School

(Trying) To Get Things Up To Date

I have been really bad at blogging since … well, quite some time (last post in mid 2014 oops!). The move to the UK and starting at Brunel has taken most of my mental bandwidth since last fall, but now with a full semester behind me, and only 4 weeks from the end of secondContinue reading “(Trying) To Get Things Up To Date”

Kelly Boudreau, PhD.

A bit late, but I successfully defended my PhD dissertation on June 29th! Although it has only been two weeks, it seems like eons ago already. The defense went well, it was a great mix of rigorous exchanges and academic camaraderie. It lasted just over 3 hours and I passed with excellence. A few minorContinue reading “Kelly Boudreau, PhD.”

The time has (finally) come: The PhD defense

It has been just shy of 5 years since I began my PhD, and it’s been almost 8 years since I have been working on understanding that weird ‘something’ that I felt between myself as a player and Velixious, my avatar from way back when. Over the years, the research has shifted from a questContinue reading “The time has (finally) come: The PhD defense”

Title, Abstract & One Final Push (and some editing)

A (very) brief update today, but I’ve (finally) come up with a title and wrote the formal abstract for my dissertation. After hundreds of pages of writing, one would think that the abstract would not be as challenging as it was. If interested, you can find it here. I feel a very strange mix of prideContinue reading “Title, Abstract & One Final Push (and some editing)”

Another Semester

I cannot believe that the last time I posted was in July. It has been a busy summer filled with mostly personal challenges. My oldest daughter went away to university in Halifax, N.S. – a good 13 hour drive from home… We dropped her off last Saturday. As we helped her settle into her dormContinue reading “Another Semester”

Blogging Hiatus

Trying to get this dissertation all out of my head and onto paper. It is taking longer than I had anticipated – I guess you really don’t know what writing a dissertation means until you are … well … writing one. I thought the experience of writing an Honour’s and Master’s thesis would have somewhatContinue reading “Blogging Hiatus”

A Hidden Mountain: Word Docs & Folders

I remember when I first started university, most people did not have a personal computer, institutional emails were newly assigned in my second semester, but I rarely had the time to go to the computer lab on campus to use it (and realistically, I only knew a handful of other people who used email atContinue reading “A Hidden Mountain: Word Docs & Folders”

Trudging Through The Mess

I am full force into the writing stage of my PhD – I am aiming for a March deadline for a full draft. My first bit of feedback was not quite what I was expecting, but I must remember that this writing thing is a two way street. One’s expectations might not quite match toContinue reading “Trudging Through The Mess”

Looking for Motivation

As I am working through the writing part of my dissertation (as opposed to the reading, note taking and game playing), I am finding it hard to stay on task. I have always been a last minute drama-panic type of writer, and up until this point, it has always worked for me (managed to getContinue reading “Looking for Motivation”

Redefining (my) Literature Review

I am working on the ‘lit review’ (and definitions) section of my dissertation this week, and it has been an interesting challenge so far. I come from Sociology, where a proper literature review – reviewing what has been written on a particular topic – usually framing the field or the range of perspectives before addingContinue reading “Redefining (my) Literature Review”