There is pin drop silence around me. It is justified and accountable, for I am in the process of writing my dissertation. Before I found myself in this situation, I was harsh enough to mock at those people who told me it was the most painful part of their academic journey. I often wondered, how painful could it be? My perspective was that all that a dissertation calls for is to pen down all you have learnt over the years. Writing always gives you guaranteed results vis a vis experiments as by the end of the effort, positively there is something constructive to produce. This was a third person’s view and with this perspective I always looked forward to taking up a smooth ride towards writing my dissertation.
Is this giving you a good laugh? I will let you have one. I have done that n been there too!
By now you must have estimated and understood how awfully wrong I was. I was just not wrong but horribly, terribly and awfully wrong. After I ventured into writing my dissertation, there was not any end to writing. I had spent hours writing and I could further continue to write for days and weeks and still have lots to write about. To add to my misery, my supervisor sends me back my drafts with red ink dripping from them. How demotivating could that be? I am surely progressing, at a turtle’s pace, slowly and gradually! A few of my chapters are written and up for approval with the supervisor. I keep waiting for more and more changes to be done and don’t know for how long this vicious circle would move along.
I feel as if I am not different from anyone who has fallen into a pit and is finding it difficult to climb out. The only change or difference here is that I chose to jump into the pit rather than by accident. I assumed a pit to be a pond from where I could successfully swim out like a fish.
I do suggest to all those who feel similar, do not lose hope and trust your potential and capabilities. It is a slow journey but a sure success if you bring in consistency and discipline in your effort. Do not shy away to seek help from reliable and experienced sources. It surely simplifies the hurdles and keeps the spirits high. Good Luck!!
