I am currently on my last semester of coursework towards my PhD in Higher Education. And to cap off that experience and demonstrate my learning, I am asked to sit for a full day comprehensive exam, in less than two weeks - 12 days to be exact. I will write a comprehensive morning question for three hours, take a break for lunch, and then do three one-hour afternoon questions. Eeek!
Do I feel prepared? Not exactly. Some of the courses that I'm being tested on were ones that I took back in Fall 2005 during my master's program. Not only was that a long time ago, I was attending a different university, and the courses used different readings and materials. Which means that I spent the last week reading this lovely book, in preparation:
It's not that I dislike Robert Birnbaum or his thoughts on the organization and administration of higher education. It was just a lot of my study time to devote to only one area of my test preparation. Meaning that now I really need to focus on the law and history of higher education (exciting stuff, I know), and student development theory.
How important is this test? Well, if I don't pass it, I cannot proceed with my dissertation proposal, which is the next step before I can start my research. It would also put me back roughly a year, as I'm not available for the spring exam date. So yeah, kind of a big deal....
I took today off, to plug away at my review and squeeze in a few practice questions. Here's hoping that my brain doesn't turn into mush and that I use the time well. Basically all other things are on hold at this point. My apologies to my friends and family.
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