So much for sticking to academic matters on this blog. After drowning in work all summer, I need a bit of a break, methinks. However, I haven’t been totally useless! The process of “The Big D” (a.k.a., my dissertation) is underway. In reality it started the day I began grad school, but I’m officially enrolled in dissertation research hours, so that pretty much means that the ball is rolling.
I talked to my adviser today about a topic I’d been toying with for a while (somewhat related to one of my assistantships, if you recall). I presented to him some of my concerns (timeline issues, the nature of the sample I’d be working with, etc.) and we concluded that maybe this wouldn’t be the best avenue of research for me, given that it may yield nothing of value at all, and at any rate would set me back way too far to be feasible. It’s just too theoretically and methodologically messy, and the last thing you want or need is a messy dissertation. If it were going to be incredible, it might be worth the extra time, but in this case, I can’t justify it. I would like to leave this God-forsaken state with papers in hand, or at the very least, a dissertation that’s ready to defend in less than two years.
To make a long story short, he brought up something he’s going to be working on that’s heavily related to a topic that interests me a lot. I’m not sure how much is appropriate to disclose at this point, so I’ll err on the side of caution for now. However, if it works out, this will be an awesome opportunity for me to research and write about something I’m really passionate about. It will still be a hell of a lot of work, and probably frustrating at times, but if I find meaning in what I do I won’t burn out as quickly.
I can’t help but feel very grateful for everything I’ve been given. My only hope is that I don’t waste any opportunities.
