Tag Archives: Study

Contemplating What’s Next – My thesis is nearly done!

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I’m nearly there. My PhD thesis is with the copy editor for the second time. I know there will be yet more typos to fix and references to correct. I know my supervisors will make a few more suggestions, but I’m nearly there. In a few weeks my PhD Thesis will be in the examiners hands.

It’s almost six years since I started my PhD journey and eight since, in contemplating what’s next, that I commenced an academic journey. At that time I was exiting my career as a partner in a global consulting firm and I had to think about what I’d do next.

With the benefit of some wise counsel from two colleagues and after reading Herminia Ibarra’s Working identities I had a plan. I didn’t want to pursue the non-executive director route or remain in the corporate space. I thought I’d be an academic and explore a completely new path.

That was the and this is now.

All of those years later, I am close to completing that journey and I’m feeling a bit lost. What’s Next?

Continue reading →

Montefalco, Umbria – A wine tour

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Umbria is often referred to as the green heart of Italy.

The view across the Umbrian valley from Assisi with its patchwork of fields confirmed this. Umbria has a reputation for its food, wine and olive oil; all of which we can confirm from our stay in Assisi.

Our days in Assisi, a medieval town that looks across the valley, had enabled us to sample the wines. Montefalco Sagrantino and Montefalco Rosso were becoming favourites.

We visited a local wine bar, Bibenda, that had a reputation not just for the wines but also for its sommelier owner who has a truly extensive knowledge about the region.

We’d seen in a “things to do” post from Airbnb about a “new experience”, being a wine tour of a Montefalco winery and decided to see if we could make it work without a car.

Who wants to drive if you are doing some wine tasting? Continue reading →

So it’s been 6 months and where am I – my PhD

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Menotti’s Coffee Shop -Venice Beach, LA

I have just submitted my first milestone document in the PhD program at my University; a document that took many weeks (months actually) to prepare that I doubt will ever be be looked at!

The document is a compliance step, due 6 months into the program. It is the first of two important milestones along the way to moving from being provisionally accepted into the program as a PhD candidate.

My lodged (and I suspect now filed completely unread) document  included a

  • basic Research Proposal  (which has raised more questions with me than it has answered),
  •  Gantt Chart of how my PhD journey will look (my I have a lot to do),
  •  Data Management Plan (I can’t tell you how often the message of back up and safe storage has been rammed home. It’s a message I don’t need having nursed my laptop with a failing hard drive to the end of my Honours Program), and
  • minimum resources document (the minimum resources the Uni will provide – generally pretty good including unlimited fast internet access on campus, 24/7 IT support and I think the world’s only steam powered desktop – it’s still running Vista!).

The  process while procedural provided me with the opportunity to order my thoughts and get feedback from my supervisors. Continue reading →

A reflection

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Hardware Societe - Melbourne

Hardware Societe – Melbourne

I use the weekend coffee share post as my period of reflection. The opportunity to think back over my week. What better to do than over a coffee?

This week I have written more than a thousand words on my PhD Thesis proposal. It’s also been a week where I have found an opportunity to pursue an idea I have been musing over, about converting my own experiences in transitioning to retirement into something that might be useful for others facing the same daunting challenge.

It’s also been a week where I rediscovered the music of The Moody Blues, a band that had been a regular listen during my high school years. This might seem unimportant but as I’ve wrestled with my thesis proposal I’ve been frustrated about what music to listen too!

While making a serious start on my thesis proposal is important, it’s been the concept of converting my own experiences into something that others might find useful, as they plan their own transitions that has captured my imagination. Continue reading →

It’s time for Study!

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In recent weeks as our time away recedes to a very lovely memory its been back to study. Days spent walking the Island of Ortigia with the only concern being where to find a coffee have been replaced with meetings with my Supervisors, the research librarian  etc, all part of the early stages of my PhD.  Sure I have high levels of motivation but these are matched by even higher levels of anxiety.

Its time to settle down Continue reading →