Ask Doctoral Advising

How do you challenge yourself?  Webster’s Dictionary provides a number of definitions for challenge in its various parts of speech. Perhaps the “To call to a contest of any kind” is one of the definitions that might apply to a doctoral learner. But what exactly is the contest?

Is the contest in the learning process along the journey? Or is it in the successful completion of the degree? Or is the challenge more along the lines of learning to work within a university’s system of rules and policies to complete a degree?

The learning process itself might be the most difficult challenge – especially if a learner has been away from formal learning for some years. Those who are making a mid-career change might find that study habits and the ability to concentrate have changed since the last time they were in school. Getting back into a rhythm, remembering how to balance all of one’s responsibilities, and figuring out what the rules are might take some time and effort. Learning how to refocus your attention to the job at hand, eliminating or dealing with distractions and managing your time effectively might come easily – or not.

Or is your challenge the ability to persist until you have completed all of the requirements of the degree? Can you overcome the roadblocks and bumps in the road? Do the roadblocks keep changing or do you constantly face the same roadblocks. Where do the roadblocks come from? Do others in your life put them there? Do you put them there yourself?  Is that your challenge? How do you try to get over them or around them?