Yesterday was the culmination of my doctoral study.  I had to orally defend my comprehensive exams.  For those of you who are wondering what comps are, they are pure hell.  That is what they are.  Not really, but I imagine they are close.  I had a committee of 3 professors and they each gave me question to answer and I had 2 weeks to answer.  The questions cover the entire work of research and content that I have studied as part of my doctoral program (which included information from my Master’s as well).  I read 70+ articles and 15+ books over the 6 week period to answer the questions in 15-20 page papers.  It was intense.  Then I waited two weeks and then I had to defend my answers.

It’s surreal.  It’s a great intellectual conversation but they challenge and question what you wrote, included and didn’t include.  It was certainly an intense 90 minutes, but I did well and PASSED.  This means I get to continue on and finish my PhD program.  If you don’t pass your comps–you get a chance to revise–you are not allowed to go on to work on your dissertation.  I’m happy to have this part done.  I am not almost officially ABD (All but dissertation).  There is a large group (80%) of folks who never get their dissertations finished.  I will not be that person.  I am certainly going to finish.  I have one more semester of course work–one of which is to write my dissertation proposal. The end is near.  I am glad that I will be done soon and have my PhD, but it’s a ton of work and I don’t know how I’d do it if my kids were older.  It requires so much time and now it’s a bit easier because they don’t have games and practices, etc.  But soon they will and I’ll be happy that school is over.

But for right now, I am going to enjoy my moment of celebration of passing the first hurdle.  Yay.  Now I just have to publish a few articles and present at a conference or two.  Then I’ll be ready to take academia by storm.