Today I realized something that has been lacking in my life as an ABD (All But Dissertation) Ph.D. candidate.
I miss having people around me to whom I can bitch and moan about the powers that be. This is a contextual skill that Ph.D. students have down to an art form, although M.Div. students are pretty good at it too ;). This is not to say that I haven't leaned on the likes of Trevor, AKMA, Michelle and many others during this period of revisions. I have imposed on them, and they have been a great support. I have noticed, however, that I really miss having colleagues who are hunkered down in the trenches with me, drinking coffee and cokes with me in the Ph.D. lounge as we collectively lob verbal grenades at those nameless powers (well, sometimes the powers have names). We know full well that the fortress, which we are trying to destroy, is the very place in which we hope to be working when we "grow up." That's part of the fun and catharsis of it all.
I guess part of what makes my situation odd is that I am inbetween two spaces--or maybe it's a third, interstitial space. I am already part of the system, the institution of higher learning, the infamous ivory tower. Yet, I also am still a lowly doctoral student, just trying to get through in any way I can. I can't decide if I'm Doogie Howser or Billy Madison.
I know I sound a bit cynical right now. Sorry.
What's weird is that after I graduate--and I will graduate--I will wax poetic about the good ole days at Princeton. Funny how a ritual like this writing process works that way.