Catching Up

Well, I am supposed to be posting something on a daily basis to help me verify my progress to myself. As you can see, it has been several weeks since my last post. Thankfully, that does not mean that I have not been working on my dissertation! It does mean that I've been very busy doing my dissertation and other things.

Two weeks ago, I traveled to Vancouver to present a paper at the International Leadership Association's annual conference. I was able to meet with my dissertation chair at the conference. Since I am doing my dissertation away from campus, it was a delight to have the opportunity to speak with him face to face. He was encouraging and I needed some encouragement at this stage in the process! Looks like I'm still on target for a May graduation!

Writing the introduction has been painfully slow. I have had to spend a great deal of time learning Ricoeur's interpretation theory before I could write about it. I am happy to say that I've gotten about 15 pages done on the methodology section of the introduction. I am beginning to see light at the end of the introduction tunnel!

So, what have I learned in the past few weeks about the dissertation process?

1. Keep plugging away at it - a paragraph here and there eventually turns into a page, a page here and there eventually becomes a section, a section here and there eventually becomes a chapter.
2. Maintaining other academic projects in addition to the dissertation provides for variety and increases your doctoral skills. The paper I presented at the ILA conference was totally different research from my dissertation topic. I also have another research project going that will hopefully lead to a conference presentation at an international conference in July. It is good to note these are not projects that I started during my dissertation, but research that began (in both cases) about two years prior to beginning my dissertation.
   
3. Take advantages of opportunities to meet with your dissertation chair face to face. Although, we have been communicating via phone and email during the writing process, it was really good to have the face to face time.