DS1 is done

It’s officially over. I’ve submitted the final assignment and now await the results of all the hard work. As some of my classmates noted, this may be similar to the next phases in this PhD process. Work like crazy, read lots, write lots, wonder if you’re totally going down the wrong path lots, take small moments to get distracted, and then submit to someone else to read and respond. It’s a spiral loop that will keep me going for many years to come, but “que esperabas”. 

These two words will become the ‘go-to’ statement after Ana shared her story in class of the phone conversation she had with her dad. She was anticipating sympathy for all her academic labours and he responded with “que esperabas” – what did you expect? So, after four intense weeks, I’ve completed the first part of a long journey and it’s not quite what I expected and yet it is exactly what I had expected. Once the course work is completed, I’ll have no-one but myself putting the pressure on to meet deadlines, get the reading finished, submit work to be ‘evaluated’, and get going on the next part of the journey.

Now that this first part is completed, I’ve connected with a small group of folks who are going through this process with me – seventeen in my cohort. I wonder, at this point, how we’ll make it through together, support each other, keep each other going, after the course work is completed. We’ll meet again in DS2 next summer, for another round of crazy-busy work, but will also connect in other courses along the way. We’ve bonded a little using Whats App, since the last meal together and the last class, when all our phones were updated and our numbers were gathered by Eduardo in order to stay connected. It’s helped in the few days since we’ve left class for the last time, as we worked on our final papers. Misery loves company – PhD writers love to know there are others also writing.

So, with “que esperabas” in mind, I’ll continue to reflect about what I expected, what I expect and what I’m accomplishing along this journey, as I take it one step at a time – step by step. I’ll take this pause between courses to continue exploring my topics of interest, prepare for the next course, purchase and read the book just release that my supervisor has co-authored, and fill this open time with writing that may, in time, become worthy of a PhD candidate.