My eventful and memorable thesis submission

25 February 2019, Monday was a big day because I submitted my thesis. My big day was very special due to four events. I was 1) accompanied by some colleagues and cohorts of my department, the Higher Education Development Centre (HEDC), and friends; 2) well-received by the Graduate Research School (GRS); 3) congratulated by the Vice Chancellor; and 4) the first PhD student to ring the historic bell in 2019. 

First, the HEDC postgraduate coordinator, Vivienne Anderson, kindly invited colleagues, cohorts and friends to walk with me to the submission office. She sees accompanying PhD students to hand in the thesis as a celebration of their accomplishment. I was very blessed that some colleagues and cohort took the time to accompany me. The collegial support shown by this international family, who comes from Samoa, Fiji, Iran, South Africa, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, and Canada, made the day amazing for me.

Next, the GRS was well-organised in their submission process. After handing in the thesis and the required documents, I was briefed about the bursary, examination and graduation processes. They also prepared their signature gift, the Chocolate Fish and card.    

Then, my day was made more interesting because the Vice Chancellor, Prof Harlene Hayne, was coincidently at the building when I was doing my submission. She warmly congratulated me and said that I should ring the historic university bell! I think she also said that I would likely be the first PhD student to start this new tradition “to make some noise for handing in a thesis”. 

  

  

The bell ringing was an unexpected surprise to celebrate my day. My friends walked with me to the bell behind the clock tower. With the wooden mallet in hand and with the great cheers from my friends, I gave my best energy to dong the bell, which is over 150 years old. 

Finally, we gathered at the Staff Club for a nice celebration. The wonderful people and the colourful events that made a beautiful ending to my PhD journey. Special thanks go to Hamid, Charmaine and Tracy for taking great pictures of me. Their pictures help me to reminisce over the fantastic day. Special thanks also go to Vivienne for the glass of Pinot Noir and to Patrick (my husband who was not there) for the brain-like chocolate that added another notch on my happiness.

On a further note, I reflected on why a thesis submission can be a monumental moment for PhD students. In my opinion, a PhD student has to make the decision to put a full stop to the repetitive finessing and reanalysing. One has to overcome the fear of imperfection and to convince oneself that the thesis is good enough for examiners to read. For me, my thesis submission taught me that handing in the thesis was an end to the PhD but I am aware that it is not yet totally finished with. In the next few months, I will be preparing to read examiners' reports and to have an oral examination. Yet, I felt the submission was a huge relief from the years of editing and analysing, which are sometimes simply known as reading and writing. I feel that putting a stop to the complex tasks of producing one piece of research meant that I will be going out into the real world. Hopefully, my study in the globalisation of higher education can help me to pursue a career in international studies, especially in my home-country, Malaysia.

PS: I have many people to thank for the completion of my thesis but this post is to solely to focus on those who made my submission an unforgettable day for me.