The Road to a Doctoral Degree

The road to a doctoral degree certainly isn't an easy one. There are several things you need to learn when going down this process. For one you have to be a great manager of time. You have to balance life, work, education, and whatever else you have going on.

It requires vision, purpose, and focus.

In order to obtain such a degree, you have to purposefully work towards graduation by doing something everyday that is focused on graduation and the requirements thereof.

There is a triple beam balance of the course work, understanding and applying the statistics, and your dissertation. Many people fail in achieving the dream of getting their dissertation because they don't grasp all three concepts of the trifold requirement for graduation.

The course work not only involves the work that you have to turn in according to the syllabus but also the Lead Reads assigned for each semester.

The dissertation requires you to know and understand your topic and stay focused on the premise of it. You will need to become an expert in your topic which requires in depth reading of several books, articles, and journals that are credible. You will not only need to develop a flawless literature review, but also collect data to support your position and report the findings through statistical analysis using a statistics program like SPSS. You will need to understand your method, findings, and application and give great feedback to your audience on what to do next.

The statistics will require you to have a great understanding of how to apply the information to your study to prove your hypothesis which you will gather through questions that will guide your study. Depending on whether you are doing a qualitative or quantitative study will determine what direction you will need to take to collect, analyze, and validate your findings.

Once you are able to successfully conquer the trifold requirements of this degree, you can defend your position (dissertation) and be granted the writ of passage to becoming "Dr_________."

I look forward to becoming Dr. Rosa Thompson, but I know the journey of a thousand miles takes daily steps. I make it my business to take those steps so I can finally arrive to the destination God has for me. Be encouraged in anything you do and remember to do something everyday that will contribute to you achieving that goal.