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INSIDE THIS ISSUE - March 12, 2008
2. Using Your Strengths to Conquer the Mighty Dissertation
by Dr. Moji Moghadam and Dr. Neera Puri
3. Free Workshop Announcement for ABDSG Readers
4. Old Sayings (To Inspire ABDs)
March 12, 2008
A Note from the Editor
Tracy Steen, Ph.D.
Some words never die. When they have been skillfully assembled by eminent writers, their longevity may be attributed to outstanding literary merit. But sometimes literary merit has nothing to do with it, and words endure simply because they capture a specific truth in a very pithy, relevant, uncomplicated manner. Such is the case with those oft-quoted bits of wisdom we refer to as old sayings.
With thousands of old sayings in circulation, we encounter several in our daily conversations without taking note of how familiar and unoriginal they are. Despite our English teachers' admonitions to avoid being trite, the convenience of old sayings is hard to resist. There are so many to choose among, and one will often fit our thought or feeling so perfectly. An ABD winner might be "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger." (If there's truth in that one, you should be invincible by the time you get the doctorate!)
Though that old saying seems fitting for an ABD with attitude, we can only guess how it might have originated. The source of most old sayings is unknown, as is the one that came to my mind this morning. I'm hoping this one is true--March comes in like a lion but goes out like a lamb.
As we move toward the middle of March, I am more than ready for a gentle ending to a month that roared in with wind and snow. Although spring is generally welcomed everywhere, I think it has special significance when preceded by the rigors of a long, cold winter. And even if you happen to live in a place where you don't experience such seasonal changes in the weather, there's a good chance you experience them in your personal life if you are working toward your Ph.D.
I'm thinking, of course, of all the hard work that precedes the awarding of the doctorate. It's not unlike slogging through a long hard winter en route to a glorious spring. And never mind the Gregorian calendar--your personal springtime will come when and only when your hard work is completed. And it will come!
This seems like a good time to toss in another old saying, one less familiar to most of us since it is Armenian, but it makes a great point:
Where is there a tree not shaken by the wind?
If you occasionally feel shaken by the demands of your dissertation process, know that everyone feels that way at one time or another. The important thing is not that you are buffeted by wind or by circumstances--that happens in one way or another to us all--the important thing is that you weather whatever comes up and move on.
Our guest writers this month did just that. Dr. Moji Moghadam and Dr. Neera Puri were seriously buffeted by circumstances on the way to the doctorate, but they overcame all obstacles and lived to look back on their experiences with humor and helpful insights that they now pass on to you. Every ABD would do well to keep in mind their observation that "we have all had our uncertain, scary, weak, and retrospectively humorous moments. No one sails through [the dissertation] without occasionally sailing into the wind and through a storm or two."
Following their guest article, "Using Your Strengths to Conquer the Mighty Dissertation," I'm going to list a few old sayings in place of our usual Inspirational Quotes. And that reminds me--I still have to contend with March and the old saying, "…in like a lion …out like a lamb." I've wrestled with the lion and would now, as the old saying suggests, like to see a few lambs frolicking on fields that are spring green rather than snow covered. Maybe next week….
USING YOUR STRENGTHS TO CONQUER THE MIGHTY DISSERTATION
by Dr. Moji Moghadam and Dr. Neera Puri
Two Entertaining Horror Flicks
The following two stories may start out feeling like something out of a fictitious horror flick, but they're not. They are just two stories of some of the trials and tribulations of the monumental process of earning a doctorate. Just when things seem totally impossible, you can usually count on their getting even more confusing and complex! Such was the case for Neera and me when each of us was traveling along our doctoral paths.
Neera's story begins with a marriage and a move occurring right in the middle of her doctoral program. After some time off to settle in the Bay area and into the marriage groove, Neera returned to her school (USC) to resume where she'd left off. When she arrived, she found that her entire department had magically disappeared.
It turned out that during her time away, her program had been discontinued and eliminated from the university. Her degree program no longer existed! Her faculty had been displaced and dispersed. Her advocate, engaged in a myriad of new projects, was unavailable (to put it politely).
Neera found herself on a deserted island, in a vast void, with no beginning,
no end, and no one to help steer her in the right direction. Needless to say,
great uncertainty, doubt, and apprehension set in.
