Year #3: Junes No More
And we're done. No more June sessions (at least required ones). While I can believe it's done, I'm still awed by the fact that it's done. The June sessions are hard. They get easier in some ways (you know what to expect, you know what you can get away with, you know that it will be over soon). But yeah, they are substantially challenging.
This June was harder than the first June in some ways but also easier. It was easier because there was an ease within the cohort, we're all familiar and comfortable now. This extended to the faculty as well as we could more easily joke and be at ease with things we could not complete on time or challenges and obstacles we ran into. It was harder because it demanded more from us in original thought. That is, in the first June session, you're delving into the foundations of higher education as a discipline; you're trying to understand the 30,000-foot view and how it all works (or doesn't). In this June session, you're now trying to enter the conversation with a meaningful commentary and that requires more critical thought in many ways than just learning about the conversations.
But we finished and it was an amazing moment for our cohort to have gotten this far and to see the progress we've all made with our work in the last three weeks. We know the journey is still onward and upward but we made it to an important market. We crossed the 42-credit threshold and have completed our foundational courses. Now, we have the summer to work on our qualifying paper proposals and get them read so we can move forward in the fall.
The June sessions are a challenge for everyone in the program (including the faculty!) and of course, everyone that are part of our personal and professional lives. There's no doubt about that. It is definitely a sacrifice and one that can be hard to make but one that will come to an end. As hard as they are, it has been worth it to accomplish them. Yet as much as it is a sacrifice, it's also an extraordinary privilege to spend 9 weeks over the course of 3 years deeply engaged in conversations and learning more about higher education. That's worth always remember!
It's also been nice to see the other cohorts going through the same struggles and being able to provide what support is possible or words of encouragement to get them through their own hurdles. In seeing them struggle, it helps to normalize our own cohort's struggle and to know that this is all part of the process.
From here on in, it's primarily work that's focused on the dissertation, in the fall, is the Qualifying Paper (or literature review for the dissertation) and in the spring, we look at methdology. It's been feeling real for a while now, but at this point, starting to write components of the dissertation, brings it to a whole new level. And I think I'm ready for that.
So, right now, I'm going to step away from my QPP and take a break (I also have a new job to start and a move to execute) and come back in another few weeks to get cracking on the next leg of this journey.
Want to keep up with my PhD adventures? Check out any of the links below:
Did you enjoy this read? Let me know your thoughts down below or feel free to browse around and check out some of my other posts!. You might also want to keep up to date with my blog by signing up for them via email.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
This June was harder than the first June in some ways but also easier. It was easier because there was an ease within the cohort, we're all familiar and comfortable now. This extended to the faculty as well as we could more easily joke and be at ease with things we could not complete on time or challenges and obstacles we ran into. It was harder because it demanded more from us in original thought. That is, in the first June session, you're delving into the foundations of higher education as a discipline; you're trying to understand the 30,000-foot view and how it all works (or doesn't). In this June session, you're now trying to enter the conversation with a meaningful commentary and that requires more critical thought in many ways than just learning about the conversations.
But we finished and it was an amazing moment for our cohort to have gotten this far and to see the progress we've all made with our work in the last three weeks. We know the journey is still onward and upward but we made it to an important market. We crossed the 42-credit threshold and have completed our foundational courses. Now, we have the summer to work on our qualifying paper proposals and get them read so we can move forward in the fall.
The June sessions are a challenge for everyone in the program (including the faculty!) and of course, everyone that are part of our personal and professional lives. There's no doubt about that. It is definitely a sacrifice and one that can be hard to make but one that will come to an end. As hard as they are, it has been worth it to accomplish them. Yet as much as it is a sacrifice, it's also an extraordinary privilege to spend 9 weeks over the course of 3 years deeply engaged in conversations and learning more about higher education. That's worth always remember!
It's also been nice to see the other cohorts going through the same struggles and being able to provide what support is possible or words of encouragement to get them through their own hurdles. In seeing them struggle, it helps to normalize our own cohort's struggle and to know that this is all part of the process.
From here on in, it's primarily work that's focused on the dissertation, in the fall, is the Qualifying Paper (or literature review for the dissertation) and in the spring, we look at methdology. It's been feeling real for a while now, but at this point, starting to write components of the dissertation, brings it to a whole new level. And I think I'm ready for that.
So, right now, I'm going to step away from my QPP and take a break (I also have a new job to start and a move to execute) and come back in another few weeks to get cracking on the next leg of this journey.
Want to keep up with my PhD adventures? Check out any of the links below:
- Acceptance...and acceptance
- Orientation
- Day 1
- Week 1
- First 2 Courses Completed
- First 2 Courses Finished
- Semester 2, Here We Go
- The Existential Crisis of the Week
- The Balancing Act
- Negotiating Privilege in Higher Education
- Zeroing in on Research
- Completing the Second Semester
- My Educational Autobiography
- So Starts the Third Semester
- My Educational Philosophy...for now
- PhD'ese
- And Sometimes, You Feel It
- Semester's Endgame
- Year 1, Officially Done
- Year 2, Week 1, Day 1
- Year 2, Week 1 Done!
- 1/3 Complete!?!?
- Click...
- Day 1; Semester 5
- Share and Share Alike
- Mindful and Mind-Filled
- 5th Semester Down
- Day 1, Semester 9
- The Two Demons of My Doctorate
- When Senioritis Kicks In
- The Final Friday
- Dissertation Journal #1
- Dissertation Journal #2
- Dissertation Journal #3
- Dissertation Journal #4
- Dissertation Journal #5
- Dissertation Journal #6
- Dissertation Journal: QP Revised Edition
Did you enjoy this read? Let me know your thoughts down below or feel free to browse around and check out some of my other posts!. You might also want to keep up to date with my blog by signing up for them via email.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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