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| Happy to be done? Oh, yes. :) |
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| The proof! :D |
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| With my dissertation supervisor, Leesa. I'm so glad she was there to put the hood over me in the convocation ceremony, it meant a lot. |
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| With my lovely boyfriend, Ewan, who came all the way from England to be there! *swoon* |
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| And with Pa, who flew from Calgary to be there, too! Hooray! |
Yep, convocation was a good day. (I'm an anthropologist, I like rites of passage!) But my oral exam - the dissertation defense, which happened back on May 23rd - was the really important (and slightly scary) monumental part...
To pick up where my last post left off, the first five months of 2013 were incredibly busy. I did have a tiny bit of down-time between doing the revisions on various drafts of my dissertation, and most of that involved enjoying some semblance of a social life. I've also been dealing with ongoing health issues that arose right after I finished writing the dissertation in early January. (Coincidence? I think not. I had to take time off from the gym because of my health issues, and my knee ended up getting worse again, and I haven't been able to really return to lifting since, which has been very frustrating. Unfortunately, all these health issues are still ongoing, but I remain hopeful because they are improving. Slowly, but surely.)
I got revisions back from my supervisor by the beginning of February, and none of them were seriously major - in fact, I was quite chuffed by the fact that she said it was the best first draft she'd ever read! I made the corrections, then sent it off to my two other committee members, and prayed fervently that they'd like it. Fortunately, they did. :) All the revisions were done - an intense race that went down to the wire, no less! - and Leesa took a second look before giving the go-ahead to schedule the defense. We had a bit of a struggle finding an external examiner, but I ended up with a lovely fellow who was flown in from Arizona to be at my defense. My supervisor did an exceptional job bringing together the rest of the examining committee, and I'm pleased to say that the defense went excellently. I was weirdly not nervous... to the point that I was kind of freaking out that I wasn't more nervous, and that I was doing so little prep! But it felt so good to go into that room, utterly supported by the incredible friends who showed up to spectate, and to know that I KNEW what I was talking about. And that's how I presented. :) (If you want to check out the presentation I gave at my defense, you can find it here.)
So, given that I have pictures of myself in fancy graduation robes, I obviously passed!
And I only had very minor revisions that I was able to complete a few days later in about an hour. I submitted the final paper copies of the dissertation two days before heading back to the UK and was officially done. Crazy and amazing. Leesa threw an awesome party for me the night of the defense, and I had a fab dinner and pub get-together a few days later with more friends. It was so good to celebrate, but what an intense trip!! I got back to the UK exhausted, but elated, and had a fun celebratory outing the following weekend to a burlesque show in London. It was also very cool to be working for a research agency where so many people have PhDs, and who know what a big achievement it is. I even got a new nameplate on the door, and I was especially chuffed about that. :)
The next few months were good overall, but chaotic. It was wonderful to have more social time, and Ewan and I had a wonderful summer with fun weekend outings to National Trust properties and a beautifully sunny holiday in Cornwall. I also made it to Druid Camp in the Forest of Dean again, and it was fabulous. My living situation became much more unstable, though, as the cottage became a place where I didn't want to stay any longer and I ended up moving back in with my friend Anna in Wimbledon for a few weeks, whilst also staying with Ewan here and there. It was stressful - particularly the commute to and from work via London, which took up to 2 hours each way - and it's been really difficult to have not had a place that feels like home for many months now. I was also desperately hoping to have a job lined up that would be willing to sponsor me back to the UK on another visa, and even though I applied for a bunch of positions and had something tentative in the works, unfortunately none of that has panned out.
And so, I find myself camped out on a mattress at my Mum's on a farm in Chilliwack, British Columbia. Lots of mixed feelings right now: at the conclusion of so many years as a student, and now unemployed and without a visa to get me back to the UK, I feel very adrift. And yet, I am incredibly grateful for time to relax. And sleep. And heal. And especially to spend time with my Mum and my Mowgli-cat (who's been staying here very happily over the past year). It's a safe space with lots of quiet, and I think I need that right now. However, it's also very isolated, in the sense that I can't really leave without a car, and I think it's likely in my best interests to work hard to make sure I'm not here for too long! I'm thrilled to be spending 6 weeks on holiday in the UK so I will be there to celebrate Yule/Paganmas/Christmas with Ewan and his family; as such, it definitely helps that I'm only at Mum's for a total of 4 weeks before I have a chance to see him and all of my friends in the UK again. I am so grateful for this upcoming trip, and I think it's going to make an important difference to my overall emotional well-being, and to maintaining our long-distance relationship.
So, we shall see where life takes me. I'm doing my best to embrace the excitement in this uncertainty, rather than just the fear about what will or will not happen in my life. I was re-reading some of my past blog posts earlier tonight, and I was moved to tears when I read my post from July 19, 2012, when I wrote this about my upcoming, daunting move to the UK:
"And if I go over there, and nothing works out, and I come back, at least I'll know. I'll know in my heart that I gave it my best shot, and I will never have that 'what if' hanging over my life."
