Call me ABD
Done done done. I am done with:
1. Taking classes as a really registered student. I can audit all I want.
2. Writing papers for grades. Grades are no longer of interest to me. I sneer at your grades.
3. Taking real live honest to goodness tests. No more essay exams. No more ID questions.
4. Feeling like an apprentice. I have been weighed in the balance, and while I feel that I'm still wanting, 3 pros have decided I'm not. So bring on the sophomore surveys, the last-minute course substitutions--I'm ready to tackle it all.
In case this is all meaningless to you, let me announce that I am now officially admitted to candidacy. I am one of the millions of ABD doctoral students that dot the academic globe. I am now eligible to conceive and propose a dissertation project and write my little heart out.
Yes, I passed my oral exams. They were really strange; I felt like my profs all had to pull me out of the fire on questions that I really should have gotten with no problem. It was like my head just emptied out of the exact piece of information they asked for at the precise moment of asking. This was really amusing in the Humanities Computing portion when my questioner asked me to talk about:
machines
computers
bits
bytes
megabytes
gigabytes
terrabytes
and some other byte that starts with a p
regular expressions
ascii
unicode
dtd's
programming languages
and a host of other technical questions.
It was so weird, being asked to identify and discuss all these truly foundational concepts. So weird, in fact, that I couldn't readily pull up answers. At one point, he asked me about Ada Lovelace, and all I could think of was Charles Babbage and his punchcard machine. No link to Byron in my head and absolutely no memory of Ada's role in Babbage's success. Just the name "Charles Babbage." It was horrifying.
But they passed me. So I'm done. In celebration, I headed to my soon-to-be LYS (shh! don't tell Steve) and got myself a wee treat. With any luck, it will be finished by the time I defend my dissertation, and I can wrap it around my shoulders to remind me of how far I've come.
Again, thanks to everyone for their support. I'm a nervous nellie, and while this was just a hoop to jump through, it looked like it was surrounded by some pretty serious fire. I'm going to really enjoy my summer. Lots of knitting and relaxing, when I'm not working my ass off. But no pressure to do anything but think about my dissertation, love on Steve and the kitties, and thank God for my many blessings.
OK...enough of that. Now for that big drink...
Comments
Deep sigh of relief. Scheduling work is the key writing one's dissertation. Not that I have been there but my best friend just finished her PhD last year. Well aware of the ABD, she missed a couple of her self-imposed deadlines and was ABD a bit longer than expected. What would you like to write your dissertation on? And were those unusual topics to ask about??!
Posted by: Kathleen | May 10, 2004 07:34 PM
Congratulations! It's a huge relief, isn't it. The only problem is convincing yourself to start working again, after the emotional drain of getting through the exams. Or at least that's what I'm finding -- exacerbated by the end-of-term marking frenzy, of course. But I'm going to buckle down very soon -- really I am! And I'm sure you'll have no problem -- you seem very motivated to me.
Congrats again!
Posted by: Aven | May 10, 2004 11:37 PM
Yahoo! Welcome to ABD-land! As Aven has already warned you, it is typical to have a let-down after the comps. Personally, all I wanted to do was lie in bed in my pajamas and watch really mindless television programs all day for 3 months. (I didn't actually get to do that, it's just what I wanted to do!) On to the dissertation!
Posted by: Julia | May 11, 2004 02:46 AM