PhD Submitted

On Friday the 30th of January my long PhD journey reached its ultimate phase.  I submitted my thesis.  All that remains now is my viva voce examination and any subsequent corrections.  At the time, I felt a sweet lightness of being.  My PhD colleagues in Exeter were superbly supportive, from those I’ve only met this year to long-suffering fellow pilgrims.

Reflecting on this is emotional and bittersweet.  The years of my PhD have been most precious to me.   I fell in love with Ahreum, and never could a better companion be found for the vicissitudes of life.   I found a path in the world and found an object of my intellectual and creative capacities that has been truly meaningful.  I met many dear friends.  In brief, I’ve been extremely fortunate to lead an intellectually, emotionally and spiritually engaging life.

However, my PhD also marks the end of  nearly 23 strait years of education.  I have been a student at one institution or another for nearly my entire life.  Sometimes this has been mind numbing and sometimes exhilarating.  But, being a student has been a constitutive part of my identity for much of this time.  And at university and graduate school it is a part of me that I have self-consciously taken up as my own mantel.  This part of my life is rapidly coming to a close.

Of course, I will remain a student in the sense of the word that matters most.  My studiousness and curiosity are not effaced because I am no longer a student in the normal sense; rather, they will become marks of my academic profession.    I eagerly await embarking on a new research project and teaching new subjects.  As part of this, I anticipate the changing responsibilities, relationships, frustrations and rewards that come with a professional career.  

Consoling as this is, I cannot take the end of my PhD to be anything else than the close of several chapters of my life.  The period of limbo between now and my viva is one for reflection on these changes.

Finally, for all of you, my friends and relatives, who have supported me along the way, I offer my most humble thanks. 

 

Ben