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About

Who Are You?

I’m Ian Sheddan, a proud Drexel University graduate. I attended Drexel’s College of Computing & Informatics and completed the coursework required to earn a Master in Library and Information Science degree in December 2017.

What's This Site All About?

Back in September 2016, shortly into my first term of grad school, I realized that I was going to be doing an absurd amount of writing. Since I was completing my degree entirely online, any sort of verbal communications that I would have had in a traditional classroom or lab setting had been replaced with written words.A little more than halfway through this first term, I thought it might be cool to see how many words I had written so far. I was shocked at the number I calculated and randomly thought I’d try comparing it to the word counts of some of the world’s most well known books. In a matter of a few weeks, I had written over half the number of words found in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451!I began wondering, with 26,000+ words already under my belt, how many words would I end-up writing by the end of the term? This question quickly led me to latching onto the idea of keeping a running total of the number of words I would be writing in order to earn my degree.Now that I've graduated, this site displays my final word count total. It also includes the additional running total updates I posted along the way (115,693, 180,933, and 233,520) prior to graduating. As I describe in greater detail below, I had some fun with all of these totals on the By the Numbers page.

Ah, A Personal Project!

As someone who is a fan of random personal projects (take, for instance, my year-long 5x5 video projects from 2010 and 2012), this simple idea of counting the words I wrote and then taking that number and finding interesting equivalents, comparisons, etc. sounded like a fun project to tackle. If you know me personally, you know how much my brain loves focusing on random, creative endeavors such as this.

How Was the Total Calculated?

My program of study found me taking three classes over the course of five, 11 week terms. I used this as the basis of how to keep track of my running word count total.Within a spreadsheet file, each of my five terms has its own sheet with the three courses I took listed. Within each course, word counts are listed and classified into one of three categories: discussion board posts, submitted assignments, and emails to instructors. I wanted to keep track of any words that might impact my final grade be it directly or indirectly. These categories did the trick.The actual word count was determined in one of two ways. On a weekly basis, I copied and pasted the text from my discussion board posts and emails to my instructors into a Google document. I then used the built-in word count tool and added the number to my spreadsheet. As for submitted assignments, I used the word count feature in whichever program I utilized to complete the assignment. Each application seems to handle word counts differently, but I tried to keep things as consistent as possible without creating unnecessary additional work for myself.

Where's the Spreadsheet?

At this point, I’ve decided not to include a public link to my spreadsheet, though I'm willing to share it with just about anyone that wants to see it. If you’re one of those people, please contact me.

What's the 'By the Numbers' Page?

With every update to the main word count, I updated the By the Numbers page. I had a bit of fun with this page with each update, using my running totals and final total to create a hodgepodge of randomness based around this singular number.Most of the information found on the page is either counted and calculated by me and/or discoverable online. I tried to make sure that the info was accurate even though my math skills are a bit rusty and word counts of different types of materials and media are always a bit hairy. It’s all meant to be fun, but please let me know if you notice anything that doesn’t seem quite right!

How Old is This Site?

This site was launched the day before my third term began on April 2, 2017.

Will You Continue to Update It?

Since I've completed my program of study and earned my degree, my word count is final and no additional updates will be made.Due to some unforeseen circumstances, this site was recreated in early January 2021. All of the content remained the same with one exception: a handful of the links that were a part of the originally conceived site had become broken and/or no longer linked to what was intended to be there. Such links were removed and the text where they once appeared looks like this.The word count remains final and, while no further updates besides checking links is expected, who the hell knows.

Anything Else?

I’m what you might call a “perfectionist.” If there was a switch that I could flick to turn-off this personality trait, I would definitely flick-if-off more often than not.I felt the need to mention this here because I know for a fact that my final word count isn’t indicative of what someone in the same program would need to write to be successful. While I graduated with a 4.0 GPA, it’s probably safe to assume that I could have done so without writing a lengthy novel’s worth of words each term.Lastly, this site is in no way scientific or in any way associated with the university where I studied. Just to reiterate, this site is a personal project and should not be viewed as anything but.

