Gratitude Day 2: I'm Thankful For My Scholarship

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I have been teaching until two years ago when an opportunity came in the form of a letter. The letter called for anyone who was willing to sign up to complete their PhD studies in three years. The terms were very good, the scholarship included a full pay leave with all tuition fees included.

I jumped onto the opportunity without thinking. Little did I know that there were a host of hoops and challenges that I had to jump through in order to get it.

I am Thankful For The Hoops

I immediately sent in my application not expecting that I would get accepted. Conventionally, the more senior you are in the teaching service, the higher the likelihood you would get accepted for such opportunities. As such, I was not expecting to get accepted and forgot all about it. The reply came back a few weeks later and to my surprise I was accepted. I was overjoyed, the problem with it however was that I had to write a PhD proposal in the span of five days before my interview.

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I am thankful that in the midst of it all, I met people who helped me coin ideas and my wife who gave me the space I needed to write a full research proposal in five days. On the day of my interview, I was told that I was too young to qualify for the scholarship, citing that there are people who are older that should be given the opportunity. I thanked my interviewers and left, not expecting much from the incident.

However, there was a change of policy and I am thankful that somehow, I received a letter informing me that I had been awarded the scholarship. I am thankful for the hoops that I have had to jump through because I realize that no matter how hopeless things may look, it may just turn out fine in the end. It is important however to not give up.

I am Thankful For The Study Stress

I miss teaching a lot.I miss mainly the students and the atmosphere in the classroom. PhD is a long and lonely journey and I do miss working with my colleagues and students on different projects. This lonely journey however is marred with much stress when it came to completing my dissertations and articles.

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I am thankful however that I had the opportunity to learn more. I have to admit that as a teacher, you get the opportunity to teach more instead of learning more. Other times when you are free, its the paperwork that gets to you. As such, taking up this stint to complete my PhD has in a way, forced me to study and to learn more.

Throughout the years of my study, I have been made aware of how inadequate I am and it has been rather painful. As much as it was a painful learning experience, I am thankful that I have learnt a lot as well. I suppose in this case, no pain, no gain.

Being An Inspiration To My Students

Of all the things I am thankful for in my PhD journey, it is being an inspiration to my students. I find that the best way of teaching is by modelling and inspiring. I have always told my students to do more and go further. I find that the message would have been lost if I just continued being a teacher trainer who is unwilling to pursue his PhD. Now, don't get me wrong, you can be an inspiration to your students even if you did not pursue a masters or a Phd.

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However, I have been preaching to them to do so for quite a while now and it doesn't seem right if I did not practice what I preach. I am thankful that many of them see what I do and are looking to follow in my foot steps, not just for the certification but to do their best in their respective areas of expertise.

Conclusion

All this is more of a reminder to myself as it is to tell others what I am thankful for. I think we forget at times that being thankful is more of a reminder for us when we are faced with difficult times. I am in that difficult time at that moment. I question why did I pursue this PhD in the first place. I question if it was worth it to go through all the hardships and ridicule just for a piece of certification. However, as much as I feel defeated and tired from all the work, I am thankful that I am given the opportunity to go on this awesome journey.

Nominations:

For this challenge, I will nominate @awesomianist, @veenang and @danieldoughty.

What are the rules of this challenge?

• Write a post about something you have to be positive about today - this could be anything from being thankful for your current situation, someone being nice to you, being thankful for your friends and family, or even being thankful for the opportunity you have been given here on Steemit - just keep it positive :)
• Do this for 7 days in a row if you get nominated
• Mention three people who should do this on each day.
• Tag it with #7daypositivitychallenge and include these rules at the bottom of your post
  (Tip: You need to put the # in front of 7daypositivitychallenge or it will not let you use the tag.)
• Include a picture of something positive (related to your story if possible).

Thank you @lymepoet for nominating me! You can find the original challenge post here:
"7 Day Positivity Challenge" by @conradt

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