When It’s Almost the End

It is late so I am going to keep this short :-).

If you’ve followed my blog for any amount of time, you know that I have been a full time student since 2012. It has been a long journey. It has been a taxing journey. It has been a draining journey. BUT I am almost at the end … of this leg of the journey at least.

On next weekend, I will start what seems to me like a seven-day, academic hazing process: comprehensive exams. The process entails – as I have been told – eight to ten hours of writing per day for seven days. I am not looking forward to it. Two weeks later, we are also required to successfully pass the oral component of comprehensive exams. And when it is all said and done, comps successfully passed, I will commit 100% to dissertation writing … another year or two of the process.

Last week as I reached what I was sure was my breaking point and realized that I needed to take a serious step back to give myself a mental and a physical break. After a few days off and some much needed conversations with a number of people, I approached this week differently. I am moving slightly slower. I am taking deeper breathes. I am taking it one day at a time. And tonight, I paused to recognize that while this process has been and continues to be taxing, strenuous, and exhausting, it is a process that I chose and I am doing what I love … on most days of the week ;-). For this I am thankful. I have made a significant sacrifice in my life that I have no regrets about. I am pursuing my passions and extending myself fully by using as many of my gifts that I am aware of. For this, I won’t complain.