Research and Emotions

After passing my doctoral defense, it is quite undeniable that aside from the scholarly dimension where it centers around, there is always the emotional dimension that also comes about. These emotions play up in the weeks prior, during the event and even afterwards.

In the weeks leading up to the submission of the manuscript, there was that feeling that the work was not enough. During the defense, there was that pressure on how to do it. At the end of the defense, there was that nervousness to hear the outcome - the minutes while the panelists were in deliberation felt like hours. Then afterwards, post-defense blues kicked in. Revisions could potentially add weeks or months to the finish line.

Nonetheless, being aware of and holding a space for these emotions would help. It allows us to experience oral defense not simply as a test of knowledge, but as the important moment it is, in the affirmation of a doctorate’s worth.