A dissertation student credits Dr. Tippins with helping them finish after getting stuck with a vague advisor. Weekly accountability sessions, clarity on chapter requirements, and detailed feedback on writing and research turned things around in ten months.
The best part was the weekly accountability. I felt like the weekly accountability helped me stay disciplined, and I needed that type of structure for me. I grew up as an athlete, so I'm just used to having a coach that are going to push me through certain milestones. And so his knowledge, I mean, his experience speaks for itself. He was able to simplify things for me. This was totally new for me. The whole experience was totally new for me. So being able to have him as a thought partner around the different chapters definitely helped me feel more comfortable and helped me gain more confidence as I was moving forward with my dissertation. Yeah, so helping me find my voice throughout the process was a direct correlation to coaching with Dr. Tippins Ph.D. For somebody new in this process, not knowing where to start, I had a chair that was really vague with her directions, and so Dr. Tippins helped me see through the fog. She would write an email, I would read it to him, and he would tell me, oh, she's looking for X, Y, and Z, or just submit it, let's just work through this. So it was a It's a daily process. My initial chair had left the university, and then there was a period of— I just felt like I was losing time. I wanted someone who would be able to give me accountability and work with me intimately. I had a lot of questions about the process, and my chair just, like I said, just wasn't available all the time because she had so many things on her plate. I really felt like I was a bother to her rather than someone she was guiding. You know, I had reached out to a support group. They recommended your pops. From the first meeting, he really understood what my challenges were. He had resources as well. So it helped me prioritize my time throughout the weekend, throughout the week, so that I could have something to talk about with him, and he can gauge my progress. He would proofread, make some suggestions, help me be more clear with my writing, help me tell my story, help me tell the story that I want to convey. So he would just see my blind spots and say, "Hey, you may want to consider this. You may want to research this author," or, "This is really what this section is about. Keep it true to this section." So whether it was just a lit review, whether it was just chapter 1, don't do too much but give enough, just helping me write him proofreading and just guided me through it throughout the entire process, right? And so I was just trying to get done at that point. I knew every semester I was in school, that was another set of tuition that I had to pay. I can work with your pops for at least 10 months, at least in my goal, for at least 2 semesters. It would be money well worth it to get done because I was just at a point where I was like, I'm never gonna get out and I'm spending a lot of money and I've come too close to my goal to not finish. I had to buckle down. He was my discipline anchor. It gave me confidence every time I submitted something to my chair as a result of work, proud of what she was reading. She validated the fact that I was making significant progress and I was just close to my goal. So Dr. Tippins Ph.D. was definitely my secret sauce to the whole progress.
