Yesterday afternoon I passed my comprehensive exam and successfully defended my dissertation proposal. Which means I am now officially a PhD candidate. The immediate effect of this is that I can register for dissertation hours; rack up 12 of them and I’m done. I’m beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The more immediate effect is that I need to refine my research topic over the next 6 weeks and then come to agreement with my committee on exactly what my research will focus on. I’ve heard the dissertation proposal described as “what you think you will do your research on.” Apparently I’m living that very early in the process. An issue I’ve been struggling with for several years now is how to scope the research — how much is too much vs. how much is too little? I guess I still haven’t figured that part out.

But for the next couple of days that just doesn’t matter. For now, I’m going to relax and enjoy the fact that I passed.