Five, four, three, two, one...

Five, four, three, two, one. The timer is running...

My application for my dissertation has finally officially been approved by the examination board. In other words, the timer has started, which also means a series of deadlines have to be tackled one after another until my *big* day. Well, one of my major events in my life.

During the past few months, people have been asking me almost one question, once they knew my intention of defending my thesis end of this year. "What are you going to do next?". Excellent question. I would like to know the answer too. At one point, I felt too miserable and scared to even think about that question. Just when I knew people were about to ask that question, I would rather run. I have given a lot of thought about my career and my future. But still there is only that much we could plan for. At this stage, I just want a good break. Instead of telling people I don't know what I'm going to do after my dissertation, I have been responding , "I'm going to take a good break. I want to be able to sleep in and not think about work. I want to spend time with my loved ones, which I haven't been doing since I've enrolled in Grad school. I want to catch up on some novels and learn more about history and culture that I always have great interests."

I was always wondering how it would be like at the final stage of completing a doctoral degree. I was even imagining how I would want my dissertation to be, how many guests I would invite and how I would want my book (thesis) to look like and stuff. One would expect people writing their thesis should be panicking in completing the writing. In fact some of my seniors were stressing big time. Strange enough up to this point, I haven't felt the same , yet. I don't even feel like organizing a party. All I want is a good break.

It's been close to four years and it does feel like a marathon. I love what I am doing but moderation is the key; there should be some balance in life and it is really time to move on.
I so can't wait to complete my degree. But right now, I really have to get started in writing my book. Five, four, three, two, one...oh don't remind the timer will be beeping soon.