Things just got real

As I accompanied my wife on her conference excursion and to her conference dinner in Queenstown earlier this week, I was introduced to a number of folks.  When the conversation turned to myself and what I did, I explained that I was a PhD student.  At this point, without fail, the next two questions were always "What do you study?" and "How far along are you?"  The question of when I'll finish my thesis always made me smile as this is the typical question of a PhD student and the inspiration for the name of my blog.

Today is the 1st of August and is hopefully the start of the last year of my PhD as I plan to submit my thesis for examination on the morning of 31 July, 2015.  For motivation I've added a timer widget onto the blog to remind me of the precious time remaining.

Now, in no way am I in a rush to complete my thesis; and why would I?  This is a point in my career where I get to ask and answer questions that I want to explore.  Not only do I get to expand my understand of physics, soft matter and magnetic resonance techniques, but I am also free to explore new tools and methodologies to perform my research.

That said, my scholarship will not last forever and at some point I need to move along to a new set of challenges.  Thus my focus on submitting next year.  Time is my most precious resource and I need to keep that fact in mind over the next 12 months as I plan and prioritise my work.