Dissertation Update & Stat Check

Update 3/22/13: Summer defense or bust!

It’s moving along. I’m writing and it’s moving along. A May graduation is still totally possible at this point but it means this week I’ll be writing when not eating, sleeping, or working to pay for it. So more of the same except in hyperdrive mode.

So here’s where it currently stands:

• If I get a ton of writing to my advisor by Friday, and it’s in good shape, defending in April and graduating in May is a real possibility.
• I’m adding to and refining the Findings section which is currently at 40 pages.
• The entire dissertation, with many edits and revision to make before handing in, is currently 108 pages.

Here’s a sample from this morning’s writing in the Findings chapter:

Client outcomes: Real visibility and improvements for Charlestown residents and agencies

Five respondents discussed the positive changes they witnessed in Charlestown as a result of Charlestown Connects both as residents and as individual community agencies. These positive outcomes dealt with better relationships with city agencies and thus improved access to city services, as one respondent stated:

But the fact that we were able to create an environment of safety, because this building was perceived as not safe and it had every right to have that perception, the lights were not on in the front of the building, the field lights, the safety lights, were not being left on, like there were things that were wrong, and through NRT, so street lights were out, things like that, but through responding, okay, to things like that, we became visible.  So now first it became visible, right?

This sense of improved visibility cannot be understated. Also evident after the Charlestown Connects intervention was a palatable difference in a sense of neighborhood in terms of better communication, working together, and more pleasant experience living in Charlestown overall. One respondent expressed this as, “the entire community has been able to grow and work together in a way that would not have possible without Charlestown Connects.” Another without much exposure to Charlestown Connects expanded on this idea and stated:

See a sea change going on. Has seen a lot more people asking what can we do to make Charlestown stronger, from retail and residents, trying to push community pride and effort and funding into making Charlestown more pleasant for residents to live in. Charlestown is forgotten neighborhood in Boston. My grandmother was from Charlestown 100 years ago, was community of hard-working people. Affluence equals attention. I love where I live, don’t want to put words in the mouth of those townies who lived during hard times when neighborhood was difficult, but over 20 years neighborhood has really improved.

Coffee donations and random words of kindness and support welcome. Always.