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My End of Year Doctoral Horror Story

  Hey guys! Ms. Duggan is back! I know it’s been awhile since I updated my blog but as you know I was working in Italy as a mental health clinician on an archaeological dig site. Don’t worry you will get ALL the details later. I’m finally back at work and getting back to my normal busy life and things are going well so far. But around the time I got back into the swing of things I had a major doctoral catastrophe! (Figure 1: This is a thumbnail of my latest YouTube video “My Doctoral Horror Story” where I am looking at the camera with a terrified look.) While I was away, I was still enrolled in two courses that had been going pretty well. I actually finished one while I was in Italy and received an A in the course.   The other course had one last assignment due that I planned to finish once I got back to the states. However, to my surprise it was due while I was in Italy and I was totally not prepared to finish it. (Figure 2: This is a photo of Ms. Jay, an African American male fashion
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Get University Courses for Free!

  Did you know that some universities offer free courses? COVID really did a number on higher education with declining numbers and students choosing other pathways to success. As a result, colleges had to pivot to keep numbers afloat, so they did not lose funding. One of the ways they did this was by allowing students to take free courses. I’m not sure where the funding came from (it may have been HEERF Funding), but it was a great opportunity for students to get what they needed at zero cost. I'm sure many of our free college for all folks would argue that this should be a permanent  option.  Figure 1: This is a thumbnail of my latest YouTube video “Get University Courses for Free” where I am smiling with my hand under my chin. My hair is styled in long twists. Since the start of my doctoral program in August 2020 I have taken two free courses and will take another one in May. These courses have helped me to finish my coursework very quickly! While the first free course that I too
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Did My Professor Get Me Together?!

  Working at a university I interact with professors on a daily basis. I am often in the middle to help students communicate more effectively. As a student myself I reach out to my own professors when I have questions and I have always had a pleasurable experience for the most part. I’m currently taking a literature review course with a professor who is a stickler for all things grammar and APA. One of the course required books included purchasing an APA manual but being on a debt free budget I figured I could just skim online to get the basics. Figure 1: This is a thumbnail of my latest YouTube video “Did My Professor Get Me Together?!” where I am looking at the camera with a serious look. I have on a yellow shirt that says, “Black girl magic” and my hand is under my chin.   I typically use Owl Purdue anyway and do just fine with sticking to APA guidelines. Before spring break, I completed a dissertation review of four studies where I analyzed each one’s literature review. I figured m
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My Doctoral Degree is FREE!

  So a little while ago, a friend gave me some news that my doctoral program would be FREE. I honestly thought he was pulling my leg being that I was actually in the program and had not heard anything about this. I immediately asked my academic advisor and he said he hadn’t heard anything. At that point I was like nope it ain’t happening! But then my director mentioned it and I thought okay this is a thing! A few weeks flew by and my advisor contacted me and told me he had spoken with the graduate school dean at an event and she confirmed that it was true and for me to contact Human Resources to complete the necessary paperwork. Within a few minutes, I sent in my courses and a write up as to how this would be related to my current position and everything was in motion. Figure 1: This is a thumbnail of my latest YouTube video on “My Doctoral Degree is FREE!” where I am holding my hands on my head with a shocked look.   The doctoral scholarship at my university is a new initiative to ret
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Top 5 College Services for Midterms

  Midterm season is here and our office is busy! Many times students like to wait until the last minute to seek additional services once exams are near. This often leads to false hope and tarnished dreams once things do not turn out the way they had hoped. With this in mind, I wanted to create a list of five services that all college students should be aware of before starting their midterms. Figure 1: This is a thumbnail of my latest YouTube video “Top 5 College Services for Midterms” where I am sitting in my office wearing a grey long sleeved shirt and holding up the number five.” TRIO: A federally funded program to assist students in being successful on their journey through 1:1 tutoring, scholarships, educational traveling, and purchasing textbooks. Counseling: Exam season brings on many stressors that can result in depression and anxiety. To ensure that you are your best self mentally and physically schedule an appointment with the Counseling Center before exams begin. Figure 2
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What Courses am I Taking?

  Spring semester is trucking away, and I just realized that I didn’t tell you what courses I’m taking! As a second-year doctoral student in higher education this semester has been very busy. You all know that I typically take two courses since this is what my university covers, and I am very happy that I decided to drop my third course before the semester started. The amount of work that I have had to complete with the two courses that I am enrolled in would not have been sustainable if I would have added a third course. Remember guys slow and steady wins the race! Figure 1: This a thumbnail for my latest YouTube video “What Courses Am I Taking?” where I am holding my Issues in Higher Education book with a surprised look on my face. This semester my two courses are Issues in Higher Education and Writing a Literature Review. My Issues in Higher Education course points out the challenges in higher education today. I typically focus on student loan debt crisis but there is so much more t
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MORE Student Loan Forgivness Mr. BiVen?!

  The Biden administration is back again with more student loan forgiveness ya’ll! It almost feels like a lottery at this point with everyone hoping that they will get the chance to have their loans forgiven too. In this episode of “Whose Loans will be Forgiven this Time”, 415 million dollars in student loan forgiveness will be given to students who attended several schools who were found to have not been honest about their job placement rates or other things that ultimately resulted in most closing down. Many of these schools advertised substantially throughout the years so the names that I am about to list should sound familiar. Figure 1: This is a thumbnail of my latest YouTube video "MORE Student Loan Forgiveness Mr. BiVen?!" where I am sitting in my office while looking at the camera. I have on a shirt that reads "To My Black People I Love You". The schools include ITT Tech, DeVry, Westwood College, and Minnesota School of Business/Globe University. Am I the on
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