2015 and all that

Doctor, doctor…

Finally on the ‘write’ lines… (picture source: author’s photograph)

 

In an earlier post many months ago, I noted how I’d passed my PhD viva, although it didn’t feel like it at the time, and was given 12 months to attend to corrections that the examiners felt my thesis needed.

It’s been a while since I posted here (I will try to post more often in future). Since my viva in January, my 2015 has mainly been about working on corrections to my thesis while working part-time in a betting shop, with a brief respite while presenting at the Royal Geographical Society annual conference at Exeter University in early September.

I’ve had a little foray into politics too this year. I stood as a ‘paper’ candidate for the Green Party in my local ward of Castleton in the Rochdale council elections in May. Admittedly, I came 5^th of 5 with 166 votes, but only 174 votes behind the 4^th-placed Liberal Democrat candidate – not bad, considering Castleton has never had a Green candidate before, and that I don’t have 166 relatives!

I finally submitted the corrections to my thesis on October 27^th and, on December 11^th, I received an email from Coventry University saying that the examiners were satisfied with my corrections, and recommending the award of PhD.

So it’s official – I’m now Dr Jonathan Kershaw. I’VE GOT MY PHD!!!!!!

It was fantastic news with which to end the year – I now correspond with my nickname ‘Doc’, which I’ve had for over 20 years! Hopefully, I’ll find a suitable position in which to make my PhD work; the future starts here. Exciting times lie ahead. It’s time to update my LinkedIn profile!

Here’s to a happy, prosperous, and sustainable new year. Here’s to 2016!