March+2016

March, March, March.
Let's say that 32 months ago you started into your fourth degree program, a Doctoral program of study. And let's say that you knew it'd be a challenge, but that you figured you were ready for that kind of a thing. After all, with two Bachelor's Degrees and a Master's Degree done it seemed reasonable to think that you were prepared for doctoral studies. Now skip back to the present, the "now", the "moment". As it turns out, you weren't wrong, things are going well, but now you face that final big task (or at least you think of it as the final task), the writing of the dissertation. For me, the rest of 2016 is going to be about writing a dissertation, and about finishing well.

If you look around the interweb at places like [|#phdchat on Twitter] and any one of several blogs borne from a mix of procrastination and reflective practice you'll soon find dozens of doctoral candidates who are in a similar spot; done with the research proposal, done with the course work. They even have all their data collected. Those doing qualitative research even have it all transcribed and loaded up into [|NVivo] or whichever [|qualitative software helper] they have on hand. All of this represents a mountain of work; good job aspiring doctoral candidates! Even so, the work that leads a person to this point is necessary but not sufficient to call it completed. Nope, there is a dissertation to write, and that final BIG step is such a different process than so many of the steps that precede it that it can throw off the rhythm of the dancer. No more collecting data. No more meetings to arrange. No more consent forms to organize. No more classes to attend. Just read, and write, and read, and write, and write some more.

No wonder that so many people get thrown at this point as life outside of doctoral studies creeps in. [|"All But Dissertation" (ABD)] is a reality for many who park it and pitch a tent at this point on the road. In fact, ABD is so common that you will find it written into job ads and resumes alike. Once considered a truly pejorative term that demeaned a person for not being able to finish the job or seal the deal, the ABD is now more widely recognized as a legitimate waypoint. I guess if enough people pitch a tent and hang around for a while they build a village, which becomes a town.

Before this devolves into a poor knock off of [|Pilgrim's Progress], I think I've stopped for ice-cream in the ABD Village, and although it is an ok place to be, I don't plan to hang around here for very long. I feel the call of the open road, the hours of reading and thinking and sorting ideas into themes that help to reveal connections between my research questions and what people said when I asked them questions about how teachers think about possible futures.

Will I finish it all up in 2016? That's the plan, but to do so I have to drive hard, and I worry about missing out on the subtleties of the process if I push too hard. A friend of mine who finished up a Doctoral degree last year has encouraged me to slow down just a bit. Take time to smell the roses, that sort of thing. I'm still thinking that I'd better gather the rosebuds while I may, since [|old time is still a flyin']. Fortunately I'm in a good spot 32 months in, and even if I can't complete all of the work in 2016 then I will finish in early 2017. One more poem comes to mind, one by [|Mr. Frost]. He's right: the woods are lovely, dark and deep. I can feel the temptation to just stay there, to enjoy the peace of it all, to watch the woods fill up with snow on a lovely winter evening as I sit in ABD Village. But like the narrator in the poem, I too have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep.

And miles to go before I sleep.