doctoral program

Get ready to change your life

Although I secretly wanted a doctorate for years, when I finished my master’s program, I was TIRED.  Just plain tired. Becoming a doctoral student?  No way.   I could not see beginning work on another degree, so I decided I was done with graduate work.  

After a couple of years, when I had enough rest and time behind me, the old longing resurfaced.  At this point, I was also wiser about my expectations of a program, too.  I could see being a doctoral student once again.

What Type of Delivery Do You Want?

Because I had to continue working and because my husband and I live in a rural area, I wanted a program I could complete online.  My ‘local’ university was a forty-five minute drive from my house. 

 And because the university serviced such a large geographic area, it often offered graduate classes only at its satellite campus, which is closer to an hour and half away from where I live.  

Needless to say, I did not want to spend as much time on the road traveling to and from class as I did sitting in class!

What type of Programming Do You want?

I also wanted a program at a university with a strong research program.  I enjoy research and I wanted to learn all I could about conducting educational research.  Although it took me some time to discover, I finally found the perfect match at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln (UNL).  

I cannot emphasize how important it is to know what you want and do not want in a graduate program.  Knowing what you want will save you from making false starts.

Should you commit?

People often ask me whether or not I think they should begin a doctoral program, or if I believe they could be successful in completing one.  

I am always enthusiastic about my program, my advisor/chair (thank you, Jody!), and my university.  But mostly, I try to be honest about the demands of such a program.

One big question to answer is whether you have the time to complete a program?  

Some people are fortunate enough to be able to attend school full-time without worrying about a job or career.

Most people I know aren’t so lucky.  Like me, most people, have full-time careers.  And for those of us in education, our jobs are quite demanding, eating into our personal time.

So if you must work, the question is when will you plug graduate work into your daily and weekly schedule?

Here’s What It Was Really Like

My program was one of the most difficult endeavors I have ever experienced.  And one of the most rewarding.  

No Time

I tell those who ask how they will have NO free time and most likely little discretionary income (doctoral courses aren’t cheap!) until the program is completed.   

Often, they look at me as if I have sprouted three heads.

Almost all of my free time was spent completing course work initially, and later, working on my dissertation.  I’m not kidding. You no longer have free time. It’s all ‘school time’ now.

No Money

I also tried to plan as best as I could for how to pay for the degree.  Practically no grant money exists for doctoral work, and scholarships are few and are highly competitive.  

Loans are available, of course.  Personally, I did not want to finish my degree and be facing a mountain of debt.

So I relied on savings, squirrelling away every bit of extra money (e.g., a raise, tax refund) that came my way, and, for a while a side job teaching fitness classes.  

(I finally gave up teaching the fitness classes.  Between m day job ineducation, and the graduate work, and the fitness classes, my body revolted.  I was sick a lot that winter. Something had to go – so bye-bye fitness classes). 

It was difficult, to say the least, and I prayed that our refrigerator would not kill over or another emergency expense would not pop up.

Know Your Energy

It is important to know when during the day (or night), you will have the mental and physical energy to complete your work as a doctoral student.  Are you a morning person? A night owl?

While I was completing my program, I would work on assignments, research, or write all weekend, nearly every weekend.  

Because I am a morning person, I would sometimes rise early to read or to write papers, or to work on a dissertation chapter before getting ready for work.  

I still rise early to write before I go off to work.

Although hard, waking up early was preferable to trying to complete these requirements after my work day was complete.  I am a low-energy afternoon and evening person. At best, I could read a few chapters in the evening. 

But I am on it in the mornings.  

I am not a person who likes to work on projects in little snippets of time.  I like having at least two hour chunks of time, so that I can get into the ‘zone.’

One of the reasons that the weekends were so important was because I could block out these large chunks of time.  I accomplished so much then.  

However, I learned to embrace the small snippets of time.  Sometimes it wasn’t too hard.

For example, I read an article or a chapter while waiting at the dentist’s office.  I wrote a few paragraphs while waiting on the lasagna to finish baking in the oven.  

This was just here and there.  This was all the time. Until I finished the program.  

Feeling of guilt

Then there is the guilt.  

What guilt, you ask?

To those who ask me about doctoral programs, I share that I felt torn or guilty when family and friends would visit.  

I wanted to socialize, catch up, and I did so, but all the while, I worried about how far behind I was falling in my work.

I felt guilty that I wasn’t more present when my family or friends visited.  A part of my brain was always working on my research.

This is not a good way to live.  Trust me.  

The Good Stuff

I try to be honest with people, so I tell them all the things I shared with you above.  

But my honesty also means I get to share what makes being a doctoral student great.

Do you enjoy checking items off a To Do list?  You will feel a sense of accomplishment when you check off each of your courses as you complete them.  

And in those courses, you are reading current and cutting-edge scholarship in the field.  Not all were gems, but most were helpful.

I enjoyed the variety of texts that I was assigned to read.  

My courses provided me with an in depth knowledge in research – types, how to conduct it, the statistics that accompanied it.  

In my field, education, we use surveys a great bit to provide us with feedback or input from our various stakeholder groups.  My graduate program helped me to write better survey questions.  

And a study of research will also help us to become better consumers of research.  I know I look at research a bit differently now.

The Best Part of All

I love to research, read, and write, so the best part of the program for me was the dissertation process. From proposal to defense and everything in between.

Yep.  It was fun.

I could lose myself for hours in locating the appropriate articles, studies, and books on my topic.  

Through reading and notetaking, along with constantly making connections between the various texts,  I could almost feel my mind growing and expanding.

The entire literature review chapter was a stroll in a candy store.  So much variety, so well organized into barrels.

My dissertation was a mixed-methods affair, so I was able to experience both qualitative (interviews) and quantitative (record upon record) processes.

And the most fun part of being a doctoral student?  

Yes, the actual defense.  

By the time, I was ready to defend, I was an expert on my topic.  And I knew most of my committee members well.

I did formally present my research to my committee.  But the discussion was comfortable – a rich and nuanced back-and-forth between colleagues.

The Takeaway

There is always a downside.  In this case,

• (nearly) all free time is consumed by the program
• expensive

But the upside is wonderful:

• Deeper and stronger professionalism
• Truly current on the research in the field
• First-hand experience in contributing to the field
• Opportunity to become an expert

You will probably be asked to do several presentations during your time as a doctoral student.  Afterwards, you might even have the opportunity to present at a conference.  Check out my article on planning an effective conference presentation.

Find tutorials, ebooks, and templates including a great note-taking strategy in my resource library.  

You can also find a versioin of this article on Medium.