The Light

Adviser wrote back that s/he read my theory chapter (chapter 5).

Adviser is normally quite subdued in hir emails, often with an air of professional encouragement.

But this time, s/he used CAPS and !!!!!!!!!!!! to tell me just how much s/he like my theory chapter.

My THEORY chapter! That's the meat, and s/he really liked it!

I wrote hir back saying that lit background (chapter 2) is pretty solid too.

Yep, it is pretty solid.

After reading through over 50 journal articles and book chapters, a critical review of each, and then combining them into a table with analysis of "research area," "type of article," "findings," "regional specificity," etc,. I feel like I can finally say, "I know this field, and I have something new and exciting to contribute."

This is what they told me Ph.D.s are supposed to be all about. Contributing to new knowledge.

I'm glad I'm feeling this way about my dissertation. It was not a mistake to change advisers two years ago and go towards an area that I knew I would not get sick of. I'm already thinking of all kinds of follow-up research and publications I can do.

Nope, I'm definitely not sick of this work!

(Okay, okay, so I was sick of it for a couple of months in Jan and Feb. Okay, most of March too. But I knew I would feel better about it after.)

I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and I think I need sunglasses. B-)