April+2015

April 2015
The biggest thing that happened for me in April was that I became a Doctoral Candidate! On April 10th I went through my oral candidacy exam in Calgary and explained/defended my research proposal about teachers and their perceptions of possible futures. The whole experience was nerve-wracking. I flew to Calgary Wednesday night, spent all day Thursday and Friday morning on campus at the Taylor Family Digital Library (great building), and then my exam took place in the Education tower at the University of Calgary on Friday afternoon.

The oral examination was about 2 hours long with a 5 minute recess in the middle. The five Doctors questioning me took a short time to deliberate after the exam, and then I was congratulated by my advisor, Dr. Veronika Bohac-Clarke. The decision of the committee was unanimous, and I was invited across the threshold from being a Doctoral student to becoming a Doctoral Candidate. What an experience! On Friday evening I was able to get out with University friends and my brother and sister-in-law to celebrate. Saturday was a good day to collect my thoughts and reflect a bit, and I flew home on Sunday.

So...what does this all mean? Well, it seems to mark the theoretical half-way point in my doctoral studies. I've been a student at the Werklund School of Education (UofC) since July of 2013, so close to two years. Now I hope to conduct my research and write a dissertation in the next two years or less if possible. It also means that I'm an "All But Dissertation" (ABD) academic. ABD seems to be a bittersweet status: qualified enough to be an instructor at colleges and universities but still looking at a pile of work before anyone would confer a doctoral degree. I'm well aware that many who begin Doctoral studies hang it up right around now...course work is over, and the more fluid, less structured and self-directed process of research and dissertation writing begins.

When I step back from all of this and try to see the forest for the trees I'm glad that I'm putting my money where my mouth is. (ick. Two back to back clichés in that topic sentence). After all, I spend my working days with 14 to 18 year olds, and I tell them how important and really how exciting it is to learn new things. People change all of the time, but they don't always grow, or develop, or mature, or become improved versions of their previous selves. All of this "doctoral studies" business is a challenge, and it is making me grow. Cliché or not, actions do speak louder than words, even when you teach words for a living. At the risk of further invoking Sancho Panza from Don Quixote I think I should quit while I'm ahead here, stop looking at the forest, and head back into the trees. After all, there is work to be done.