Schools Out for Summer (Sort Of)!

I've had a long hiatus from the blog posting business recently and I'm happy to be able to return to the job. What has changed you may ask. Well, all my classes finished in the middle of April and on May 1st I handed in my final essay towards the completion of my Masters degree. I had a particularly trying time as I needed to produce 6 essays/assignments in the period of 3 weeks. Needless to say that was dominating my time and energy. I have to give a big thanks to Phil for taking the lead role with the kids and running the house. Phil has the job of cook in our family and his excellent healthy meals that we enjoy on a daily basis were just what I needed to keep my neurons firing and complete my work. Phil also thankfully kept up the blog reporting and has done a great job not only in writing, but in seeking out new adventures. As it stands I'm on track to complete my Masters with distinction so I'm very pleased with the results of my hard work.

Its not all fun and games from here although I don't feel as pressured right now. The last and final hurdle is quite a big one. In just over 3 months from now I need to conduct and write up a dissertation/thesis. As many of you know this is no small task and normally given (in North America anyway) quite a bit more time than 3 months. I will work with Dr. Sharon Abrahams, the director of the Human Cognitive Neuropsychology program, a researcher, lecturer and practicing clinical neuropsychologist. I feel very fortunate to work with Sharon, she is a brilliant woman and well renowned in her field. For my dissertation I will be working with adults who have motor neuron disease, specifically amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, otherwise known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. I will be investigating the influence of executive functioning and processing speed on their completion of cognitive tasks. I am hoping to have a group of 10 ALS participants in all. I'm hoping the results will be interesting and could potentially be published.

My dissertation is due August 22, however I will try my best to complete it before then so I'll be able to take advantage of being in Edinburgh for another round of the Fringe Festival!