#396: The PhD Thesis
Documenting the final months before the finish line
During the last months of my PhD studies I realised that I was in the process of creating my own momentous object: a printed, bound, PhD thesis. 100,000 words of my own ordering, articulating ideas from my past four years of study. At a similar time, Eleanor Scorah and I also decided that the life of Object as we know it was coming to an end: our 400th post, on August 19th 2022, will be our last, marking six years since our first post.
On realising the end was in sight for two long-term, creative projects, I decided to combine the two. This is my penultimate object before our last, joint, 400th Object post. What follows is a blog post in diary form, written during the last months of my PhD studies (pre-viva).
April 2022
As I begin to write this post, I have completed a full draft of my PhD thesis. All 104,578 words of it (footnotes included). But I am hoping that, by the time this post is finished and published, I will hold in my hands the final draft. Maybe it will even be the photo you see above these words.
Starting this post could be considered ‘tempting fate’, for I have two deadlines: yes, I need to submit my PhD soon. But I also have to finish this blog at 400 objects, on the anniversary of when it all started. So, my PhD deadline? August 19th, the day we first posted on Object. Since then, I have written thousands of words — for this blog, and for my PhD.
May 2022
Today I received, in the post, a full printed version of my PhD, and I have discovered it requires a whole A4 ringbinder to contain it. But I’m not sure when or how to begin reading it and editing it. What colour pen should I use? Where should I sit? How do I make this moment feel momentous? I imagine taking myself to a particular café I have been planning to visit, sipping my black coffee, turning the first page…
But is this all just procrastination? Rather than aiming for that perfect moment, should I not just open it right now and get started? I can grab whatever pen I can find, whatever quiet seat will hold me, and turn the page. The finish line is in sight, and I want to find out how close it really is.
June 2022
Since last writing, I have edited a paper version of my PhD, updated the electronic document, and then fully proofread and annotated a PDF version on my iPad. I have read so many versions of the entire 300+ pages, each version seeming like the last until I spot another typo, decide on a different word choice, or tweak the formatting here or there. Yet the end is close, my submission is coming up, and soon, this pile of paper will be out of my hands for a little while.
July 2022
It is finished (for now). I have submitted my PhD, on time, and before my Object-imposed deadline. What is it like, that feeling of submission? Amazing, surreal, odd. It is hard to believe it is done, handed over to examiners. Soon, again, I’ll be re-reading it in preparation for my viva, but for now, I have some months of ‘freedom’. After nearly four years of working on my PhD, I am at a loss with what to do with myself, how to structure my time, my days, my life.
All in all, I am pleased with it. I read bits and go, “did I really write that?!”, while other sections I can read and place the moment that I wrote those words, or had that idea. After years of working mostly on the computer, it was a meaningful moment to hold in my hands the printed, soft-bound copy of my words, my work. To feel its chunkiness, the substantiality of years of thoughts, ideas, reading, and pondering.
This is the biggest project I have ever completed (so far), and it did not go where I expected it to — but, then, you never quite know where a four-year creative project will end up.
Katie writes regularly about random objects that she finds in her everyday life. If you’re interested in reading more, check out her blog Object, a collaboration with fellow Medium blogger, Eleanor. You can also follow us on Twitter at @ObjectBlog.
