# Handing in my PhD thesis - thought I'd pay you guys a visit **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 22, 2014, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handing-in-my-phd-thesis-thought-id-pay-you-guys-a-visit/684306 "2014-03-22T19:23:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handing-in-my-phd-thesis-thought-id-pay-you-guys-a-visit/684306/21 "2014-03-24T14:41:53Z")
Congratulations! I’m a bit hazy on this stuff so I’m glad somebody else asked about the defending bit. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2014, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handing-in-my-phd-thesis-thought-id-pay-you-guys-a-visit/684306/22 "2014-03-24T15:26:43Z")
Congratulations! I defended my dissertation and graduated almost a year an a half ago. It is sooooooo good to be done. I haven’t done anything big and exciting, like take up scuba, but I’ve enjoyed actually having leisure time that I don’t feel guilty about. I’ve read a lot more fiction and done a lot more socializing. Mostly, I’ve enjoyed not feeling the pressure to finish my dissertation. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Post\_Miss\_Post](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Post\_Miss\_Post](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Post_Miss_Post)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2014, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handing-in-my-phd-thesis-thought-id-pay-you-guys-a-visit/684306/23 "2014-03-24T15:36:52Z")
> [@BetsQ](#): > > I’ve enjoyed actually having leisure time that I don’t feel guilty about. THAT is what I’m looking forward to. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handing-in-my-phd-thesis-thought-id-pay-you-guys-a-visit/684306/24 "2014-03-25T01:39:36Z")
I haven’t done anything as awesome as a Masters or PhD, but every time I take a course in something, the thing I miss most is reading fiction (as in, “I want to read this book, but I should be studying/doing homework/doing something much less fun than just reading.”) Then I’m done, and like you mentioned, it’s back to reading all the fiction I can stand! WooHoo! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Post\_Miss\_Post](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Post\_Miss\_Post](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Post_Miss_Post)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handing-in-my-phd-thesis-thought-id-pay-you-guys-a-visit/684306/25 "2014-03-25T06:53:03Z")
Its not exactly fiction, but a friend sent me _The Hare with the Amber Eyes_, which I think I will start today. Over a long breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handing-in-my-phd-thesis-thought-id-pay-you-guys-a-visit/684306/26 "2014-03-26T03:57:41Z")
PDF or it’s not true. 😉 It sounds interesting. (Anthro/archaeology major who expected to work in a museum, then real life intruded and I became a drafter working in a museum. This thesis really does sound interesting.) ---
**Author:** ![Post\_Miss\_Post](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Post\_Miss\_Post](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Post_Miss_Post)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handing-in-my-phd-thesis-thought-id-pay-you-guys-a-visit/684306/27 "2014-03-26T09:53:24Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > (Anthro/archaeology major who expected to work in a museum, then real life intruded and I became a drafter working in a museum. This thesis really does sound interesting.) You know, dropzone, I am still interested and sustained by my topic five years on and the two projects I have in Berlin are both related to the same institutional/collection history, engaging with it in different ways. I’m really excited about the exhibition, which is my first solo exhibition. It essentially takes the core idea I’ve been interested in in my thesis - the “reorientation” of meaning in objects (and their changing but continual reflection of official concepts of nation) - and plays with it visually to disrupt the current displays in the national historical museum in Berlin. I sort of can’t believe they’re letting me do it, let alone with federal funding! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handing-in-my-phd-thesis-thought-id-pay-you-guys-a-visit/684306.md?page=1)