TL;DR

This site is a personal project of Ian Sheddan’s. He kept track of how many words he wrote to complete his online MSLIS degree at Drexel University.

PAGE LAST UPDATED: JANUARY 10, 2017 JANUARY 12, 2021

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By The Numbers

I wrote a total of three hundred three thousand, seven hundred eighty-six words to earn my MSLIS degree from Drexel University.

An even composite number, 303,786 is composed of four distinct prime numbers (2, 3, 7, and 2,411) multiplied together. It has a total of twenty-four divisors (1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 14, 18, 21, 42, 63, 126, 2,411, 4,822, 7,233, 14,466, 16,877, 21,699, 33,754, 43,398, 50,631, 101,262, 151,893, and 303,786).

303,786 seconds is equal to 3 days, 12 hours, 23 minutes, and 6 seconds.

The cubed root of 303,786 is 67.2237267407 while its square root is 551.1678510219. 303,786 written in scientific notation is 3.03786 × 10^5.

If I had written a novel with 303,786 words, here's how it would rank among a handful of famous books with similar lengths:

New York City’s MTA has a bus route numbered B43. This route runs through Brooklyn and includes bus stop number 303786 at Empire Blvd. and Brooklyn Ave. You could, theoretically, hop on a bus at this stop at the start of your vacation to Lake Osseroga in Highlands, North Carolina which is where VRBO listing #303786 is located. It’s entirely possible that somewhere inside or outside of this “gorgeous, professionally decorated home” has been spray painted with some True Navy Rust-Oleum Enamel Spray Paint. This 12 oz. can’s model number just so happens to be 303786.

The background hex color code for this box is #303786

As outlined on the About page, my word counts were separated into one of three categories. At the end of my grad school journey, this is how the 303,768 words I wrote broke down across each category:

I took a Resources for Young Adults (INFO 684) course in my final term and was tasked with reading quite a few teen reads. I used the course as an opportunity to read some books that I had wanted to read for a long time. Three such books, each of which I really enjoyed and rated with four or more stars on Goodreads, are listed below along with their word counts. Together, these lengths come close to my 303,768 word total but still leave you 3,109 words shy of it.

Out of the 15 courses I completed, the class I wrote the most words in was INFO 522 (Information Access and Resources). 10.7% of my final word count was written in this required core course. INFO 640 (Managing Information Organizations), another required core course, was a relatively close second with 8.84%. In comparison, INFO 605 (Intro to Database Management), a class I took as an elective, saw me write only 3.04% of my total 303,768 words.

With 303,768 total words, I averaged ~20,251 words in each of my 15 courses. I wrote more than average in 9 of my classes and less in 6 of them.

Finally, after completing all of my coursework, here are percentages representing how the 303,768 words I wrote break down across my five terms:

« 233,520 WORDS | POSTED: JANUARY 10, 2018

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By The Numbers

As of September 24, a little while after my summer term of electives wrapped up, I have written two hundred thirty-three thousand, five hundred twenty words toward earning my MSLIS degree. Only one term left to go!

233,520 is an even number. It is also an abundant, a harshad, and a composite number. It has a total of eighty divisors and is composed of five distinct prime numbers multiplied together (2^4 x 3 x 5 x 7 x 139).

It would take you about 1 day, 8 hours, and 26 minutes to count from 1 to 233,520.

The background hex color code for this box is #233520

If I had written a novel that had 233,520 words, here are a handful of well known books that would be shorter in word length:

233,520 is a rather popular number in hardware stores. For example, WP233520 is the part number for a small metal thrust washer used in various Whirlpool laundry appliances, while 233520-M is sometimes the SKU number associated with a set of fancy silver vintage mercury glass cabinet knobs from India. Milwaukee Tool even sells a tool holster that has a category number of 2335-20.

A cube with a volume of 233,520 cubic inches would be around 5.1 feet tall.

233,520 seconds is equal to 2 days, 16 hours, and 52 minutes.

