Scott Anderson, Ph.D.

Most of my youth was spent training for something – for the Big 10 championship track meet, age-group state championships, the conference meet, etc. As the years passed by, these preparations became more targeted and well thought out. Partly this maturation arose from applying innovations in the field of exercise science, though mainly the maturation arose from my appreciation of preparation’s many benefits. This  preparation template  has served me well throughout life. While I am no longer a competitive athlete, I still enjoy setting goals and working to attain those goals. For example, I’m not carrying great gifts for distance running, though methodically training for a trail marathon was very satisfying. I also found this athletic-training preparation template workable in other arenas in my life. Two years ago, I applied this athletically-derived preparation template to writing and defending my Master’s thesis. It was challenging to wedge in writing amidst my day-to-day responsibil

The last 10% of a project often takes 90% of the effort. When renovating the building that became the Blue Mounds Movement Lab, I dreamily told anyone who would listen that   the project was nearing completion  once the walls were roughed in. While many friends gently reminded me of the unfortunate truth that the hardest work was yet to come, to a certain extent getting the walls roughed in really   was   a turning-of-the-corner. Once the walls were roughed in there was still a lot of work yet to be done, though I could really see and feel the finished product. It felt done (even though it wasn't anywhere close to completion) In my doctoral work, I’m starting to get a sense of its completion, even though some of the hardest steps are in front of me. As I return to my studies and prepare for the final push, I’m starting to put the pieces into place in support of the challenging steps that are ahead of me. The walls are roughed in, even though there remains a lot of work ahead! I’ve