March 1. The clock is ticking...

So it's March 1. Today is the official start to the university academic year and if I do this right, this will be the last year I start March 1 as a university student. My doctorate, which I began in January 2019 (before the world changed forever) is due on January 25 2024. No extensions. So the clock is ticking, the bell is tolling and it's all got to come to an end.

Which will honestly be a great thing. For two reasons.

One reason this needs to end is because I've had this hanging over me for five years and they haven't been entirely pleasant years, as we can all attest to. It's time to move on.

It's not because I don't love studying - I really do. You can't and shouldn't do a Doctorate or any higher research if you don't like writing, reading, feeling constantly perplexed and stupid and also can cope relatively well in isolation. Because writing a thesis is an exercise in ultra isolation. But more about that later.

Second, I want this work out there in the world and I want it to make change so that change can happen where it needs to. I believe in this work and I want the stories of the women who have trusted me to bring it out of the shadows and into the light. All research should be about making things different because of the outcome. I feel I've been talking about this research for so long it's about time I actually did the thing.

By September 1 I intend to have the first draft done. That's six months to do about 18 months worth of work. It's doable. So let's do the thing.