Psych Talks: Prospects Accepted!
Y'all! My prospectus was finally accepted!
A few weeks ago my dissertation team reviewed my prospects. For any of you familiar with the dissertation process, the prospects is an outline for your research. 1st, you create your 10 strategic points which is high-level overview of your proposed dissertation topic.
Once the 10 strategic points is approved, then it's time to work on the prospectus. I was actually able to produce my prospectus at residency 2. My professors and peers did a great job at helping to ensure that my prospectus was as aligned as possible. A huge milestone in getting through the dissertation process is to get that prospectus approved, and I felt prepared. An approved prospectus means that the literature review, theoretical foundation, and overall dissertation plan is clean, clear, aligned and ready to take to the next stage of planning and execution.
After some revisions to better align the dissertation methodology, and getting through the 'someone did my research already so I have to change my topic' scare, I'm now ready to go! I've had to change and modify my dissertation topic 3 times, but we are finally here and ready to go.
My prospectus is finally approved! There was a recently completed dissertation that was the same topic and methodology as my plan, but I was able to get through that by revising my methodology, shifting my theoretical foundations and addressing issues in that dissertation to be addressed in my research. With those adjustments, my prospectus is now aligned, contributes to a gap in the existing body of research and will also help drive future research in an underrepresented population.
After the extra time and work, I was able to get my prospectus reviewed quickly and returned with no revisions. (Shout out to my amazing dissertation committee!)
I am now onto the next in the process but wanted to share this quick win!
I'm learning to celebrate the little glimmers of light throughout my journey. I don't have to wait for the destination to find enjoyment or reasons to celebrate.
With love and light-
-Cyn