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. As someone that has been challenged by mental health issues his whole life, I’ve always been drawn to books, particularly YA ones, that discuss these complex issues. Below are three such works that I adore, have rated five stars on Goodreads, and have yet to mention on this site. If you read these incredible novels, you’d have read just 4,378 words shy of 233,520!

Finally, after fully completing four terms, here are percentages representing how the 233,520 words I’ve written break down across each of them:

« 180,933 WORDS | POSTED: SEPT. 12, 2017 | 303,786 WORDS »

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By The Numbers

As of June 24, during the weekend before the start of my fourth grad school term, I have written one hundred eighty thousand, nine hundred thirty-three words toward earning my MSLIS degree.

A deficient, odd composite number, 180,933 is composed of three distinct prime numbers (3, 41, and 1,471) multiplied together and has eight divisors (1, 3, 41, 123, 1,471, 4,413, 60,311, and 180,933).

180,933 seconds is equal to 2 days, 2 hours, 15 minutes, and 33 seconds.

The square root of 180,933 is 425.3621986025 while the cubed root of it is 56.5595477331. 180,933 written in scientific notation is 1809.33 x 10^2.

If I had written a novel with 180,933 words, here's how it would rank among a handful of famous books with similar lengths:

Photo #180933 on PicsofCelebrities.com is of actress Randy Graff. Perhaps one day she might want to purchase a waterfront condo in Vero Beach, FL. If so, property num. 180933 is available. Maybe she could decorate a guest bedroom with a Tinkerbell quote, like quote #180933 on QuoteAddicts, but I bet she has better taste than that.

Last weekend, I experienced my second Firefly Music Festival. One of my favorite performances from my four days in The Woodlands of Dover, DE was Twenty One Pilot’s set on Friday night. I've never been a huge fan of theirs, but their 90 minute set blew my f’n mind. Pretending that they sang everything word-for-word without any extra commentary, they'd have sung 7,884 words. To have sung 180,933 words, they would have needed to perform their set at least 23 times.

The background hex color code for this box is #180933

Since June is Pride Month, the following books all have a main character who just so happens to be gay. You could read the three works, each of which I’ve read and rated with four or more stars on Goodreads, and still not have read 180,933 words. You’d have read 175,679 words, just over 97% of my running total, though!

Finally, after three fully completed terms, here are percentages representing how the 180,933 words I’ve written break down across each of them:

« 115,693 WORDS | POSTED: JUNE 24, 2017 | 233,520 WORDS »

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By The Numbers

As of April 2, one day before starting my third grad school term, I have written one hundred fifteen thousand, six hundred ninety-three words toward earning my MSLIS degree.

115,693 is both a prime number and a deficient number. 1.15693 × 10^5 is how the number would look if written in scientific notation while 11100001111101101_2 is its binary translation.

If I had written a novel with 115,693 words, here's how it would rank among a handful of famous books with similar lengths:

In California, lawyer #115693 was disbarred. With all of their free time, they could take a vacation to Gulf Shores, Alabama and stay in VRBO listing #115693, a “super sharp” gulf-front condo. If they wanted to start a new career, they could work for Zoro in Buffalo Grove, IL selling Value Brand rivets, one of which is identified with Mfr #115693.

115,693 seconds is equal to 1 day, 8 hours, 8 minutes, and 13 seconds.

The square root of 115,693 is 340.1367372101 and the sum of two squares (243^2 and 238^2) is equal to 115,693.

I’ve had the following songs in heavy rotation lately. Together, the word count of the ten songs' lyrics total 3,394. You would need to listen to a playlist of these songs roughly 34 times, which would take just over 22 hours, to hear 115,693 words.

You could read the three works I’ve listed below, three books that I’ve read and rated with three or more stars on Goodreads, and still not have read 115,693 words. You’d have read 113,931 words, roughly 98.5% of my running total, though!

The background hex color code for this box is #115693

Lastly, here are percentages representing how the 115,693 words I’ve written break down between my two fully completed terms:

POSTED: APRIL 2, 2017 | 180,933 WORDS »

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