I can (finally!) stop checking my school email obsessively, because I got the word yesterday that I passed my French translation exam a couple of weeks ago.
For those of you keeping score at home, that means that I’ve now ticked off one of the three outstanding items that I need in order to graduate this May. Step one was fulfilling the language requirement, step two is writing and defending my thesis, step three is passing an oral exam on the history and historiography of the American civil rights movement.
Step one was completely out of my hands, but that’s the one that I was the most nervous about. I mean, I know I finished it. I know that I took two pages of French text and then gave them a blue book full of English. I also knew that the two were roughly equivalent, because I had the use of a French/English dictionary and I checked my work a couple of times before I turned it in. I just didn’t know how tough the grader was going to be. Or how many idioms I might have missed.
Step two is in progress. My research is, for the most part, all done and typed up and outlined. I just keep freaking out every time I sit down to actually, you know, write. And then, because I’m so overly anxious, my brain goes to mush and I can’t get anything productive done. I have the academic yips. I spend every free minute I have working on this thing. If I’m not working or sleeping, I’m obsessing about how I’m going to get it all done on time.
Step three is, theoretically, not too bad. It’s a conversation with my adviser, and he’s not going to be trying to trip me up. I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.
Yesterday was a good day to find out I’d passed, because I sure did need a win. Lilian kept me up for a good chunk of time the night before and it was just one of those days where nothing seems to go right. By the time I got home, I was practically in tears. Even after I found out the good news, I was a little bit teary when Kristian walked in the door.
Things are headed in the right direction. Wish me luck that they continue on that way!