The Thesis Journey
Writing a 40,000 word thesis is no small task, thankfully I’m one of the lucky ones and have a whole year of diligent focused study to complete it. On commencement a year seems like a long time, the due date sits months away somewhere near Christmas and flowering Pohutukawa, but now it’s mid October and that deadline is looming ever nearer. There are days when I doubt I will ever manage a paragraph and other days when I seem to skip through a thousand words.
For the past month I’ve been coding my results, then a little more coding followed by… yet more coding. For some respite I managed to carve out a big section of my methods section which feels pleasantly satisfying but then it was back to coding. In total I’ve spent a good three weeks coding my results which does tend to affect ones outlook in strange ways. Suddenly what seemed so simplistic is full of complexities, devoid of the essential connecting dots. It’s in those moments that the term ‘can’t see the woods for the trees‘ really plays itself out.
I’m lost. Overwhelmed in a sea of themes, codes and comments.
Open coding has had it’s way with me and a fog has enveloped any clarity.
How timely then, that I was off to Auckland this week for a couple of days with the Woolf Fisher team. Our discussions were rich and purposeful as always, full of inspiration, tips of the trade, Piaget and anecdotes that brought life to the driest breath of any research methodology. So yes, I’m refreshed, on track and importantly reinvigorated to get on and complete my thesis. I still have a mountain to climb by Christmas but I’m feeling more and more confident that it’s achievable. One – step – at – a -time.
A huge thank you to Aaron, Kerry, Mei, Rebecca, Stuart and fellow scholars Liz, Carolyn, Gina and Sam for a great couple of days.
