Today was the day where I approached my PhD supervisors and finally declared what my intended topic for my PhD is going to be. This has been quite the process due to my indecisive nature and my tendency to be interested in far too many things at once!
The topic is loosely defined as the study of the "utilization of
smartphones for the diagnosing or monitoring of medical conditions or
symptoms". More on this in the future.
On one hand I am quite jittery with excitement now that I have a much clearer direction on where I am going to be heading for the next couple of months, with even grandeur ideas coming into focus of where I might be heading even in the next few years! This excitement is somewhat lessened however, because with equal amounts of excitement comes equal parts fear, but alas I guess that is what this journey is all about.
The revealing of my chosen topic was quite funny actually, due to the unexpected and uncharacteristic reactions of my two supervisors. For the last month I have been in debate between two fields of interests, both revolved around 'smartphones'. My supervisor (who is fantastic) did have a few reservations in regards to one of the topic options, but assured me that ultimately it is my decision, and that he would support me either way. Today was the deadline for when I had to finally commit to a field of study.
I met with my two supervisors and immediately upon seeing them I could see a bit of tension in their faces as they were quite eager to hear of which pathway I had decided to go for. I decided to just get it out there.
"Hey guys, ok I will cut straight to the chase... I have decided to go with the medical conditions option"
Upon hearing the news they broke out into a round of applause and joyous laughter! Despite their neutral attitudes to my decision making process, they both secretly desperately hoped I would go for that topic over the other one!
This was quite reassuring to me as it in a way feels that I have made a good choice, but at the same time it does add a bit more pressure that I must perform well and produce good outcomes. Alas, that can be dealt with along the way.
Today, I have my topic. Now I just need my research question...
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