I had great plans to blog every week no matter what. But stuff happens.
My mother had an accident in late February and died on 16 March. I didn't do much PhD stuff until mid April again.
Plus I have 2 part-time jobs, both of which were very hectic until this week. I finish one of them on Thursday. I feel very sad about it but also excited to have a bit more time and a lot more headspace to think, read, talk and write.
My progression board - where I get told if I can go ahead with my research or not, basically - was planned for last week. I had to write a 6000 word paper about my research - why I wanted to do it, what research and theories I was drawing on, how I wanted to do it and what my plans were. I did that and got it in just on time. At the board, I would have done a 20 minute presentation about the research to two examiners and they would have asked me questions. And then they would say if it was good enough for me to proceed or if I needed to do more work or even if I should just stop there, goodbye.
It didn't go ahead because both of my examiners were unwell. So it's going to happen mid-August.
I am pretty confident about what I've written and was looking forward to the board. I was excited about talking about my research with two people who haven't been involved so far. I know them both - they are people I respect and people who I know would be constructive and interested. So I am looking forward to August.
So I have about 6 weeks before the progression board and am only working one job from next week. And I've booked some annual leave from that job. I will be reading, swimming, drinking coffee, playing with the cat and seeing friends. And thinking and writing I hope, some of which will appear here.
