Free! Body and Soul Free!

Came back from my trip last Sunday. It's been wonderful. Wasn't ambitious at all so just visited Paris, Brighton, Edinburgh and stayed in London most of the time (as usual). The only new place I visited was Glasgow. It was fun. My friend Davie, who showed me around, had the most amazing accent in the world.

A major post-trip highlight is finishing the oral defense of my dissertation and getting a report from the external examiner. At the oral defense, one of the professors came across a bit harsh on me. I kind of expected that because I've always decided that I wasn't one of his favorite students. It wasn't easy but I survived it and he eventually gave me a pass for it (no grades - it's either pass or fail). Having finished that and having received a very encouraging report from the external examinar, who called my paper "impressive" and "very well-written," I have a tremendous sense of accomplishment. Yet this is all very personal. Honestly, no one really gives a shit about my thesis besides myself. I never thought my paper would help change the world or anything, but back in May and June, when all the exercise I got was typing on my iBook at City U library in the privacy of a wall made of books that were old but never read, sometimes I did wonder if all that hard work was futile - if anyone was ever going to read what I was writing. There may be the odd English majors or MPhil students who will glance through my paper and decide that it's not good enough copy-material. But truth be told, my thesis is destined to join the arsenal of masters theses to serve their purpose of collecting dust and at the same time justifying departmental funding. But doing the masters has been a tremendous experience and it has helped me grow as a person. I surprised myself by my self-discipline and determination. It's an old cliche but all that hard work has paid off - only it's solely on a personal level.