Phinished!

“Congratulations You have successfully defended your dissertation.” I waited a long time to hear my Chair say those words! It meant that my seven year journey as a Ph.D. student was over, and I could finally get some sleep. I felt relieved and excited at the same time.

My committee wanted me to make some revisions, but that is normal for a dissertation. I took a day off and then quickly began to work on the changes. It took me about a month to get through them, but that time seemed to go by fast.

My dissertation focused on the neighborhood level experiences of twenty Black male high school students. I wanted to learn more about the challenges they faced growing up in an urban neighborhood and how they overcame certain obstacles. I also wanted to learn more about how they utilized neighborhood resources and how the Black church supported them in their educational pursuits.

The results of my strengths-based study shed light on the steps students take to navigate the social terrain of the neighborhood and how they utilize recreation centers, neighborhood centers, and parks. Black churches served as a source of external motivation for some students.  They did the best they could in school and knew that someone from the church was going to acknowledge their efforts and might even give them a few dollars.

I’m glad it’s over.  In the future, I will discuss the things I did to make it through Temple’s Ph.D. in Education program.  Hopefully, someone will learn something from the mistakes I made and the lessons I learned.