The madness has begun!
In 2014, "The Year of the Dissertation", I get to complete two of the last four big phases of this journey, start one, and do most of the work for another. Those big four phases are: (1) Preliminary Exams, (2) Dissertation Proposal, (3) Dissertation, and (4) Job!
Right now, I am working on Phase 1 - Preliminary Exams. Every department is different and none have really strict rules about these exams. The way my department chooses to do the exams is to have each committee member give the student a written component, then have all the committee members and student meet in person for the oral component. For the written part, the committee member can send the student a question (or questions) to answer in literature review format, or the committee member can have the student come in for a face-to-face exam. In the oral exam, the committee can ask anything they want of the student or can clarify for more detail about something the student wrote. There are no limitations to what the committee can ask, but if the committee knows your dissertation topic (like mine does), they try to cater to that topic.
For me, prelims began swimmingly. To put it in a nutshell, prelims consisted of me reading...a lot! I had a stack of printed articles I read through (about ~50), and I spent a few weeks getting lots of books from the library, which I read selected chapters from. I wrote a lot in journals, matrices, and on sticky notes to get my ideas together.
One really helpful tactic I employed is the use of a timeline. As a gag gift for Christmas, my dad got me a set of huge, poster-sized Post-it notes. I always complain when I go to their house that they don't have any Post-its, which are one of my most valuable writing assets. Anyway, I actually found a good use for this large Post-it! I created a timeline with the last 5 decades on it (I went back to the 60s but have a space for anything earlier). When I read a seminal study, I wrote the author's last name and year of publication on a small sticky and placed it on the appropriate location on the timeline. I also put the theoretical frameworks that evolved during these times. Now, I can visually see a progression and how different theorists and researchers impacted the field. This has been quite useful in writing my own theoretical framework for my study.
One part of prelims that has not been nearly as easy to manage is life. The day I began working on my questions, I began noticing that I had less and less hot water available. Taking showers quickly became a race to finish before the hot water ran out...you guessed it, my water heater went out. Ha! Now, of all the inconveniences I can think of, this is one that I could certainly handle. A few cold showers never hurt anyone. BUT, the weather got a little chilly, and soon we were in 30-degree weather. That changed the game a little. Fortunately, since I was just at home writing and reading for most of the day, I could easily schedule someone to come fix the problem, and am back in "hot water" as we speak. While this was not something I wanted to handle while writing, I'm thankful it happened before school started.
One part of prelims that has not been nearly as easy to manage is life. The day I began working on my questions, I began noticing that I had less and less hot water available. Taking showers quickly became a race to finish before the hot water ran out...you guessed it, my water heater went out. Ha! Now, of all the inconveniences I can think of, this is one that I could certainly handle. A few cold showers never hurt anyone. BUT, the weather got a little chilly, and soon we were in 30-degree weather. That changed the game a little. Fortunately, since I was just at home writing and reading for most of the day, I could easily schedule someone to come fix the problem, and am back in "hot water" as we speak. While this was not something I wanted to handle while writing, I'm thankful it happened before school started.
The parts of prelimming that I am thankful for is how easy it was! I was worried because people constantly told me that I wouldn't sleep or shower or eat and would neglect everything else to finish prelims. However, that was not my experience. I worked really hard the first few days of the year to write my answers to the two questions I had then I took the weekend off to play with friends and finished the questions last week. My other two committee members waived their questions, so I was done. I decided it would be good to use the extra time to read a few more articles and books I was interested in before the oral portion. It was relaxing, smooth-sailing, and very educational, even with a water heater to fix. :)
I would also like to give a public "thank you" to my friends and family and committee. They have been wonderful! Everyone was patient with me, accepted that I needed some time to complete these, and listened to me talk endlessly about everything I was learning. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
I would also like to give a public "thank you" to my friends and family and committee. They have been wonderful! Everyone was patient with me, accepted that I needed some time to complete these, and listened to me talk endlessly about everything I was learning. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
Wish me luck on the 27th! :)
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