Making the pitch

It’s kind of a big week for me. I am in the “Countdown to Proposal Presentation.”

For a PhD candidate, this is a key milestone, and I am happy to say I am finally on the brink of achieving it. After submitting a full draft proposal on my research topic, Literary Grief: The Changing Communication Technologies of Grief Memoir, I faced yet another arduous task that must be tackled to get past this critical stage: The task of corralling my three-member Committee for a scheduled appointment to hear my pitch.

This is not as easy as you might think. Does the term “herding cats” mean anything to you?

First of all, the Graduate program requires that you have a three-week lead time for scheduling this presentation. That window of time presented a challenge for me since the Fall semester ends in early December, and there is a cutoff prior to that which precludes these presentations from being scheduled until the next semester.

Then there was the “herding cats” aspect: Finding a time and date when all three Committee members would be available to attend my briefing. Since these are full-time professors with classes to teach, other PhD candidates to support, lecture responsibilities and a host of other obligations, this was a fun game of back-and-forth to shake out a common time slot that would work for everyone. As the presenting student, you have no say, by the way. When your Committee says THIS is the day and date I can do this, you must throw your entire schedule out the window and plan to be there.

For me, this meant giving up my plans to indulge in a spa treatment or two to relax, de-stress, and treat myself to an early birthday present for a change. Heck, I’ve been working hard. Life has been pretty intense of late. I deserve it. More than that, I need it. But hey, I can reschedule. If the Committee says “Be there,” I’m there.

So here I am, prepping for my moment at the front of the room. This is when I tell my team what question I am exploring, how I will explore it and what it potentially will contribute to the Humanities when I have finished. I do not enjoy public speaking, usually, so it will test my nerves and tax my knowledge on the topic – much of which has been collected in fits and starts over the past two years.

When I have finished presenting, I will likely be peppered with questions from the Committee, and potentially from any other guests who wander in to check out what I am attempting to do. I hope to have the right answers or at least an intelligent way to suggest that I will find those answers as I proceed to writing my dissertation.

At this point, the only thing that matters is that I clearly articulate my road map for scholarly exploration and ultimate success. Friday at 2 p.m., it’s Go Time.

Copyright 2011 by Marianne V. Heffernan