My journey was similar to Neera's with the addition of more seemingly insurmountable
obstacles. In addition to a marriage and move from Washington, DC, to sunny
but distant CA, I had the added challenges of a 4-year leave of absence which
had led to an academic clock that kept running out on me. When I returned
to GWU to resume my program, I was greeted by a collection of brand new department
faculty, who only knew me as "that student who's taking forever to commence
to the finish."
I was faced with an offer to take my doctoral comps, assemble a doctoral committee, and complete my proposal, data collection, and entire dissertation bi-coastally, in only one semester! This was all the official time I had remaining in my program. If I were unable to complete all of these tasks in the allotted one semester timeframe, then I'd be dismissed from the program and would be required to reapply for admission as if a new applicant. So I, too, was faced with great uncertainty, anxiety, and frustration.
Well, the fantastic news is that both Neera and I, unacquainted with each other at the time, employed the same strategy to face and conquer our challenges, and we achieved our doctorates from these great institutions. What did we do? We tapped into our intrinsic signature strengths.
Signature Strengths
So what are these fabulous and invaluable Signature Strengths? They are a set of character strengths identified and categorized by Dr. Chris Peterson and his associates from the field of Positive Psychology.
Positive Psychology is the study of positive emotions, character traits, and enabling institutions. There are 24 empirically derived character strengths (see viastrengths.org for more information and for the opportunity to learn your own signature strengths). Each of these strengths meets a series of predetermined criteria as set forth by Peterson and Seligman (2004).
Every single person has up to five main and several peripheral outstanding character strengths known as "signature strengths" from which he or she can naturally operate when faced with adversity or challenge. These 24 charter strengths are organized into 6 umbrella categories of virtues. Each strength, as is inherently implied, can help energize and fortify an individual's effort toward reaching a goal.
My signature strengths of persistence, bravery, and optimism were decisively and repeatedly employed as I resolutely faced each daunting challenge on the way to my doctorate. Given the circumstances, I'd predictably stalled in a place filled with overwhelming thoughts of "I can't ...." However, I found a way out of that place and into one filled with thoughts of "How can I..." followed by "I can …." My natural inclination toward optimism was key in this transition.
For Neera, her signature strengths of creativity and persistence carried
her through the day. Neera asked herself, "How can I get around a department
in transition and a preoccupied adviser?" She used her strength of creativity
to come up with a solution. How about getting a second, solid committee member
to compensate for the advisor's absence? Eventually Neera enlisted another
committee member from a tenured, stable department who specialized in the
statistics used in her dissertation. This "adopted advisor" provided
the support that led to Neera's completion of her dissertation.
Your Signature Strengths Help You to More Effectively and Efficiently Negotiate
Your Dissertation
Writing the dissertation--more so than any other portion of your doctoral journey--will fill you with doubts, frustrations, and unexpected challenges. Anyone who has ever completed a dissertation can attest to this. We have all had our uncertain, scary, weak, and retrospectively humorous moments. No one sails through without occasionally sailing into the wind and through a storm or two.
By tapping into and fully applying our signature strengths, Neera and I effectively turned our horror flicks into feel good flicks with happy endings! It didn't require us to learn a new skill or complex system. We simply used tools we had always had at our disposal and used them well. Your strengths are your own, they're free, they're abundant, and they're always available to you. All you have to do is simply begin to draw on these resources as needed. By exercising your strengths, you can maneuver your sails to capture the wind and push you forward to your destination.
Once you've identified your personal signature strengths, you can begin to utilize them in your dissertation journey. One way to do so is to ask yourself, when faced with an obstacle, "Which of my strengths will most effectively serve me here?" and then ask, "How can I use that strength to get beyond the current obstacle or challenge?"
How to Identify Your Signature Strengths
One way to identify your own signature strengths is to go to the VIA Strengths website (www.viastrengths.org) and take the Signature Strengths survey. If you're short on time, a brief version is also available on the site. Both tests are completely free and will provide instant analysis and results to you. Really cool.
Both Neera and I learned the significance of having a solid support network led by a cheerleader who can inspire you through thick or thin. Finding a key person or two to fill this role will contribute immeasurably to smoother, swifter sailing through the dissertation sea. One reliable source of dependable structured guidance and support is an ABD coach. Your coach can assist you in the exploration and utilization of your strengths.
If you'd like to explore further using your strengths to conquer your dissertation, the authors of this article are offering a free 3 week (meets once a week) teleseminar (via telephone conference) beginning Tuesday, April 22, 2008 at 3pm EST. See below for more information and the upcoming teleseminars.