This is where my PhD dissertation lives.

Looking back on this work now a couple of years out, I’m struck by the fact that I’m still so proud of it. Of course, in retrospect there are certainly things I wish I had done differently, or that I would do differently now. Overall, however, this is a work that came fully from my mind and heart and experiences, and it says exactly what I needed to say.

It’s hard to maintain a positive perspective on a work like a dissertation, I think. Like any piece of writing, it’s necessarily a snapshot of a moment in time. And the more time passes, the further removed I am from it. It’s important to remember that a dissertation is a document intended to serve a very specific role: to earn someone a PhD. That’s what this work did for me, and because of that, I don’t think I could ever look back on it with anything less than fondness, even love.