Eating my elephant one bite at a time

It started as a bit of a joke to tease my oldest sister. "I'll get a Phd," I said, "then you'll have to call me 'Doctor Kimberley'." She laughed at me. So I took the next obvious step and auditioned for 'Are you smarter than a fifth grader?' so I could win a tidy sum and take three years off work to get a Phd.

Unfortunately, under the camera's focused glare I was like a possum in the headlights and I failed to make it onto the hallowed grounds of the 'fifth grader' set. Undettered, I took the next best option and got myself a job in public service. Now, with a steady income and more or less child free, I told everyone I was ready to embark on the Phd journey (part-time), including two academics who took my Phd-posturing seriously and informed me that they'd held a spot in their supervisory schedules especially for me.

I suppose I could have said I'd changed my mind. But just about everyone else at my workplace has at least one doctorate and my best friend's doing hers so I figured I might as well jump on board. Besides, I actually like study and research.

Now I've chosen a research question, submitted a proposal and created a blog with a catchy title. What's left to do? Oh yeah, an 80-100,000 word paper made up of a young adult fiction manuscript and thoroughly researched supporting thesis that'll take me between 4-6 years.

Hold on tight, here I go...