I have now finished all of my coursework!!
Laying ahead are: 2 comprehensive exams (one in October and one in April) unless I can get exempted from the comps due to being published (hopefully I can work on the article I began last Fall) and the dissertation.
Luckily the dissertation is broken into pieces: the proposal (Chapters 1-3) then data gathering and the remaining chapters.
What a whirlwind this has been. It seems that just such a short time ago I was wondering what it was going to be like to be in a doctoral program and the big question: what the writing was going to be like.
Now here I am three years later completing coursework-done with the program and just needing to take care of some details! I'm going to miss coming out to California and being immersed in learning and discourse. I'm going to miss the cohort members and the fun we have. It feels odd as we all go our separate ways-promising to keep in touch and to encourage each other along the solitary path of dissertation.
As I turn towards dissertation I had a great conversation with both Alex and Eileen this week. As I worked through the "aim" of my dissertation some things came into focus regarding what I really am wanting to know and what my study should be.
Alex gave me the advice that I should be able to summarize my dissertation in one sentence. When I left his office I couldn't do that but I feel like I've been working on refining things and am better at it now.
I'm going to call Alex this coming week to begin working through my thoughts and hopefully I'll be able to begin searching for resources for my lit review. Before I can identify my problem statement and purpose of the study I need some more literature for sure.
I will continue to write my ruminations about the Ph.D. journey on this blog as I now begin the path to dissertation.
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