Survey Development

So the Kenyan wing-flapping metaphor? Well, I should have taken that to heart before I took on everything I did this semester. I'm feeling pretty disheveled, as far as my feathers go. I feel kind of how this little guy looks. 

All my flapping usually just barely gets me off the ground, it seems. So many disparate tasks demand my attention. Not only are they hard to keep track of (I now have six different to-do lists on Gmail, a planner full of scribbles and a head that's about ready to spin off my neck), but every time I put my mind to something, I feel guilty for frittering away time on anything at all. By committing to a couple hours working toward one goal, I sacrifice progress on at least three others and all the while there's a nagging voice in the back of my head reminding me of it. I believe I've come down with a new disorder for the DSM V: graduate-school-induced ADD.

One upside to the whole I-have-no-life-because-I'm-in-graduate-school situation is that I'm learning a lot.  Among other things, I'm working on designing a survey study for my trip to the Dominican Republic this summer. Sounds like a simple task, right? There's a lot more to it than it seems, and I'm finding that out the hard way. Tonight I was doing some research on the Demographic Health Surveys (in public health, these are the grand poobas of surveys and worthy of emulation). The DHS is completed in many, many countries every few years, and they're considered one of the most reliable sources of data on health indicators, progress on Millennium Development Goals, etc. 

During my research tonight, I found a tidbit in which I took great solace. In my struggle to find resources on how to best put together a survey instrument, I found a table outlining the timeline of the execution of a single DHS survey: 18 months. A major survey takes eight months of preparation before you go knocking on any doors to survey people, and data collection occurs over only three of the total 18 months. What's more is that these are executed with tremendous amounts of man-power: field enumerators, supervisors, analysts, the list goes on. Surveys are an iceberg. You see them being implemented in the field, but that's just a small fraction of the work that actually goes into the study. Moral of the story:  I'm in for it, but the learning experience will hopefully be worth the struggle. 

Just keep flapping, just keep flapping, just keep flapping, flapping, flapping...

From zero to crazy in a week flat.

Yesterday's quote from my African Wisdom for Life calendar is a Kenyan proverb, "The bird which flaps its wings too much will drop its feathers." Yes, and here begins round two of my battle to maintain equilibrium between a flapping enough to keep me airborne and losing all my feathers. Three cheers for taking on too much... again!

so close i can taste it

I'm days from completion of my first semester. Feeling the weight of final assignments and exams being lifted, and I still have two exams to go. I'm not quite done, but I'm certainly through the worst of it. Prepared and ready to coast to the end...! It's been a wild ride, this semester.

Tutoring this semester has given me an appreciation for everything I've learned over the years. I had to explain the terms "abortion," "discrimination" and "unprecedented" today. We went over "minority" and something else I can't remember last week. He remembered minority, and that made me feel like I was actually helping him. I can't imagine the challenge of navigating high school, and studying (and understanding) U.S. History in this case, with a limited working proficiency in English. How do you understand the impact of Roe v. Wade without the basic vocabulary surrounding the case? Or learn about the dynamism of the Civil Rights movement from a book if discrimination and minority are nothing more than words that are difficult to pronounce much less meaningful? We are so quick to use written language as a crutch in teaching and learning. There's got to be a better way to communicate the important ideas of history (and other subjects) and make them come alive for these kids.

I'm totally thrown off by the fact that the holidays are fast approaching. The climatic cues I'm used to aren't anywhere to be found in the South. It was in the mid-60s today. It feels like October, and the radios are playing Christmas songs. It feels strange, but the mild weather is easy to get used to, I'll admit. Being home for parts of December and January will surely be a jolt to the system.

15 minutes late

i missed the 11th minute of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the 11th year of this millennium by 15 minutes. worth commemorating anyway, right? this day comes but once every hundred years!

a nod of appreciation to the veterans for their many sacrifices as well.

a day in the life

The hills were alive this morning on my walk to school. Rays of the sun were breaking through the trees like you imagine they do in heaven. The temperature was brisk but not cold and even though brightly colored leaves illuminate many trees, fallen leaves have become to accumulate on the walking path. No sooner had I passed the university president's house that a red-tailed hawk swooped down yards in front of me for its breakfast and then took off back into the canopy. Goooooood morning!

Guest lecturers spoke to us in not one, but two classes. A veterinary epidemiologist who was responsible for investigating an outbreak of cysticercosis on a cattle feedlot shared his firsthand experience with the material that formed the basis of our weekly homework assignment. In another class, we heard the life story of a European diplomat who suffered under communism in eastern Europe but managed to persist and succeed anyway.

I spent the dinner hour as I usually do on Tuesdays: volunteering tutoring refugee kids. This has been the most life-giving volunteer experience I have ever had. Watching the wheels turn in these boys' heads as they make strides toward understanding math, history, chemistry, reading. I always leave this place with a smile and inspired by the potential and effort of these kids.

Though I had ambitions for diligence the remainder of my evening, it instead evolved into conversations with some of the people who are most important to me. Taking this time was my chance to feel like a human instead of a robot and has given me the energy I need to get up tomorrow, focus and dedicate myself to the task at hand.

Summary: life is good today.

marking time

two years ago today, i was sleeping under a mosquito net, sweating a lot, taking cold showers and reflecting on a recent trip to nicaragua. 

one year ago today, i had my on-campus interview that accompanied the submission of my fulbright application. i tearfully let go of six months of research, soul-searching and proposal writing.

today, i biked to school in the dark because the sun hadn't come up yet. i handled birds we caught at piedmont park. ate lunch and studied on the patio at panera and generally felt good about where i am and what i'm doing.

each day i feel more comfortable biking in the city. i made it through midterms and can take the long weekend to breathe and enjoy fall.... and hopefully catch up on some sleep.

The Hamster Effect

This is what happens to hamsters when midterms approach. I've been in the spinning stage for about a week now, and am doing my best to not fall out. If Rollins is going to make me earn my fall break, I'm going to just tell Rollins to BRING IT.