Woo hoo! It’s officially done! Signatures, expensive copy printed, paperwork submitted, margins anal-retentively measured, pdf submitted, copyright check taken care of, cheaper copies bound and given to readers, and diploma ordered! Hooray!
Now my plane’s not til 5:30 and since it’s summer no one’s around on campus. 4 hours to kill and no drinking partners! Oh no!
Just bring your dissertation to the bar. The chicks will be falling all over you, trust me.
Well, maybe they’ll listen to you talk about it and feign interest at least.
Well, I know *I * would. 
flirts outrageously
Followup. I filed the thing, finished all the paperwork, mailed off a copy to my 3d committee member, and had hours to kill until my flight. After about 30 minutes of elation I moved into something like academic post-partum depression. Like, it doesn’t feel like I finished or fixed something, but more like a troublesome but beloved housepet died. A sense of empty-nest “now what?” Now I’m not a grad student, but just another adult with a poorly paying job. It’s just insane and unbelievable that it’s over, but very anti-climactic, or even a sort of negative feeling. I looked at my bound copy and considered leafing through it to have a look at how it turned out but the thought made me feel nauseated.
So strange. Now a day later I feel a bit better but it still feels like a trauma rather than an accomplishment. I don’t feel proud, I just feel a bit upset and ill. Anyone have this experience? Is this normal?
I’m with you in spirit, so go ahead and crack open the spirits! Yay for capybara!
No, it’s a very bad sign. Better check with an Ed.D.
I’m about eight months further along than you, and I had a similar experience. It was like six years had boiled down to this one tome that absolutely no one (and I include my mother!) was going to EVER read. Hell, I spent a total of ten seconds with the bound copy, of which there are three in existence, and I proceeded to lose it during a move. I now don’t even own my own dissertation.
But, after all that time you FINALLY get to do something new. I got a pretty good, pretty well paying job with great upside. I’m in a MUCH better position than I was in graduate school. In two years, after my current postdoc which I’m doing at a biotech company, I should be making very good money, so I’m in a lot better shape than most of my peers. Not bragging here, just feeling very fortunate.
Nomatter what, you’re better off now that you’ve made it through than you were before you finished.
Hey, all you PhD types:
Keep your chins up! You’ve all done something that most of the world’s adult population is incapable of, and many of us that are capable don’t have the drive, passion, determination or whatever to do. Your work, individually and collectively, makes the world a better place. Be proud of what you’ve accomplished!
**
CONGRATULATIONS DR. CAPYBARA!!
**
Aww, thanks. I think I’ll feel better over the next few days. Meanwhile I’m avoiding thinking about any of the implications and instead fucking around with bicycles, yay. It’s after noon! Time for a beer, because, you know, possibly for the first time in 9 years THERE ISN’T ANYTHING HUGE I’M PROCRASTINATING ABOUT! Imagine that!
Unless you count publishing something, preparing for classes, or applying for jobs. . . but I’m not avoiding writing my dissertation!
Procrastination, without something to avoid, is mere ennui.
Don’t you have to pack?
Congratulations! Enjoy your victory. 