Research Paper Venting

My greatest frustration about writing this research paper is mainly finding the time to sit down and really work on it.  I find myself quickly approaching the due date and still have so much to do.  I am not a procrastinator but I just try to fit too much on my plate so I find myself doing things at the last minute which I don’t like to do.

For instance, after working 12-14 hour days all week I have to go to Ventura today (Friday) to take care of my elderly aunt which I run over to do on the weekends to get her groceries, clean her house, and any other errands she may need done.  My plan is then to dedicate all day Saturday and Sunday to working on my research paper and another big project that is due in another class.  I find there are just not enough hours in the day.  I’m sure I am trying to take too many classes on top of all of my other responsibilities but I just want to complete school as soon as I can so I can somewhat get my life back!

I selected the second option for my research paper which Jennifer said was the harder option but it was a matter of time constraints for me.  I just didn’t have time to finish another novel and write about it so I figured reading articles or excerpts from other research books would be the best utilization of time for me.  I have selected Women’s Rights in Iran. I still have a hard time imagining what it must be like to be a woman in a country such as Iran.  The research I have read so far has been very interesting but disturbing at the same time.  I do need to make a firm decision on my thesis today so I can press forward over the next two days in completing my paper with that theme.    

I have also struggled with the MLA format this semester.  I had never even heard of it before taking this class so trying to get it right has been a challenge.  I did print the information about citing sources in MLA format but I think it is still some of the basic rules that I am missing.  I have used the Purdue summary we were given the link for at the beginning of the semester but I was told on the last essay that it is still not correct.  I may need to just go buy the handbook today to make sure my final Essay 3 and the research paper are done correctly.

For me finding decent blocks of time to really focus on this project has been the biggest challenge.  I have already told my family that I just need to be left to myself for the rest of the weekend so I can focus on writing. This class has required a lot of writing but I must admit that it has made things flow easier just by being forced to write so much so often.  Hopefully this will be the case for the rest of the weekend and it will flow abundantly!