I see (some of) you in Vegas for Bloggers in Sin City.  While some people can juggle many clementines, some of us cannot do it successfully.  Something’s gotta give now for me.  And that something is social media.

Cherio!