1. When was the last time you astonished yourself?

This is an easy one. Last time I astonished myself was when I finished writing my dissertation in 3 days, and it was accepted just a few weeks after with minimal corrections.

The reason I astonished myself was that all summer long, I took notes on the study and the data analysis on paper and did not start writing or typing any of it because I was so sure I would have time to type it when we got back home to FL from our summer in Hawai'i. I truly enjoyed my time on the Big Island and did not work on the dissertation as I should have. I knew I should have started to type chapter 4, but I did not. I was sure I would have time later on. Then, life happened.

Going back to work was tough, but I was turning 50, so we took the week off and spent it in Vegas with our son (who has a birthday the same week as I do). Then, a hurricane hit FL, and 2 weeks later, a second hurricane hit FL. We had 2 days off from work, so this was my planned time to get down to typing. However, we did not hear back from my mother-in-law, who lived in Texas at that time, and we were worried. A welfare check from the police revealed she had passed away due to a major heart attack.

Life became unbearable and difficult. It was a whirlwind of traveling back and forth between FL and TX, and disbelief. The grief I felt was nothing compared to the grief my husband felt, and how difficult it was to get him through those first few months. She passed away on 10/09/2024. My draft for the dissertation was due 11/03/2024. Somehow, we time-warped to October 31st, and I had not started on the typing of my chapters 4 and 5. My dissertation chair was supportive, and I was considering delaying the process until the Spring, except I would have had to revamp the literature review and the information since the research would have been more than 3 years old. I was not willing to delay for another year. I had to try.

Full of grief and sadness, my husband wanted to attend the homecoming talent showcase at our school to support the students. I mustered whatever courage I could find to attend and ensure he was ok. I was glad to have gone because I got to spend the night with my dear friend Violetta (who was battling cancer at that time and lost her battle to cancer in the spring of 2025). She encouraged me to finish and told me she knew I would be able to get it done. So, after the show was over, we went home, I loaded up on coffee, organized my papers, and started to write. I wrote all night and all day Saturday. I only took breaks to eat the food my husband brought in and the shakes I had prepared. I wrote chapter 4 by 10 pm on Saturday and started on chapter 5.

I wrote all Saturday night and all of Sunday. I took a nap sometime at 6 am on Sunday (on the floor of my office carpet) and woke up to continue. I had to turn something in. My chair called me at 4 am to chat. She helped me sort out a few things I was stuck on (headings and stupid APA things), and I went back to writing. I was not sure if what I wrote would pass, but I wanted to submit something for chapters 4 and 5. I, somehow, was able to get it done and submit by the Sunday 11:59 pm deadline.

But that was not the astonishing part. The astonishing part is that, without an editor, in the midst of stress at work and incredible grief, I was able to get it done with minimal errors. I had forgotten to write chapters 1-3 in the past tense. I had 1 mismatched title (numbers on one and written numbers on the title page), the heading of a figure had to be adjusted as per APA 7 rules, and I had to remove a figure that was not needed. I was shocked. I made the few corrections, and on 11/21/2024, as I was sitting in the airport to leave on Thanksgiving vacation to St. Maarten, I received the call that my dissertation was approved. I was shocked. Written in 3 days, edited in the middle of incredible stress and grief, and then, just like that, I was done in less than a month after submitting the first draft. I was so sure I would be working on it through the Spring.

God did that. When I read it, I am still astonished. I still see His hand guiding the words and helping me survive 4 days of no sleep and straight data analysis and writing. Proof that when you ignore your limits, you do amazing things.