Wow. If only I'd had some idea about what awaited me across the Atlantic. I am so incredibly thankful that I took that leap of courage! When I reflect on how everything just fell into place when I arrived in London last September, I feel reassured that I am exactly where I'm supposed to be right now... that everything will keep falling into place... even when the uncertainty is scary, even when things don't work out as I'd planned or imagined. And that is such a blessing.
To pick up where my last post left off, the first five months of 2013 were incredibly busy. I did have a tiny bit of down-time between doing the revisions on various drafts of my dissertation, and most of that involved enjoying some semblance of a social life. I've also been dealing with ongoing health issues that arose right after I finished writing the dissertation in early January. (Coincidence? I think not. I had to take time off from the gym because of my health issues, and my knee ended up getting worse again, and I haven't been able to really return to lifting since, which has been very frustrating. Unfortunately, all these health issues are still ongoing, but I remain hopeful because they are improving. Slowly, but surely.)
I got revisions back from my supervisor by the beginning of February, and none of them were seriously major - in fact, I was quite chuffed by the fact that she said it was the best first draft she'd ever read! I made the corrections, then sent it off to my two other committee members, and prayed fervently that they'd like it. Fortunately, they did. :) All the revisions were done - an intense race that went down to the wire, no less! - and Leesa took a second look before giving the go-ahead to schedule the defense. We had a bit of a struggle finding an external examiner, but I ended up with a lovely fellow who was flown in from Arizona to be at my defense. My supervisor did an exceptional job bringing together the rest of the examining committee, and I'm pleased to say that the defense went excellently. I was weirdly not nervous... to the point that I was kind of freaking out that I wasn't more nervous, and that I was doing so little prep! But it felt so good to go into that room, utterly supported by the incredible friends who showed up to spectate, and to know that I KNEW what I was talking about. And that's how I presented. :) (If you want to check out the presentation I gave at my defense, you can find it here.)
So, given that I have pictures of myself in fancy graduation robes, I obviously passed!
 |
| My friend Kate took this right after the defense. Tired, but very happy. |
And I only had very minor revisions that I was able to complete a few days later in about an hour. I submitted the final paper copies of the dissertation two days before heading back to the UK and was officially done. Crazy and amazing. Leesa threw an awesome party for me the night of the defense, and I had a fab dinner and pub get-together a few days later with more friends. It was so good to celebrate, but what an intense trip!! I got back to the UK exhausted, but elated, and had a fun celebratory outing the following weekend to a burlesque show in London. It was also very cool to be working for a research agency where so many people have PhDs, and who know what a big achievement it is. I even got a new nameplate on the door, and I was especially chuffed about that. :)
 |
| Woohoo! |
The next few months were good overall, but chaotic. It was wonderful to have more social time, and Ewan and I had a wonderful summer with fun weekend outings to National Trust properties and a beautifully sunny holiday in Cornwall. I also made it to Druid Camp in the Forest of Dean again, and it was fabulous. My living situation became much more unstable, though, as the cottage became a place where I didn't want to stay any longer and I ended up moving back in with my friend Anna in Wimbledon for a few weeks, whilst also staying with Ewan here and there. It was stressful - particularly the commute to and from work via London, which took up to 2 hours each way - and it's been really difficult to have not had a place that feels like home for many months now. I was also desperately hoping to have a job lined up that would be willing to sponsor me back to the UK on another visa, and even though I applied for a bunch of positions and had something tentative in the works, unfortunately none of that has panned out.
And so, I find myself camped out on a mattress at my Mum's on a farm in Chilliwack, British Columbia. Lots of mixed feelings right now: at the conclusion of so many years as a student, and now unemployed and without a visa to get me back to the UK, I feel very adrift. And yet, I am incredibly grateful for time to relax. And sleep. And heal. And especially to spend time with my Mum and my Mowgli-cat (who's been staying here very happily over the past year). It's a safe space with lots of quiet, and I think I need that right now. However, it's also very isolated, in the sense that I can't really leave without a car, and I think it's likely in my best interests to work hard to make sure I'm not here for too long! I'm thrilled to be spending 6 weeks on holiday in the UK so I will be there to celebrate Yule/Paganmas/Christmas with Ewan and his family; as such, it definitely helps that I'm only at Mum's for a total of 4 weeks before I have a chance to see him and all of my friends in the UK again. I am so grateful for this upcoming trip, and I think it's going to make an important difference to my overall emotional well-being, and to maintaining our long-distance relationship.
So, we shall see where life takes me. I'm doing my best to embrace the excitement in this uncertainty, rather than just the fear about what will or will not happen in my life. I was re-reading some of my past blog posts earlier tonight, and I was moved to tears when I read my post from July 19, 2012, when I wrote this about my upcoming, daunting move to the UK:
"And if I go over there, and nothing works out, and I come back, at least I'll know. I'll know in my heart that I gave it my best shot, and I will never have that 'what if' hanging over my life."
Wow. If only I'd had some idea about what awaited me across the Atlantic. I am so incredibly thankful that I took that leap of courage! When I reflect on how everything just fell into place when I arrived in London last September, I feel reassured that I am exactly where I'm supposed to be right now... that everything will keep falling into place... even when the uncertainty is scary, even when things don't work out as I'd planned or imagined. And that is such a blessing.
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