The End of an Era
I started this blog in 2005 to chronicle what I thought would be my year in England. I decided to go for a Master of Studies, a one-year degree, because I thought "hey, it's just a year." If I liked it, I could stay another year; if I hated it, it was just a year of my life.
I never intended on staying for the doctorate. But a few months in, after I submitted a few papers, I realized, "hey, this isn't so bad." And then my friends started asking if I planned on staying on for the DPhil.
One year turned into five years in England. And even though I am no longer "at Catz," I was part of the Oxford community for several more years as I finished off my thesis. But now, I can finally tell you that my time in Oxford has come to a close. My thesis has been approved, and I have received the paper work that makes me, officially, finally, Dr. Kaitlin Walsh.
I am so grateful that a series of events and decisions in my life fell into place the way they did. I never expected to have as much fun as I did, to meet so many amazing and brilliant and thoughtful people, and to be a part of one of the world's foremost scholarly communities for nearly a decade.
I don't know what this means for me in terms of next steps. Recently, I delivered my first conference presentation as Dr. Walsh, and I wore my doctoral regalia as a marshal in Charter Oak's commencement ceremony. I'd like to see if I can turn any more of my thesis into publications (I've already managed a book chapter out of it), but we'll take things one step at a time.
Thanks to all of you who stuck around for the ride. You can continue to follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or whatever other social media I happen to be on. I may reappear in the blogosphere at some point, but not right away. I wanted to make this official "last post" to close out my time in Oxford.
Y con esto, Dios te dé salud, y a mí no olvide.
