What I learned from writing the QP

DISCLAIMER: I'm writing this before I know my results, just to make it a bit more authentic. If I fail, I will let you know and maybe disregard this following information :-).

In lieu of a proficiency exam, some PhD programs require a qualifying portfolio (QP). This portfolio is usually written after you have already taken some of your courses and is another test of sorts to see if you are suitable for a PhD program. They vary from program to program, but generally include manuscript writing, grade reports, and professor comments. Your submission is expected to reflect your best work. 

I could write pages, and probably should have, on the internal journey which took place during this process. I submitted it two days ago and I find out my results later this evening. Since I value reflection, it sounds like the perfect time to consider what I've learned.

1.  My Writing Process
I went into the QP with a strong idea of my manuscript topic. I did months of reading before I wrote a word. I finished summer classes in early August, let my brain rest for two months, and read tons between October and December. I started to draft in November and got about 1000 words in, but I realized I just wasn't ready yet. My first complete draft was finished the middle of January and my second in early February. I let it sit for a week and went through two or three edits before I let it go. But through it all, I've become more comfortable with my writing process. When I got writer's block, my husband (a writer as well) encouraged me to just freewrite through it. This helped immensely and in my next manuscript, I want to add this strategy. I learned that ideas need time to ruminate in my head and that's fine. Everybody has a slightly different process.


2. Have Self-confidence and Support
If you have been accepted to a PhD program and completed classes, you CAN complete the QP. You have suggestions from your professors for revisions, your experiences, libraries of books, and a brain chock-full of knowledge. It's easy to say this now and I should have had a wall mural painted in my house those days when I woke up grinding my teeth after dreams of misplaced periods or when I got stuck during my final edit in the sixth level of Miscrosoft Word tab hell. But you can do it. Pour yourself into it. Enjoy it and produce something amazing because you CAN. Show yourself off, you little smarty pants. 

No one can help you with your QP. That's the point. It's your work. You can verbally bat around ideas and such, but no one (other than an approved writing center tutor) should help you write it. But sometimes you need encouragement, a cup of coffee, a new perscpective, a correction in your insane thinking (because trust me, you will engineer the crazy train at one point or another), or a hug. Go to your cohort who are doing the same thing and your friends and family who are willing to trust that you are doing something difficult even if they don't understand it. Strangers work at times too. And get out and talk to a tree if you need to. The fresh air will help. I couldn't have done it without my husband, patient friends and family, and amazing cohort members (go IUP Summer Cohort 2012!).


3.  Annotate your Sources
Haha. They told me to do it as I went along. I over-estimated my memory power. I would read through a book, sticky note the crap out of it, make a mental note of its awesomeness, and put it in a pile. Sometimes those piles ended up under my bed. It was heart-breaking to find that perfect source somewhere under my bed after I finished my manuscript and revisions and was in the cleanup process. It also took me unnecessary hours at the end when I had little energy and was starting to lose interest. As I've read more since then, I'm starting to save and annotate even something small about the things I'm reading.

To inadequately justify my lack of effective annotating during the research process, I just couldn't find a system I was comfortable with. Some people use EndNote or RefWorks. I tried them, tried something like a notecard system, and couldn't get it right. I tend to gravitate to open platforms for organization as most programs don't allow me to do exactly what I would like to do. I'm using www.evernote.com now and between all the space I need and the tagging capabilities, I like it. I will try and blog on that in the future if anyone is interested. 

I've just thought of a million other ideas to write, but too much information at once doesn't help anyone.  I let my QP baby go on Tuesday and I'll find out how she fared tonight.  In the meantime, I will feed my QP developed coffee addiction, use my QP iPad skills to change between programs like a Star Trek crew member, and maybe even add a new source to my personal research annotated bibliography. I'll let my brain rest for a few weeks and before I start dreaming about my dissertation....