I am getting ready for the comprehensive exam this Fall, the one point of the PhD where they can get rid of you. There are different formats, but mine consists of getting a question, and having three weeks to answer it in 10,000 words (plus appendices), and then I will have an oral component a few weeks later.
My preparation consists of writing a series of three papers to critically examine the topic I’ve chosen. I wrote one paper, but it was something I really didn’t know, and felt like I was pulling teeth (actually, I *did* get my wisdom tooth removed while writing it). Now that I’m writing the second paper, I realized I need to restructure the first one. So I am simultaneously writing two papers, and trying to get them off my plate before my planned deadline, and then move onto some more research (two projects on the go) and then on to the third paper and so on until I hit the comprehensive exam, which I’d like to have over with by the end of December. So, I am *craving* routine. Routine, routine, routine.
I am figuring out how to set up to have food on demand while I’m writing. I’m avoiding going away for long periods of time (now that I did my two 10+day trips!). I’m trying to run in the mornings and do some living room exercise. I’m not being good about responding to emails and phone calls (I just got a new phone and haven’t even set up voicemail!). I’m downplaying the excitement which is not on the page.
