I am not one of the stars in my department. It's taken me an incredibly long time to write my dissertation. I even had to start over once--not a new topic, just the writing. When I think about it, I get exhausted. I'm talking years here (7 to be exact). You'd think I had a tome-like work to present after all that time. No. Just 175 pages or so.
Writing never really intimidated me (as perhaps it should have) until I started writing this thing. I think it just struck fear in my heart to think that I had to write a book. Even though I now get quite a lot of positive feedback on my writing, I am still rather uncomfortable with it. I'm hopeful that once the dissertation is approved that impediment to my writing will dissolve. We'll see.
One thing's for sure--win, lose or draw, it's over. It's done and I can't do anything about it now. There's a certain comfort in that. I have at least finished the project. And, considering the numbers of people who never finish their dissertations, I am pretty happy with that. I know people who went through the program program at Marquette at the same time I did that never finished. Some of them had full rides too. I did not. Am I bragging? Not really. Don't feel like I'm in a position to do that. Some of those folks were a good deal smarter and more well-read than I. They just didn't finish. So, I sit here today (not ranting about TV preachers) feeling the exhaustion and satisfaction of finishing a project. If it's rejected, Plan B. Just don't ask me what that is.
Blessings!
Fiddler
Not as easy as it looks. Are his arms outstretched in the joy of the dance, or because my man, Tevya, is being pulled in two different directions?
John
Your humble host sailing in Gulf Shores, AL 2007
Sue NYC Spring 2008
Is she thoughtful, praying, sad? I love this picture because it's almost as if we get to peer into her soul.
Josh and Sherry
Sherry, our daughter-in-law, is so unimpressed with Josh here. Classic Josh!
Meg at my Ph.D. graduation 2007
This girl just gets prettier and prettier!
Our next president
I am throwing my political clout, which is considerable, behind this man.
1 comment:
I, for one, am extremely proud. Well done.
When I was thinking about dropping out of high school, my stepfather sat me down and simply said, "You need to finish school just so you don' t get in the habit of leaving things unfinished." Now I know much more of his biography and those words came from a profound well of incomplete items in his life.
I have come to value those people who persevere to completion the task they begin. I am constantly telling students, "Only mark off the field you're willing to plow," for this very reason. I am finishing this MA in philosophy out of shear determination to complete it. Nothing more.
Whether it's noble or not, I appreciate your dedication to completion. It's so easy to give up and shift our attention, but I find a reflective teleology in our willingness to complete to what we have been called. A willingness to shirk, indicates that a call might not have been there in the first place.
So, thank you John for modeling a teleology of calling!
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