it's a happy-dance day

what a great day. the sun is shining (somewhere); it's a brisk 33 degrees outside, which means snow is melting, birds are singing, i just caught a typo and avoided embarrassing myself, man! could it get better? hmmm, i suppose i could have a meeting this morning and secure my fifth and final committee member for my phd!!!!!! uh-huh. uh-huh. uh-huh-uh-huh-uh-huh. it's been a four-and-a-half month journey. meeting with people, pitching my ideas, getting names of more people to meet with, getting names of people i've already met with, revising my proposal twenty-seven times, on and on. but for now, it's done. sigh of relief. next step: polish up the proposal, send out to my committee (oh, does that feel good to say!) for final feedback, traipse all over campus for each of their signatures, and submit for approval from the grad school - basically, the administration and authority over special degrees like mine. here is my final cast of characters (and by final, i mean, for now; things can always change):

patrick remington, md, mph, has agreed to serve as the chair of my committee. thank you, thank you, thank you.







d. paul moberg, phd, my boss and the guy i met in washington dc at a conference before i came to wisconsin. great guy, super smart, and this is a terrible picture of him.






susan zahner, drph, teaches in the school of nursing, is super nice, and was my first non-pop health committee member to sign on. thank you susan!!








shep zeldin, phd, teaches in the school of human ecology. not much to say yet, don't know him well. but super greatful he agreed to be part of my committee!








gary green, phd, met him this morning, love him already. really nice, seems supportive of my ideas, does work internationally and domestically with community development and building assets in communities.






so yay! moving on. i'm also suddenly filled with a feeling of, oh my goodness, what have i done? these people now have expectations and i have a responsibility to deliver. i no longer belong to a department; i am an island...





i'm an island! i'm an island! hoorah, hooray! i'm an island! and i have a committee! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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