Monday, June 05, 2006
Return to Blogging and Why You Should Think Twice About a PhD.
I have been out of touch for two weeks, working my proverbial tail off trying to get my doctoral thesis completed (not even final final) before my professor went off-line for three weeks to Africa. Sorry I didn’t tell everyone that ahead of time...I never expected to be off-line that long.
Let me tell you, if you are thinking about doing a PhD in any field...don’t, unless you are 100% committed to your field of study and to the process. I have just finished my third year, and potentially I could be submitting my final thesis in the next month to the review committee (followed by six weeks of time for they to read, an oral defense called a viva, and then any additional changes they recommend before graduation). Granted, most people do not do a PhD full-time and work full-time, as I have for most of that three years. Nor do they go from one child to three during the course of their studies, as I have. Regardlesss though, you have to live and eat and not-sleep your thesis for the entire length of your course of studies. I am doing my thesis on relational trinitarian thought and its influence on an understanding of sanctification. Three years ago I could think of nothing else, and I was totally passionate about the ideas. Now...well, I am so sick of it that I just want it to be done.
I get asked a lot, if you knew then what you know now, would you still do a PhD? The answer is yes, but only because I truly believe this is the next step God has called me to. But, if God said, “You can have what is behind box B or your PhD, and both are equally good,” I would probably go with Box B.
