Testimonials
Let me start by saying that I have known Mary Beth Haines for over seventeen years. I have admired her ability to listen and hear a person on a deeper level. So I knew when it came to writing my master project, I did not hesitate to call on her to help me put my field work into a document that would be clear, concise, and understandable. She has an insight into what the professors are looking for and just how to phrase it so that the writing flows and meets all the requirements of the University. I had been given misinformation and thanks to Mary Beth and her knowledge and experience she gave me the information I needed to make sure I had an accurate picture of what needed to be turned in.
She helped me move both backwards and forwards so that I didn’t have to re-think and re-do things, I could go back to things I’d already done and pull them forward into what I was working on, so that it was made stronger. Her persistence in working on details to make the document flow is superb.
My overall experience of my time working with Mary Beth was upbeat, productive, and deeply rewarding. The finished product turned out to be a successful endeavor. I highly recommend her to all I know who need someone to really understand the load that they carry to fulfill their requirements for academia. SHE IS THE ONE!! The finished product was my Hooding Ceremony for my Masters in Education.
Written with gratitude, Deborah L. Abbott, M.Ed. |
Working with Mary Beth was fabulous. I thought, as a dyslexic person, I could say to her what I wanted to put on the paper, and between the 2 of us, we could get it there, in the right order. I didn’t find her judgmental, I didn’t find her getting intimately involved in the writings and the theories, but she was a resource that was helpful. Because she was so willing to work with what was there, we were able to compromise even on meeting spaces. And she taught me a lot about Word. Even now, when I hit a button this morning working on a document, years after our work together, I told myself “Calm down. What would Mary Beth tell you to do?” I think she’s very knowledgeable about the format. Because I could put that on her, I could focus on the text, and leave the rest to her. I will be a returnee, because I’m writing now, and I’ll want to get it smoothed out. I’ll be tickled to work with her again.
Euhania Butler, Ed.D. |
It was so helpful to have someone who could help guide me through the process of writing a concept paper and proposal, when the faculty doesn’t help you to figure out that process. How could I write a concept paper and proposal for a research project, when those things are supposed to be specific and my stuff couldn’t be specific until I got to the country where I was going to do the research? I had to figure out how to write a proposal that would be acceptable to the academy when I knew that what I was going to do would end up different from what the proposal was. I needed someone to help me with clarity on my proposal, not editing and style help, but help understanding what the faculty would be looking for, and how to integrate that into my thinking.
When I came out of my committee meeting and talked with MB, the questions she asked me were just inquiring. The questions weren’t expecting me to make a judgment about something, she was helping me to explore what it was I wanted to do. It helped me with an inductive, rather than a deductive process, a heuristic process, rather than an analytical process.
There’s a way in which a person that you’re working with, you can tell if they’re really paying attention to you and listening, or if their mind is wandering. It is important to me that MB would bring her awareness to a situation, bring her attention to a situation and allow me to explore and figure out for myself, without having preconceived notions and solutions already. That’s helpful for me.
Are you stuck with something? Mary Beth is the person to go to when you’re stuck. She’s good at helping get you unstuck. Stuck places are emotional places. It doesn’t have to be a long-term thing, but you might need someone to help you figure out or get your way through the emotional place, and she does that.
There’s so much to a research project, everything’s abstract until you start your way through. Where MB fit into that was helping me when I was in that stage of “I don’t have that concrete experience.” MB helps make some of the very abstract things concrete, makes some of it come alive for people. She helped me with the inductive processes in ways that faculty either don’t or can’t, in spite of what they say.
I enjoyed working with Mary Beth. She doesn’t take over people’s processes for them. Mary Beth allows their process to unfold. That way, I can keep ownership of my own process. It may not be easy, but it’s really important, and it helps me to be successful.
Denise Ségor, MA, Ph.D. graduation scheduled for July 2006 |
Mary Beth stepped into the space where I was floundering. She helped me
to find my way out of what seemed to be darkness with no light in sight. I was beginning to think I would never be able to write a proposal, let alone a dissertation. We worked on putting words to ideas, concepts and feelings that helped me find my way onto the path for the dissertation. Sometimes it seemed that the path was very clear, but it did not lead anywhere. It took finding the right words: for a research question, for letters to committee members, and for the proposal and dissertation so my ideas and knowledge and understanding could be translated into a written document that clarified what I was studying, and making sense of the data. In this way, MB came alongside to help me complete my dissertation. She was with me all the way through final oral presentation. Because of her support, I finished in a timeline that worked for me, and I look forward to work on articles together.
Ted Takamura, Ph.D. |
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